What Is SIEM? An Easy Guide(2021)

‘The Power of two security systems in one.’

1. What is SIEM?
2. How does siem work?
3. Tools
4. Siem in the enterprise
5. Limitations

1) What is SIEM?

SIEM stands for Security Information and Event Management. It is a subdivision within the field of computer security, where software products and services consolidate security information management and security event management.

SIEM is a solution that provides monitoring, detecting, or alerting of security events within an IT environment.  It is a software solution that collects and analyses activity from many sources across your entire IT Infrastructure. It functions as threat management and detection as well as a log management tool.

It is an amalgam of the Security Information system (SIM) and Security Event Management (SEM).

Security Information system (SIM): It is a series of processes through which data from the computer activity log is compiled, monitored, and analyzed. SIM specifically refers to that part of the process that deals with historical log analysis and reporting.

Security Event Management (SEM): It refers to real-time activities involved in gathering and analyzing log data. It is a process of identifying, gathering, monitoring, and reporting security-related events in an IT environment.

2) How does siem work?

SIEM Software works by collecting log and event data generated by security devices, applications used in the organization, and host systems and bringing all the collected data together on to the centralized platform.

• SEIM collects data from other security systems such as endpoint security, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and the like. SIEMs are getting smarter in data collection.
• After the collection of data, the software identifies and categorizes incidents and events, and also analyses them.
• It provides reports on security-related incidents and events. E. g. Successful and failed logins, malware attacks, malicious activities, and other attempts for intrusions.
• When SEIM identifies a threat through network security monitoring, an alert is generated, and the threat level is defined by the software based on predetermined rules. 

With the help of SEIM, cybersecurity professionals can more easily analyze the data.

3) Tools

SIEM is a set of tools and services which offers an integrated view of an organization’s information security.

SIEM Tools offer comprehensive log data analysis of all IT environment activities in real-time to prevent potential security breaches. These tools are an integral part of the data security ecosystem. They collect data from multiple systems and analyze data to catch potential cyberattacks.

Generally, SEIM Products are differentiated based on cost. The more you pay, the greater the features and capabilities. Therefore, buyers must weigh their needs and budget and accordingly select the SIEM system for their organization.

A small business might look for automation, ease of use, and cost, whereas an entity with a sophisticated security operations centre might focus on the assets covered and machine learning capabilities for discovering emerging threats.

Some of the SIEM Tools list available in the market are as follows:

• Datadog Security Monitoring.
• Splunk Enterprise Security
• OSSEC
• RSA NetWitness
• IBM QRadar
• McAfee Enterprise Security Manager
• Securonix
• LogRhythm
• Exabeam
• AT&T Cybersecurity

4) Siem in the enterprise

According to research, the global SIEM market size is expected to grow from USD 4.2 Billion in 2020 to USD 5.5 Billion by 2025.

SIEM software is mostly used by large business organizations where compliance with laws and regulations is a crucial factor in the use of this technology.

Some of the benefits of SIEM for an organization can be summed up as follows:

• Data Aggregation:

Normally as the organizations grow, an increase in the number of applications, databases, users, and third parties can be seen. These create “dark places” in the IT environment, and hackers often take advantage of these dark places in your network. They can exploit them to bypass your cybersecurity perimeter.

SIEM solutions unveil and draw the information from previously hidden spaces in the network. This prevents hackers from hiding their malicious activities from view.

• Compliance

Compliance is a critical benefit of SIEM. SIEM solutions provide report templates for most compliance mandates like HIPAA (Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). SIEM solutions can use the collected data to fill these templates. Thus, results in saving time and cost.

• Threat Detection and Security Alerting:

After aggregation and normalization of data, SIEM can analyze the data for potential threats with the help of security event correlation. SIEM solutions possess the ability to detect cyberattacks in real-time.

5) Limitations

Some of the limitations of SIEM are as follows:

• Expensive:

SIEM security charges are provided at very high charges. Thus, people are of a view that SIEM security is expensive.

• Maintenance:

SIEM comes with a lot of labour commitment. A dedicated staff is required to perform the tasks of deploying agents, parsing logs, or performing upgrades.

• Complex Technology:

Skilled IT engineers and analysts are required for successful deployment and use of SIEM.

Conclusion

“Cyber Crime is the greatest threat to every company in the world”- Ginny Rometty, Former CEO of IBM. Cybersecurity is the need of the hour and recognizing its importance more, and more businesses are moving towards SIEM as a security measure.

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