For small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), a security operations center (SOC) can be an invaluable investment. By connecting disparate strands of information together, a SOC can act as an effective early warning system that can detect malicious actors and defend against potential cyberattacks. With an array of advanced tools and an experienced team, a SOC ensures that your business's assets remain secure 24/7.
In this article, we will delve deeper into why every SMB needs a round-the-clock SOC to monitor their networks.
What is the purpose of a SOC?
A SOC provides an integrated and centralized platform to monitor, detect, respond to, and report on potential security threats. It tracks the effectiveness of security processes and procedures and upholds compliance standards by automatically collecting data from multiple sources, such as deep system logs, network devices, databases, marketing accounts, and user activity.
The primary purpose of a SOC is to help secure essential data from malicious attackers or other entities that can put company operations at risk. Overall, a SOC helps protect confidential information and enables organizations to have more secure procedures in place for smoother business operations.
What are the benefits of having a round-the-clock SOC?
SOCs are a vital component of any business’s security and compliance strategy because they help an organization remain secure and operational in an increasingly digital world. Specifically, a SOC that offers nonstop service gives your business the following advantages.
Efficient threat detection and mitigation
A 24/7 SOC allows for continuous monitoring of an organization's security environment, which can help detect threats and security incidents in real time. SOC analysts can also quickly identify the source of the incident and take appropriate action to contain and remediate the issue. This leads to quicker response times and reduces the impact of an incident.
Among the threats a SOC can catch early on are network intrusions, data breaches, and malicious software installations. They can also flag insider threats, such as suspicious user activity like repeated attempted logins. This helps ensure incidents are managed promptly, reducing the potential for extended downtime and data loss.
Enhanced systems visibility
A SOC that operates around the clock can provide better visibility into your organization's security posture, thus helping identify vulnerabilities and potential threats before these become major issues. And by leveraging threat intelligence insights, automation, and machine learning, SOCs can help assess and address your business’s IT infrastructure vulnerabilities and prevent attackers from taking advantage of any security gaps.
Streamlined security and compliance
Many industry regulations and compliance standards require organizations to have a SOC in place. Having a SOC that’s available 24/7 can help ensure that your business is meeting these requirements.
A SOC can also leverage automated compliance monitoring to identify and flag potential compliance issues quickly, reducing the time and resources needed to manually review security logs and events. They can also establish a centralized reporting system for tracking, reporting, and addressing compliance concerns in a timely manner, as well as develop standardized policies and procedures for security operations. These efforts help guarantee that everyone in the organization is following the same guidelines while making it easier to identify and rectify any compliance issues.
Improved cost savings
While having a 24/7 SOC may require paying money upfront, it can ultimately be more cost-effective in the long run. This is because the staggering cost of a security breach can far outweigh the cost of maintaining a SOC, making it a worthwhile investment.
A SOC provides businesses with state-of-the-art security solutions and 24/7 monitoring, reducing the need for costly recovery efforts following a successful attack, as well as long periods of associated downtime. Advanced analytics and automated reports within a SOC can also help inform business leaders of any vulnerabilities that may lead to losses, whether these losses come in the currency of data, uptime, or customer trust.
You can reap a trove of benefits from having a 24/7 SOC — but only when you work with the right technology partner. Founders Technology Group has extensive experience in helping businesses make the most of their SOC investment, from setting up their infrastructure to providing advanced solutions to supervising personnel training, and more. Connect with our IT experts today.