How SIEM Works

In general, SIEM:

• Collects and aggregates data from multiple sources,
• Correlates and categorizes events,
• Identifies deviations from the norm, and
• Raises real-time alerts about security incidents and events

works by effectively combining and leveraging two key capabilities – Security Information Management (SIM) and Security Event Management (SEM). The SIM side collects data for analysis from log files, host systems, applications, and even security devices like firewalls and anti-virus software. The SEM element, on the other hand, monitors systems in real time and identifies, correlates and analyzes events that seem anomalous. These events can include everything from malware attacks and spam emails, to traffic spikes, failed logins and changes to security configurations. Thus, a SIEM software can identify and detect threats in email, endpoint devices, applications, cloud resources, and more.

In addition to behavioral anomalies, SIEM can also detect and raise alerts about compromised accounts and lateral movements. These alerts can be set as high- or low-priority, so security teams can focus on addressing the critical threats (or events) that could seriously impact the organisation in adverse ways. SIEM also generates reports on these security threats and events by leveraging threat intelligence and User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA).

The Benefits of SIEM

Some of the key benefits of SIEM solutions are:

• Analyze network and user behaviors in order to generate useful intelligence about potentially malicious activities
• Detect and mitigate incidents early to minimize their damaging impact
• Create threat rules based on insights into attacker tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) and known indicators of compromise (IOC)
• Notify security personnel if an event triggers a SIEM rule
• If incidents do occur, determine their nature and understand their business impact
• Identify, isolate or remove compromised sources
• Perform forensic analysis on major security/data breaches
• Generate visual information so teams can identify patterns that could indicate security issues

Common SIEM Use Cases

Improve Threat Hunting, Detection and Management

The use of intelligent products like Evolve provides visibility into the threat environment, so organisations can better manage the operational and strategic aspects of threat hunting. With multi-source log data, these products can streamline threat management workflows and also improve incident response.

Enterprise Compliance

SIEM software provides the advanced, ongoing and reliable monitoring and reporting capabilities organizations need to auto-generate reports about logged security events. These reports enable them to meet numerous compliance mandates like HIPAA, SOX, GDPR, and PCI-DSS, and improve their compliance management.

Increase IoT Security

It is estimated that by 2025, there will be 25 billion connected IoT devices. As more devices, from washers and dryers to thermostats and printers become connected, however, this creates more points of entry for bad actors to target enterprises and move laterally across their networks. That raises serious concerns about security in IoT setups. SIEM software can mitigate IoT threats, such as DoS attacks, and also raise alerts about at-risk or compromised devices. 

Prevent Insider Threats

Insider threats pose a considerable risk to organizations. With SIEM, they can create rules for what constitutes “normal” employee activity. The software will then monitor employee actions, and raise alerts for irregular events based on these predefined baselines. SIEM can also monitor privileged accounts and create alerts if a particular user performs an action they’re not allowed to perform, such as installing non-standard or non-approved software.

Evolve On-demand SIEM and EDR Capabilities

Evolve’s on-demand SIEM product is redefining security monitoring and automation. Its unlimited EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) agents provide enhanced visibility into malicious activities and security breaches. These activities are mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework across the entire IT infrastructure and tech stack.

The Evolve SIEM solution can be orchestrated at the click of a button for immediate protection. Plus, it can be easily scaled up (or down) to support the organization’s changing environment and security needs.

With built-in standards like PCI-DSS, HIPAA and FedRamp, Evolve visualises compliance gaps and allows for fast remediation. It also lowers security costs with flexible monthly investments and almost no capital expenditures or expensive integration projects.

Start a 30-day free trial here.

Conclusion

In 2017, a Gartner study stated that “innovation in the SIEM market is moving at an exciting pace to create a better threat detection tool.” A SIEM solution like Evolve provides a powerful way for organizations to strengthen their cybersecurity through improved visibility, threat detection, mitigation, analytics, and incident response. Smart organizations know that they need to move beyond basic questions, like “How do I protect my network?” to ask more evolved questions, like, “How can we best leverage SIEM for our needs?”