Security Operations Center (SOC) & A Network Operations Center (NOC)
A Network Operations Center (NOC) and a Security Operations Center (SOC) are two important components of a modern enterprise network infrastructure. They both play a critical role in ensuring that network services are available and secure.
Security Operations Center (SOC)Protect & Secure Critical Organisation Digital Assets & Data
Network Operations Center (NOC)Monitoring and managing the operational status of an organization's network infrastructure
A Network Operations Center (NOC) is responsible for monitoring and managing the operational status of an organization’s network infrastructure. The NOC team ensures that network services are available and running optimally, and responds to issues that arise such as network outages, performance problems, and security incidents. NOCs monitor the entire network infrastructure, including routers, switches, servers, firewalls, and other network devices. They use various tools and technologies such as network monitoring software, alerts, and dashboards to track the performance and availability of the network.
On the other hand, a Security Operations Center (SOC) is responsible for monitoring and responding to security threats and incidents within an organization’s network infrastructure. The SOC team’s primary objective is to protect the organization’s critical assets and data from cyber-attacks. The SOC team accomplishes this by monitoring the network for signs of malicious activity, such as network intrusions, malware infections, and data exfiltration. They also investigate security incidents, contain the damage, and take steps to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. SOC teams use various security tools and technologies such as intrusion detection systems, security information and event management (SIEM) software, and threat intelligence feeds to detect, analyze, and respond to security threats.
The main differences between NOCs and SOCs are their primary objectives and areas of focus. While NOCs focus on ensuring the availability and performance of network services, SOCs focus on protecting the organization’s assets and data from cyber threats. NOCs deal with issues such as network outages, while SOCs deal with security incidents such as data breaches. Another difference is that NOCs primarily focus on operational tasks such as network monitoring, while SOCs focus on security-related tasks such as threat detection and incident response.
Core Responsibilities
Maintaining security monitoring tools
The team must maintain and update tools regularly. Without the correct and most up-to-date tools, they can’t properly secure systems and networks. Team members should maintain the tools used in every part of the security process.Investigate suspicious activities
The SOC team should investigate suspicious and malicious activity within the networks and systems. Generally, your SIEM or analytics software will issue alerts which the team then analyzes and examines, triages, and discovers the extent of the threat.
SIEM
On the contrary, SIEM represents “Security Information and Event Management.” This enables the uniform utilization of log information from various security utilities, as well as the expanded surveillance via unique log origins like customized applications or specialized products that aren’t commonly employed by the broader industry. A SIEM serves as a technology for security operations.
EDR: Endpoint Detection and Response
EDR software oversees a range of endpoints such as computers, servers, tablets, and mobile phones, rather than focusing on the system network.
To accomplish this, EDR software examines the activities occurring on the monitored endpoints, particularly employing behavioral analysis. This facilitates the identification of deviations from established norms following a learning phase, as well as behaviors aligning with typical attacker patterns. EDR software is also equipped to supervise the exploitation of security vulnerabilities.
The merit of EDR solutions lies in their capacity to safeguard organizations from both familiar threats (like viruses) and unfamiliar attacks through the scrutiny of suspicious activities.
In conjunction with EDR, providing essential detection and response functions, there is NDR.
NDR: Network Detection and Response
NDR software extends enhanced visibility to CyberSOC teams throughout the network, aiding in the identification of actions by potentially concealed attackers who are targeting physical, virtual, and cloud infrastructures. It supplements EDR and SIEM tools, and more recently, these technologies have begun incorporating AI and machine learning for specific log analysis, enhancing the examination of raw network traffic.
The NDR approach offers a comprehensive perspective and concentrates on the interactions among various nodes within the network. In a landscape where the network encompasses not just conventional data centers but also the cloud and Software-as-a-Service realms, this type of visibility becomes indispensable. EDR’s presence cannot be ubiquitous.
XDR: Extended Detection and Response
XDR represents a progression from EDR and has effectively taken over from EDR in the security market. Building upon EDR’s foundation, XDR software aims to merge the previously discussed EDR and NDR approaches, aiding security teams in addressing issues related to threat visibility by centralizing, standardizing, and correlating security data from various origins. This approach enhances detection capabilities when compared to using standalone endpoint detection and response tools (EDR) or network traffic analysis (NDR) alone. For instance, XDR ensures comprehensive visibility by utilizing network data to monitor susceptible (unmanaged) endpoints, which might not be observable through EDR tools. Additionally, it facilitates contextual viewing of suspicious network traffic alongside insights into some of the host behaviors possibly linked to the questionable network activity.
XDR examines data from multiple sources like email activities, endpoints, servers, networks, cloud streams, and identity technologies such as AzureAD or other Single Sign-On providers. This analysis validates alerts, thereby reducing false positives and the overall volume of alerts. By interconnecting indicators from diverse sources, XDR enhances the efficiency of security teams.
MDR: Managed Detection and Response
MDR stands for managed detection and response. MDR integrates the SOC (Security Operations Center) function with the aforementioned solutions to facilitate a comprehensive approach to handling cybersecurity threats. MDR delivers a specific result.
Therefore, if you’re contemplating the idea of needing a “Managed SIEM/SOC,” what you truly should be contemplating is MDR!
SOC & NOC Focus Area
Control and Digital Forensics
Monitoring and Risk Management
Network and System Administration
Our Team Members
CISO
Defines the security operations of the organization. They communicate with management about security issues and oversee compliance tasks.
The CISO has the final say on policies, strategies, and procedures relating to the organization’s cybersecurity. They also have a central role in compliance and risk management, and implement policies to meet specific security demands.
SOC Manager
Manages the security operations team and reports to the CISO. They supervise the security team, provide technical guidance, and manage financial activities. The SOC manager oversees the activity of the SOC team, including hiring, training, and assessing staff.
Additional responsibilities include creating processes, assessing incident reports, and developing and implementing crisis communication plans.
They write compliance reports, support the audit process, measure SOC performance metrics, and report on security operations to business leaders.
Security Engineer / Architect
Maintains and suggests monitoring and analysis tools. They create a security architecture and work with developers to ensure that this architecture is part of the development cycle.
A security engineer may be a software or hardware specialist who pays particular attention to security aspects when designing information systems.
They develop tools and solutions that allow organizations to prevent and respond effectively to attacks. They document procedures, requirements, and protocols.
Security Analyst
The first to respond to incidents. Their response typically occurs in three stages: threat detection, threat investigation, and timely response.
Security analysts should also ensure that the correct training is in place and that staff can implement policies and procedures.
Security analysts work together with internal IT staff and business administrators to communicate information about security limitations and develop documentation.
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