What Is the Difference Between SIEM and SOAR?
07.08.2019
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Nowadays, a lot of attention is being paid on the SOAR vs. SIEM debate. To get the most benefit from your security data, it is vital to understand the difference between these essential cybersecurity tools. Although SOAR and SIEM have several components in common, we cannot use these tools interchangeably as they are different in nature.
In this article, we will look into comprehension introduction of SIEM and SOAR, some key differences between them, how they can collectively provide multilayer cyber security, and knowing the importance of their seamless integration.
SIEM stands for Security Information and Event Management. This platform efficiently collects and stores security data at a central point and then converts it into actionable intelligence. The security data may include antivirus logs, firewall logs, network logs, and hashes of downloaded files. Once data gathering is completed, analysts will be able to analyze it. SIEM also raises alerts if any suspicious activity is found.
Like SIEM, SOAR system also help SOC teams to manage and respond to countless alarms. However, SOAR takes things even a step further by combining a complete data collecting, standardization, case management, workflow, and analytics to allow enterprises implementing the defense-in-depth capabilities. In a nutshell, SOAR integrates security tools, applications, and systems and enable SOC teams to automate and orchestrate mundane, time-consuming, and repetitive manual tasks.
As we know, the SIEM solution only raises an alert in the event of detecting any suspicious activity. Thereafter, security analysts will decide whether further investigation is required or not. On the other hand, a SOAR not only automates investigation path workflows but also reduces the time needed to deal with pesky alerts.
When it comes to SIEM vs. SOAR debate, both security solutions aggregate security data from many sources, but the locations and the quantity of information that is being sourced are disparate. Usually, the SIEM system ingests numerous types of logs and event data from the traditional infrastructure component sources. In contrast, a SOAR solution takes in all that and even more. For instance, SOAR has the capability to ingest data from endpoint security software, external threat intelligence feeds, and third-party sources.
Security professionals recommend that SIEM and SOAR platforms could work together to provide a collective defense against cyber threats and attacks. According to the Gartner, 15 percent of businesses with a security team larger than five people will leverage SOAR, by the end of 2020. SOAR has the massive potential to improve the efficacy and efficiency of Security Operations (SecOps) and, therefore, this platform plays a vital role in assisting to shape the future of the SIEM.
As previously mentioned, SIEM raises alerts when malicious activity is found, as well as notify security administrators to respond to the alert or trigger an automated response. The response capabilities of the SIEM include blocking the activity, triggering the vulnerability scan, collecting any additional information, and likewise rudimentary actions. Fortunately, SOAR solution takes SIEM’s response capabilities to the next level by offering the automated response. SOAR system supplement, rather than replace the SIEM.
After receiving the alert from the SIEM, a SOAR solution will issue a call to generate a ticket in the incident tracking system. After that, it will reach into the emergency alerting system to inform the CSIRT team while automatically implementing quarantine rules in a firewall. In fact, SOAR platform serves a cybersecurity accelerator by saving precious response time. Combining both these tools saves time and resources and make for faster, smarter detection and response, and remediation of cyber incidents.
Every SOAR platform must offer seamless integration with the SIEM tool. Seamless integration looks like a two-way integration that allows SIEM and SOAR tools to work seamlessly together fusing intelligence to enhance the overall effectiveness and operational performance of organizations’ existing cybersecurity program.
