Security Operations Center (SOC) –
a platform that conducts 24/7 analysis of threats
Can you afford $8,000 an hour to fund a ransomware attack?
If your business isn’t using a SOC to proactively detect and respond, it’s not protected enough, and it could cost you…
According to a recent ransomware survey conducted by Datto, the average hourly cost of a ransomware attack is around $8,000 per hour until remediation, making for a single day cost of $64,000. Companies can no longer afford to rely on simple management of firewalls and antivirus software. Cybercriminals now have access to much more sophisticated technology that can easily take down companies that don’t have proper tools in place.
Organizations tend to focus on a standard set of security actions; Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recovery, many putting most of their time and money into the “Protect” bucket. Protection is important; however, the biggest lesson in cybersecurity is that nothing is ever 100% protected. Heightening focus on detection and response will give companies a well-rounded and solid line of defense.
This is where a SOC, or Security Operations Center, comes in. A SOC are people (we call it eyes on glass) or a platform that conducts 24/7 analysis of threats using logs from multiple systems, including firewalls, desktops, laptops, servers, and cloud-based solutions like Office 365. An AI-based engine breaks down the data and acts if a security incident is discovered. An effective solution needs both a computer-based AI component and a human element to manage, detect, and respond to threats continuously.
MSSPs like The Tek, who offer SOC services, provide their customers with a boost in protection through a proactive approach. If you are asking yourself if your company needs this proactive level of security, here are our top two reasons to use SOC services.
- Traditional antivirus doesn’t detect all malicious activities that a threat actor might take but a qualified SOC does detect these. A prime example of this is what we call living off the land. This is when a threat actor uses built in applications like powershell to run commands like adding a new administrator account to a computer. Powershell is part of windows and traditional Anti-virus wouldn’t detect this kind of activity.
- A SOC collects logs using a SIEM from multiple sources, like Office 365, firewalls, and the endpoints when Anti-Virus only runs on the endpoint. This provides SOC analysts with numerous layers to detect a threat actor performing malicious activities instead of just one.
Vocab to know:
AI – Artificial Intelligent (it learns)
SOC – A Security Operations Center that employs highly trained cybersecurity experts to monitor and respond to threats continuously.
SIEM – Security information and Event Management is a system that collects log files, security alerts, and events in one place so security teams can more easily analyze data.
MSSP- Managed Security Service Providers are organizations that offer high-level cybersecurity monitoring and management, AKA The Tek.
Endpoint – Physical devices that connect to and exchange information with a computer network such as mobile phones, desktop computers, and servers.
Interested in learning more about SOC services or having an assessment of your security stack? Drop us a line at solutions@thetek.com
