What you should know before buying a SIEM
16/03/2021

SIEM (Security Incident and Event Management) uses the core technology of a Security Operations Center (SOC) and consists of identifying, monitoring, recording, and analyzing security-related events in an organization, in real time and through IT.

The acquisition of a SIEM has several benefits, such as the integration of various data collection points, customization of control processes and alert workflow management, and integration with other technologies that are already being used by the organization.

In addition to its benefits, it’s fundamental to analyze some features that will allow an evaluation for hiring the service:

Compatibility with software and other tools: Before implementing a SIEM system, it’s fundamental to evaluate its compatibility with the software and equipment that the organization already uses, such as VPN, servers, antivirus, routers, gateways and firewalls. Compatibility is an essential condition because SIEM will work on logs generated by these tools. If there is no compatibility, SIEM will not be able to analyze the recorded data and, consequently, will not be useful to the organization.

Integration capability: As in the previous point, the integration capability of SIEM is also essential to have a full integration between the selected SIEM and the already existing tools and software. The SIEM should integrate tools such as an active directory, an SMS or mail alert system, a vulnerability scanner, and threat information feeds.

Integration Support: An effective SIEM technology could also manage different groups. Accesses to certain features will be managed according to each group's need for knowledge. When there’s this distinction between each group's accesses, there is increased efficiency in incident management. Therefore, SIEM's access management and integration function is very relevant so that all groups in the organization are integrated into the security management process in a way that optimizes their work.

Reporting: The reports will enable risk analysis and understanding, because they evaluate performance, streamline processes, reduce costs and increase efficiency. In addition, they also help identify security gaps and prevent the repetition of the incidents. For these reasons, it’s critical to evaluate the SIEM's ability to generate different reports (such as technical reports and reports for the organization's management).

Compliance: Compliance is one of the most important criteria for any organization that stores data, especially after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Therefore, SIEM should meet the criteria of all regulatory certifications and standards.

When it comes to collecting, processing, storing data, analyzing incidents to detect anomalies, identifying suspicious behavior, or forensic investigation, the need for a SIEM is guaranteed.

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