The frequency of cyber-related crimes against businesses has grown exponentially over the years. From debilitating DDoS attacks to destructive malware programs, business security threats are now a chief concern for companies of all sizes. In the wake of these security issues, an increasing amount of organizations have turned to SIEM as a proactive solution to managing and mitigating their business risks.

SIEM, or Security Information and Event Management, is a business system designed to collect, track, and analyze events across distributed sources. In a nutshell, SIEM is a unified system that recognizes security threats as they surface and shows you how to address them.

But how exactly do SIEM systems function? Are they really necessary for your business?
Here is a brief overview of the components that make up SIEM and how your organization can benefit from them.

How does a SIEM System Function?

Being able to recognize suspicious activity on a network is critical to safeguarding a business. The problem is most IT teams don’t have the bandwidth necessary to do this. This is where the three core automation benefits of SIEM security comes into play.

1. Data Collection and Information Storage

SIEM systems take the legwork out of manual hardware and software data retrieval. This is done through streamlined extraction of essential records and data element values.

Device Logging

The guiding principle of any SIEM tool is to act like a sponge, gathering as much data from as many devices as possible. Through specific configurations, SIEM collects and merges log records from multiple sources.

Data Parsing and Storage

Once received, SIEM begins interpreting collected data and categorizes it. This process identifies each log type and stores it across various hosts and systems until analyzed.

2. Event Aggregation and Normalization

Once a SIEM system gathers information from supported systems and devices, it goes to work making sense of the data. It does this by first filtering stored information, formatting it, and comparing it over a period of time.

Record Correlation

SIEM tools use correlation engines to help administrators create pre-defined rules around network activity and user behaviors. They combine individual records and compare them against each other to look for commonalities.

Event Interpretation

SIEM keeps track of the number of times data correlations are detected. This is a critical step in recognizing suspicious activity such as several failed login attempts over a short period of time.

3. Threat Detection and Incident Response

The most important driver behind the use of a SIEM system is in its early threat detection and response capabilities. SIEM does much more than data consolidation. It provides actionable insights to organizations about the safety and stability of their entire IT infrastructure.

Trend Discovery

As defined data correlations are recognized over time, SIEM tools alert appropriate team members once certain conditions are met. This proactive feature helps administrators quickly act against early signs of network intrusion or respond to other network anomalies.

Analytics and Reporting

SIEM systems provide detailed analytics and reporting functions that can help administrators visualize all areas of their networked business. This functionality is essential to make better-informed decisions about the integrity of servers and connected systems.

How Does SIEM Benefit Your Business?

There are many reasons why SIEM systems are a valuable business investment.

Provides Effective Risk Mitigation

SIEM security systems are designed to proactively check for and protect against security threats of every size. By unifying your entire infrastructure under one protective barrier, you’re able to quickly respond to malicious attempts to access your private networks while creating preventative measures to ensure long-term business viability.

Ensures Business Compliance

When storing and transmitting sensitive data over your networks, it’s vital that you’re able to maintain regulatory compliance standards at all times. SIEM systems allow you to prove compliance in real-time by utilizing pre-defined reports for a wide range of industry-mandated compliance regulations. SIEM tools audit these reports to ensure your systems are always meeting the required standards.

Saves Time and Resources

SIEM significantly reduces the bandwidth constraints of your IT staff. It does this by automating the time-consuming process of compiling data and formatting it for analysis. SIEM systems can help your business focus on other mission-critical operations while it takes on the heavy lifting out of threat monitoring and asset management.

Drives Efficiency

Unified monitoring and reporting systems help to drive better business efficiency. As your company scales, SIEM tools identify gaps in business security, incident response protocols, and optimal network configurations. SIEM gives you the insights you need to create a sustainable and scalable business environment.

ArmorPoint is a managed SIEM provider of innovative IT solutions and services. ArmorPoint simplifies the process of business security and compliance by providing automated incident mitigation managed 24/7 by dedicated IT security staff. Contact ArmorPoint today to start your free trial and experience first-hand how a full-stack threat detection and response program can benefit your business.

About ArmorPoint

ArmorPoint is a security information and event management solution that provides a cost-effective and reliable way to continually protect your business from emerging threats. Through its customizable service pricing model, ArmorPoint’s cost-effective packages and dynamic levels of expert management support the security strategies of all companies, regardless of available budget, talent, or time. And since ArmorPoint offers 24/7 security support with a team of dedicated specialists, they can provide you with the manpower you need to expertly manage all of your cybersecurity initiatives. See how ArmorPoint can make a difference in your security posture with a risk-free 30 day free trial.