What Is SIEM in Cyber Security?


Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a unified security management system that provides complete visibility into network activity and allows you to respond to threats in real time. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions use rules and statistical correlations to translate log entries and events from security systems into useful information.

In cyber security, SIEM stands for ‘Security Information and Event Management’. It usually refers to a software package that performs a large collection of necessary functions used in defensive cyber security. The most popular SIEM software packages are Snort and Solarwinds.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a solution that provides monitoring, detection, and notification of security events or incidents in an IT environment. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) technology is changing the way IT departments detect cyber threats, collect and analyze threat data, and respond to security incidents.

What SIEM Stands For

SIEM stands for Security Incident Event Management and differs from SOC in that it is a system that collects and analyzes summary log data. SIEM technology integrates log data, security alerts, and events in a centralized platform to provide real-time analytics for security monitoring. SIEM software works by collecting log and event data generated by an organization’s applications, security devices, and host systems and combining it into a single, centralized platform.

SIEM software works by collecting log and event data generated by applications, devices, networks, infrastructure, and systems to track analytics and provide a holistic view of an organization’s information technology (IT).

What SIEM Is Used For

SIEM software collects and aggregates log data generated across an organization’s technological infrastructure, from host systems and applications to network and security devices such as firewalls and virus filters. From antivirus events to firewall logs, SIEM software identifies this data and sorts it into categories such as malware activity, failed and successful logins, and other potentially malicious activities. SIEM collects security data from network devices, servers, domain controllers, etc.

SIEM technology often helps companies reduce security breaches and improve threat detection. Next-generation SIEM solutions provide new capabilities to increase security visibility and threat detection, and simplify the workload management process for security teams. Modern next-generation SIEM solutions integrate with powerful security management, automation, and response (SOAR) capabilities, saving IT professionals time and resources when managing corporate security.

Together, SIEM solutions provide data aggregation and consolidation for security events. Because SIEM solutions have access to a large number of data sources, they can correlate this information and be the centerpiece of an organization’s security and strategy.

SIEM Software Is Not Sufficient for Security Work

As a result, traditional SIEMs cannot provide security analysts with the necessary visibility into all logs, corporate networks and endpoints to detect and investigate signs of sophisticated cyberattacks. Historically, however, SIEMs were primarily used to manage security logs and demonstrate compliance, but they are increasingly becoming the aggregation point for threat detection and investigation.

SIEM applications provide limited contextual information about their own events, and SIEMs are notorious for their blind spots in unstructured data and email. SIEM tools provide a central location for collecting events and alerts, but they can be expensive and resource-intensive, and customers report that SIEM data issues are often difficult to resolve.

SIEM systems can also help organizations meet compliance requirements by automatically generating reports that include all security incidents logged between these sources. SIEM tools and solutions use automation to collect security data in an organization and then analyze it for patterns or anomalies that may indicate compromise. SIEMs combine these and similar systems to provide a comprehensive overview of any security event through real-time monitoring and analysis of event logs.

How SIEMs Work

SIEM technology combines Security Event Management (SEM), which analyzes real-time log and event data to provide threat monitoring, event correlation, and incident response, with Security Information Management (SIM), which collects, analyzes, and reports data magazines. SIEM may be an initial investment, but SIEM software helps security teams achieve compliance and mitigate risk quickly, saving the business from significant financial and legal implications in the event of a breach.

As a result, your IT team can use SIEM technology to simplify security management. Infrastructure-wide active SIEM monitoring solutions significantly reduce the latency required to identify and respond to potential network threats and vulnerabilities, helping you increase security as your organization grows.

Modern SIEM security platforms combine SIM and SEM, integrating historical log data and real-time events, and building relationships that help security personnel identify anomalies, vulnerabilities, and incidents.

A SIEM Is a Crucial Tool for Event Management

The SIEM system also improves incident management by allowing a company’s security team to discover the path of an attack across the network, determine the sources of a breach, and provide automated tools to prevent ongoing attacks. On the contrary, modern and advanced SIEM tools are designed to provide a complete view of an organization’s entire IT infrastructure so that security analysts can see threats wherever they lurk, in the cloud, on devices, or anywhere on the network.

In short, SIEM solutions can accelerate cyber threat detection and response, making security analysts more efficient and accurate in their investigations.

To this end, the latest SIEM tools collect logs from multiple sources (not just security systems), collect so-called complete network packets (data units sent over computer networks), and monitor and continuously analyze endpoints. Data collection. All sources of network security information, such as servers, operating systems, firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion prevention systems, are configured to report events to the SIEM tool. Most modern SIEM tools use agents to collect event logs from business systems, which are then processed, filtered, and sent to the SIEM.

SIEM solutions essentially have two parts: SIM, i.e. security information management, in which information such as logs is collected, two parts and SEM, security event management, in which logs are analyzed and classified. severity. SIEM software allows security teams to gain information about intruders using threat rules based on knowledge of attacker tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) and known indicators of compromise (IOC).

To do this, it uses multiple channels of threat intelligence (organized and analyzed information about potential and current threats) that complement threat detection.

Gene Botkin

Gene is a graduate student in cybersecurity and AI at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Ongoing philosophy and theology student.

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