10 Key SOC Functions You Must Be Aware Of

Security failures disrupt business workflow, contribute to system downtime, increase legal penalties due non-compliance, and result in loss of customer and reputation. It may take years to build brand image and reputation, but a single incident can sabotage it all. 

Thankfully, SOC teams help businesses efficiently address these issues. Before we proceed, it is important to differentiate between service organizations control (SOC) which is a compliance program VS security operations center (SOC) which is a security service. 

In this article, you learn what SOC functions mean, the top ten SOC functions, how you can reap its benefits. 

What are SOC functions?

SOC (Security Operations Center) is a team of security professionals. Their functions are to analyze, monitor, detect, mitigate, and investigate cyber threats against organizations.

SOC teams manage the entire lifecycle of risks across systems like desktops, endpoint devices, networks, cloud, and more. They typically collaborate with other functions within the organization to gain insight into vulnerabilities and effectively mitigate them. 

Top 10 SOC functions you must know

Now that you know what SOC functions are, let’s understand what they are and how it helps you keep those pesky issues away.

Prevention

In security, prevention is always better than cure. It is the first line of defense against a number of previously encountered and unknown threats. Prevention techniques help to eliminate the threat before it can enter and infect the system.

Prevention measures work by combining tools and processes that monitor systems in real-time. Tools like security information and event management (SIEM), endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems, and network intrusion prevention system (NIPS) are commonly used to block intrusion at entry points.

Asset maintenance

No matter what type of data your business manages and processes, an asset inventory management system is crucial to protect its integrity. Asset management provides a single source of truth for all assets, irrespective of where they are deployed. The asset data includes users, documents, licenses, containers, lifecycle stage, location, and more. 

A SOC should identify all types of assets across the system like cloud, endpoint devices, networks, and applications. Once identified, categorize them into the level of risk (low, medium, high) to prioritize high-risk assets. 

SOC teams can consider asset management software to discover gaps, guide designated functions to remediate issues, and help with overall compliance.

Monitoring

Proactive monitoring is the use of tools that continuously analyze traffic and log files in the organization’s networks and other connected endpoints or systems for suspicious behavior. Monitoring tools are set to trigger alerts if a vulnerability is detected and send relevant information to the SOC team.

Advanced threat monitoring tools with machine learning capabilities can leverage historical behavioral patterns to combat non signature-based threats. EDR and SIEM systems are commonly used for threat monitoring. 

Prioritization

While SOC tools simplify the process of threat hunting, a common issue with most solutions is false alarms and limited categorization capabilities. SOC teams assess incoming threat alerts, do away with false positives, and analyze the level of risk posed by each. 

Typically, this involves assessing the probability of a compromise, figuring out what assets it is targeting, identifying the scope of the incident, and identifying the source of the threat. Threats targeting high-value assets will be prioritized for the next steps which involve investigating and containing it.

Investigation

This is the post infection stage, when the threat has penetrated your infrastructure. 

At this point, SOC teams use forensic examination to analyze the nature and severity of the damage. They try to understand the intent of the attack from an attacker’s perspective and safeguard possible areas of exploit to reduce the blast radius. 

Leveraging threat intelligence like the attacker’s tools, location of origin, and attack techniques, SOC analysts usually perform a triage. This is followed by identifying the steps necessary to contain it. 

Response

Once the investigation is complete, the response team prepares to contain the threat. Most organizations follow an incident response plan (IRP) that specifies how to identify, contain, and mitigate attacks. IRPs commonly follow framework models developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). Common response tools include EDR solutions or security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) technologies. 

IRPs generally include roles and responsibilities for each member, tools and systems, business continuity plan, a comprehensive response plan, and instructions to document details of the incident. An IBM study on cyber resilience shows that most organizations adopt different response strategies, based on the type of incident. 

Remediation

A structured approach to intercept threats before it contaminates and reduces the impact of an event, remediation is the final stage of the kill chain. Security operations centers identify gaps in the system, usually by conducting a risk assessment. An effective tool used by many organizations is a Cyber Risk Remediation Analysis (CRRA) system. 

Common ways to remediate threats include using firewalls, regularly updating software and applying patches, and using a powerful anti malware solution. A good practice to remediate issues is by running scans throughout the database to discover vulnerabilities. However, this is limited to known vulnerabilities only. 

Management and maintenance

SOC teams are responsible for gathering information, maintaining log files within the network, and monitoring suspicious activity. They are also responsible for documenting new processes, technologies, and life cycle of threats, and changes. This helps with the auditing process. 

SOC teams work to continuously improve the security posture by updating softwares, operating systems, applications, and more. Update reduces the possibility of unknown or non signature based threats from infecting the system as new updates add new signatures in its database. 

Training

A robust security system combines people, process, and tools. People are an important component of improving the overall security posture. Common security issues like insider attacks and threats posed by shadow IT can be attributed to employee negligence or lack of awareness. 

An effective training program should include updated knowledge based on industry regulatory requirements, security best practices, and the organization’s policies. A good practice is to conduct tests on the learnings and keep documents of the results. 

Compliance 

Depending on your industry and organization’s policies, you may have to comply with frameworks like SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO, or GDPR. 

Nevertheless, security frameworks are requirement heavy, meaning it may require you to implement new processes, review controls, or change your existing systems. This combined with auditing requirements means a long list of deliverables. SOC teams have the expertise and knowledge to bring everything together so that you don’t fall into legal trouble. 

SOC functions at your fingertips

Did you know that compliance frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 help organizations implement an iron clad security system? And when you are SOC audit or ISO compliant, it helps to unlock new sales opportunities? But you have to be compliant first—and this is time consuming and expensive. 

Sprinto’s compliance automation platform helps you become audit ready for all popular frameworks at lightning speed, a fraction of cost, and very little manual effort. A platform like Sprinto helps SOC teams continuously monitor infrastructure, identify areas of non-compliance, train employees, maintain audit logs, and much more. 

Want to learn more? Speak to our experts today.

FAQs

What are the 5 major steps for developing a SOC?

The five major steps to develop a SOC include:

• Planning
• Designing
• Building
• Operating
• Maintaining

What are SOC’s main functions?

The main functions of SOC teams include:

• Prevention
• Monitoring
• Prioritization
• Response
• Remediation
• Compliance