An outsourced SOC service can be a strategic move that helps organizations improve their overall security posture and save costs. It’s one of the many alternatives available right now for businesses — regardless of their size. In this article, we’re going to take a look at what are the benefits of outsourcing your Security Operations Center.
What constitutes an outsourced SOC team?
There is a wide range of work that SOC – Security Operations Center – teams can do, including anomaly detection and analysis, security incident response, victim assistance, penetration testing, and DDoS mitigation. The key responsibilities of SOCs are to investigate intrusions in the network; detect unauthorized or illegal activity; eliminate vulnerabilities before they become a threat; educate and train employees about internet use and security risks.
Sometimes, these tasks can be incredibly expensive not to mention labor-inducing and organizations have no other choice but to think outside the box — and outsource their SOC teams. Ask a qualified firm to do the heavy lifting. Or a portion of it. For example, a SOC team can be made up of people who are either in-house or remote. The in-house staff will be responsible for monitoring the security systems and infrastructure while the remote staff will be responsible for handling customer service and social media and threat analysis.
Outsourcing a Security Operations Center is no longer the only option. Organizations can now choose to have their own security operations center, or they can use a service provider to help with security management. In that case, security operations are now a shared responsibility between the business and its service provider, who is often referred to as a managed security service provider or MSSP. This process involves the creation of an additional level of trust that can be difficult to achieve in traditional outsourcing environments. However, it allows the organization to keep control over its data without compromising all of its security measures.
Benefits of outsourcing SOC
Let’s dig into some of the benefits of this rather innovative solution and alternative to cybersecurity.
Simplification
Simplifying SOC and its overall infrastructure design and procurement — cybersecurity is complex, the second you think you have a handle on it, it twists around and digs its teeth in. It’s always changing, with new threats, legislation, and technology, so SOC needs a light foot. They need to react. Part of that reaction requires a clear infrastructure that is flexible and has been simplified.
A talent-diversified pool
Securing your IT ecosystem with a broad talent pool of cybersecurity skilled professionals — Outsourced SOC teams hire out the best. They hire security experts, IT big-shots, and even a couple of black hat hackers that have decided to switch their headgear as well as an alliance. They know where to post their job openings, and how to actively strengthen their teams.
Proactive not just reactive
Proactive threat intelligence — outsourced SOC services are always on the warpaths. The proactive strike out, and make it incredibly bothersome- and not cost-effective- for hackers to attack you. They don’t just react. They use their intelligence effectively.
Higher long-term ROI
What’s new today, will be old by tomorrow. The systems and fail-safes you are currently employing are being cracked, this very second by hackers — they have an expiration date and it’s closer than you think. That means that you will constantly have to invest in new tech, new knowledge, new team members, new educational seminars, and new tools. Each investment will cost you and your company, and each upgrade will put you in the red. By hiring an outside firm, you are also outsourcing this responsibility and investment to them.
Better tech
Outsourcing SOC gives you access to the latest emerging technologies and improved data sets to provide better SOC security. The responsibility of staying on the vanguard of technology falls unto them, the company you hired out, not you — and your wallet.
Reduced impact
Reducing the impact of a breach — one of the biggest challenges after a breach is how fast you can get back on your feet. And that all depends on your contingency plans, and how well you’ve maintained them. On your backups, on your plugins, and your legal department’s sure footing. This means you constantly have to put them through the wringer — through fire drills. It’s a dull and repetitive task, and most companies drop the ball. This is one of the biggest benefits of outsourced SOC teams, they can’t and will not drop the ball. They’ll update your whole system, and have a backup copy in place that you can use.
An overview of your whole attack surface
Getting organization-wide security visibility — over 86% of organizations are ignorant of their actual attack surface. They have no idea of all the data they are collecting and by what method. This “dark data” is wild data. Information that you are not protecting, you don’t even know exists, and that can come back and bite you in the rear.
Better response times
Improved incident response times and management practices — 24/7 security that’s what you need. It’s tough and only an outsourced security team can give it to you. This means that if it’s go-time the team will be able to respond faster, more efficiently, and with that much more than experience.
Mixing it up
Combining automation and human resources — Current outsourced SOC use a wide variety of tools. Among those tools, we find a myriad of AI and machine learning tech. A good team knows how to anchor those tools with good-old professional know-how and leverage them properly.
Everyone stays in their lane
Creatives need to create, managers need to manage, and accountants need to account— yet when it comes to security, all these “specialists” seem to have some advice or ideas as to how to approach the subject. It happens a lot, and it creates interoffice snafus. It’s critical to segregate duties and lower conflicts of interest between your company’s departments.
Tips when hiring an outsourced SOC team
The main thing to take to heart, when hiring an outsourced SOC team, is to delineate what each party does — The key to a successful outsourced SOC team is having a contract that specifies the responsibilities of everyone involved.
It’s important to shop around, not all outside SOC teams are the same. Ask them questions, and get to know them. What their policies are? What’s the size of their staff? What is their success rate? What protocols guide their response to certain attacks? Ask them how they react to a ransomware attack. Or malware? And finally, listen to them — just as every SOC team is not the same, every client is also not the same. Their POV on your necessities might differ from yours. Go into the meeting with an open mind.
