Security Information And Event Management (SIEM)

In our daily lives, where everything is connected online, the risks associated with this connectivity are also increasing. Therefore, we need a protection or monitoring system to track events related to our devices and network. This blog will introduce you to the world of SIEM (Security Information and Event Management).

Table of Contents

• What is SIEM?
• How Does SIEM Work?
• SIEM Capabilities & Benefits
• Top SIEM Tools and Vendors
• Choosing the right SIEM
• Conclusion

Check out this video on What is SIEM? to learn all about SIEM and how it keeps your data safe!

What is SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)?

SIEM combines security event management (SEM) with security information management (SIM). SEM analyzes logs and events data and helps in providing threat monitoring, incident response, and event correlation. SIM, on the other hand, reports, collects and analyzes log data.

How Does SIEM Work?

SIEM software is responsible for collecting and aggregating log data created by companies. This comes from network and security devices, host systems, etc.

After that, the SIEM software identifies, analyses, and categorises events and incidents. The SIEM software usually has two main goals:

• To create reports on all security events and incidents
• To alert if an activity is running against a predetermined set of rules, indicating a possible security issue

The need for better compliance management and more extraordinary security measures has been the primary driving force behind adopting SIEM solutions. These days, large companies base their security operations centre on SIEM.

Now, Let’s see how Siem function by looking into the process and its architecture.

SIEM Process

Four steps are involved in the SIEM process:

1. Collect data from various sources—network devices, servers, domain controllers, etc.
2. Normalize and aggregate collected data
3. Analyze the data to detect and discover threats
4. Pinpoint security breaches and enable companies to investigate alerts

SIEM Architecture

SIEM architecture is concerned with building SIEM systems and its core components. SIEM architecture includes the following components:

• Management of logs
• Normalization of logs
• Sources of logs
• Hosting choices for SIEM network
• Reporting of SIEM products
• Real-time SIEM monitoring of SIEM security

SIEM Capabilities & Benefits

Let’s look at the SIEM capabilities and benefits of SIEM.

SIEM Capabilities

These are some major capabilities of SIEM

1. Threat Detection and Investigation

SIEM detects threats by analyzing logs from networks and devices. It helps us to find risks and causes and helps us to understand the problem so that we can take quick action.

2. Incident Response and Forensics

SIEM supports quick incident response and provides a detailed analysis of attacks. It helps us to trace issues, fix them, and prevent similar problems in future.

3. Log Management and Processing

SIEM collects logs from different sources, organizes them, and helps us to troubleshoot problems. It allows security teams to monitor threats more efficiently.

4. Real-Time Alerts and Notifications

SIEM sends instant alerts for unusual activities. It highlights the most critical issues so that the security team can respond quickly and keep systems secure.

Benefits of SIEM

We cannot have a capable cybersecurity team without SIEM solutions. There are seven crucial benefits of a modern SIEM solution:

1. Comes with predictable pricing

Modern SIEM pricing models are based on how many devices send logs. This means that companies do not have to worry about how much data they are using. Some SIEM vendors have additional costs for increasing hardware capacity or how many users are accessing the device.

2. Collects and analyzes data from all sources in real-time

A lot of data is generated every day. To keep up with it, SIEM tools have to take in data from every source so they can detect, monitor, and respond to threats effectively. Modern SIEM tools can provide better analytics with more data. More data tends to make SIEM tools more effective.

3. Utilizes machine learning to add context and situational awareness to help increase efficiency

Attacks have become more sophisticated these days. This means that companies trying to defend themselves need advanced tools. Attackers often use compromised credentials to harm companies. SIEM tools are now equipped with machine-learning capabilities. This helps identify threats quickly and enables threat monitoring from internal to external threats.

4. Flexible and scalable architecture improves time to value

With the amount of data coming in, companies need to have big data architecture that is both scalable and flexible. This will help companies adapt and grow their business as time changes. SIEM solutions can handle complex implementation and are capable of being deployed in the virtual environment, in the cloud, or on-premises.

5. Provides enhanced investigation and incident response tools

SIEM solutions are capable of providing clear analytics that help improve decision-making and response time. Data visualization and business context can help analysts interpret and respond to data in a better manner. As analytics get better, teams will be able to manage incidents better and improve forensic investigations.

6. Makes security analysts more productive

SIEM solutions provide use cases after the log is collected. This helps the security team to detect and respond to threats quickly. This helps security analysts become more productive.

7. Reduces cybersecurity staff requirements

Security teams these days are time-constrained. Analysts can save time with the help of enhanced automated tasks. Top SIEM tools can provide unsupervised machine learning that helps ease the burden of overworked security analysts. Threat detection is automated, contexts are enhanced, and user behaviour is utilized to gain better insights.

Top SIEM Tools and Vendors

Top SIEM Tools

The following are some of the top SIEM tools in the market:

1. Splunk

Splunk is an on-premises SIEM tool that helps monitor security and detect advanced threats.

2. IBM QRadar

IBM QRadar is an SIEM solution that can be used as a virtual, software, or hardware appliance.

3. LogRhythm

LogRhythm is an SIEM tool that is suitable for small companies. It helps with threat detection and response.

SIEM Vendors

The SIEM market has some dominant vendors worldwide, namely IBM, Splunk, and HPE. There are some other big names in the market, such as Intel, Alert Logic, ManageEngine, LogRhythm, Solar Winds, Trustwave, and Micro Focus.

When choosing a SIEM vendor, companies need to examine the vendors based on the organizational goals, as this would help the companies figure out which vendor would suit them the best. If a company wants SIEM technology primarily for compliance purposes, then it would look for capabilities such as reporting; on the other hand, if a company wants SIEM technology to help with setting up a security operations centre, then the company would look for other capabilities such as security monitoring and threat detection.

Choosing the right SIEM

Now, Let’s see the challenges of SIEM, learn how we can choose the right solution, and plan an effective implementation strategy.

How to Choose a SIEM Solution?

Before companies choose a SIEM solution, they need to define the scope and timeline of the project. This can be done by organizing workshops, either internally or externally, in collaboration with a SIEM partner. The first step toward identifying the scope and timeline is to identify a list of use cases. This will indicate the necessary log sources. Deciding on a timeline is also necessary to make sure that the SIEM security aligns with a company’s objectives.

There are four questions that companies need to consider while choosing a SIEM solution:

• What applications should you focus on?
• How should you respond when threats are detected?
• Where are the most critical threats located in your environment?
• Why are these threats the most critical, and what impact would a breach have?

Steps for Planning an SIEM Project

There are three steps for planning a SIEM project:

1. Determine critical data sources for your business

After you have decided on the scope of your projects, it becomes easier to identify log sources within the scope. This can help you determine how you can obtain the required relevant data.

2. Identify all high-priority events and alerts.

The list of security events is growing every day, and there is a need to analyze and act on them. SIEM is used to generate more insights from events and data. Companies have first to determine their high-priority events and how they can be derived from the devices and applications within the infrastructure. This helps SIEM security teams to spend more time on critical alerts and incidents.

3. Determine your key success metrics.

SIEM integration should align with your business objectives. You need to determine the key success metrics to ensure you can maximize the return on investment (ROI). Companies need to figure out how they can use SIEM for advancement.

Conclusion

SIEM is an important software solution for companies. We have seen how the SIEM process works and what are the important architectural components. There are some dominant SIEM tools around the world. Every SIEM system has benefits and drawbacks of its own. Companies can choose a SIEM platform according to their needs.