Security Operations Run Like Clockwork with Security Orchestration

Go beyond alerts using context-rich data for deeper analysis.

Security operations teams are drowning in data. Yet usable data is in short supply. Piecing together details from disparate sources to separate true threats from noise can slow down even the most experienced security analyst.

Parsing through strings of textual data that comes from the SIEM and other tools is cumbersome for analysts and lacks the context they need to make rapid, quality decisions. By integrating all of the tools within the SOC ecosystem, security orchestration tools can transform these rows of textual data into meaningful, context-rich detail.

With context-enriched data at their fingertips, security operations teams gain a greater understanding of the various actions, entities and relationships involved in a threat or security incident. They also spend less time on data gathering and more time on analysis, response and remediation activities, which empowers analysts to conduct faster, higher quality investigations.

Stop managing alerts and start solving cases.

Security operations teams get thousands of alerts, each one requiring an analyst to look at it and make a call about what action – if any – is needed. For each individual security analyst, this represents hours of work just to identify relevant alerts. In the traditional SOC model, these alerts are rarely correlated, especially if they originate from different detection tools. This means two different analysts could be working on similar alerts and not even know it. This duplication of efforts not only makes for an inefficient SOC, it also increases the risk of missing the root cause of a threat, endangering the SOC’s effectiveness.

Using the context gathered from across the security ecosystem, Siemplify’s security orchestration platform automatically groups related alerts into manageable, workable cases. Alerts can be grouped on a variety of factors including source IP, file hash or multiple activities affecting a single user. This shift away from alert triage to case management represents a massive time savings since analysts will often be able to address as many as 50 alerts in a single case, all in one location.

Alert grouping allows a SOC to quickly analyze, triage and remediate across all entities that share common attributes. Through security orchestration, all of the associated details an analyst needs to investigate and respond are grouped within a single case, allowing for more focused analysis. And this case management approach reduces workload, freeing up analysts to handle more cases in less time.

Visualize and investigate the full story of a cyberthreat.

In most security operations centers, once an analyst has manually completed the data gathering phase, they need to make sense of all the puzzle pieces and paint a clear picture. Typically, this takes the form of mapping out the various components and affected entities on a whiteboard. Yet another time-consuming, manual effort.

The Siemplify platform’s powerful security orchestration and customizable cyber ontology capabilities integrate data across your entire security operations ecosystem. Using these contextualized details, a robust visual threat storyline is created for the analyst that maps the various actions, entities and relationships involved in a security event. Presented in an easy-to-use graph, all of the components needed for analysis are available in a single view.

Through the use of security orchestration, security operations teams can dive deeper into any entity, artifact or data source to get greater detail. Analysts can cross-reference SIEM alerts with EDR and user data, check IPs and hashes against threat intelligence and playback the timeline of events to get a true, real-time picture of a security event or incident for faster analysis.

Improve collaboration and communication for enhanced performance.

Investigating and remediating cybersecurity incidents is a team sport. Tier 1 analysts often need to escalate to, or at the very least consult with, Tier 2 and Tier 3 personnel. The nature of a 24/7 SOC means handing off cases midstream to another shift of analysts. Managers and CISOs require visibility and the ability to jump in when needed. And when a breach occurs, other organizational functions – legal, HR, executive management – get involved.

Security orchestration provides a mechanism for collaboration by breaking down silos between various security technologies as well as the associated processes and people running them. Siemplify’s security orchestration platform serves as a workbench for all security operations activities, facilitating real-time communication and collaboration through integrated chat, automated case assignments and escalations and a cross-functional war room.

Streamline security operations management and drive continuous improvement.

Day-to-day management of a security operations organization can be a real headache. From technology tuning and upkeep to shift handovers and process creation, a SOC is powered by dozens of moving parts that must work cohesively to be effective. When these components are handled through different systems and rely on manual processes, it’s virtually impossible to track and measure SOC performance and effectiveness.

Security orchestration solutions centralize most security operations activities, acting as a hub or nerve center to streamline daily operations. By unifying people, processes and technologies, security operations leaders get the visibility they desperately need to effectively manage cases, including assignments, escalations and shift transitions. Analysts are always clear about what their priority tasks are and management is better able to track the progression of investigation and response activities. All within a single pane of glass.

Siemplify’s security orchestration platform also delivers robust reporting and business intelligence. Security operations teams no longer need to rely on lengthy, manual efforts for reliable metrics. KPI dashboards provide a clearer view of cases being worked as well as SOC mean time to detect, mean time to respond and dwell time so teams can more easily identify ways to improve productivity and effectiveness. And perhaps most importantly, security orchestration gives SOC management the tools they need to demonstrate the value security operations brings to the organization overall.