SIEM Definition & Fundamentals

What Is SIEM?

Crucial within the realm of computer protection, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) encompasses the utilization of software offerings and solutions that merge the management of security data with the supervision of security events. These instruments facilitate real-time evaluations of alerts related to security, which are produced by network hardware and applications.

The Evolution Of SIEM Technology

The acronym "SIEM" emerged from the collaboration of two Gartner analysts who suggested a novel security information framework that integrated two preceding technologies: Security Information Management (SIM) and Security Event Management (SEM). This proposition appeared in a 2005 Gartner paper titled "Enhance IT Security through Vulnerability Management."

How Does A SIEM Solution Work?

SIEM systems function by gathering data from a variety of sources, including PCs, network devices, servers, and more. This data is then standardized and consolidated to facilitate ease of analysis.

SIEM platforms employ security experts who scrutinize the data in order to identify and detect potential threats. This procedure allows businesses to locate security breaches and examine alerts, offering crucial insights into the organization's security standing.

Alerts notify Security Operations/Monitoring personnel that they must look into a (possible) security event or incident. These notifications are usually concise and inform staff of a specific attack targeting the organization's information systems. Alerts can be conveyed through multiple channels, such as emails, console pop-up messages, text messages, or phone calls to smartphones.

SIEM Business Requirements & Use Cases

Log Aggregation & Normalization

The importance of threat visibility through log consolidation offered by SIEM systems cannot be overstated. In its absence, an organization's cybersecurity holds as much value as a mere paperweight. Log consolidation entails gathering terabytes of security information from vital firewalls, confidential databases, and essential applications. This process empowers the SOC team to examine the data and discern connections, significantly improving threat visibility.

Threat Alerting

Having a SIEM solution that can identify and notify IT security teams about possible threats within the vast volume of collected security event data is essential.

Contextualization & Response

It is important to understand that merely generating alerts is not enough. If a SIEM solution sends alerts for every possible security event, the IT security team will soon be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of alerts, and false positives may become a frequent issue, particularly in older solutions.

Compliance

SIEM solutions play a significant role in compliance by assisting organizations in meeting regulatory requirements through a comprehensive approach to threat detection and management.

Regulations like PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR mandate organizations to implement robust security measures, including real-time monitoring and analysis of network traffic. SIEM solutions can help organizations fulfill these requirements, enabling SOC teams to detect and respond to security incidents promptly.

Data Flows Within A SIEM

Let us now briefly see how data travel within a SIEM, until they are ready for analysis.

1. SIEM solutions ingest logs from various data sources. Each SIEM tool possesses unique capabilities for collecting logs from different sources. This process is known as data ingestion or data collection.

2. The gathered data is processed and normalized to be understood by the SIEM correlation engine. The raw data must be written or read in a format that can be comprehended by the SIEM and converted into a common format from various types of datasets. This process is called data normalization and data aggregation.

3. Finally, the most crucial part of SIEM, where SOC teams utilize the normalized data collected by the SIEM to create various detection rules, dashboards, visualizations, alerts, and incidents. This enables the SOC team to identify potential security risks and respond swiftly to security incidents.

What Are The Benefits Of Using A SIEM Solution

It is evident that the advantages of deploying a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system significantly outweigh the potential risks associated with not having one, assuming that the security control is safeguarding something of higher importance.