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.