3 Reasons for Considering Managed SIEM Services

Managed SIEM services can save you time and money.

SIEM, or Security Information and Event Management, refers to a group of software products which allow organizations to monitor security events in real time. SIEM, however, requires that companies dedicate their own IT resources to manage and monitor networks effectively.

Most small and medium-sized businesses use multiple security products at the system, network, and cloud level. All of those products are endlessly generating alerts and logs, many of which must be processed manually. Some SIEM software products offer “automation” technologies reliant on machine learning. However, the scope of these features is limited in current implementations. Machine learning can recognize new patterns that look like threats and then send alerts to IT professionals. However, it can’t always identify whether a particular pattern is a cybersecurity issue or not: that requires a human touch.

Here’s Where Managed SIEM Services Comes In

With managed SIEM services, the company itself doesn’t have to do any of the workload. Instead, it’s all taken care of by the third-party provider, like BitLyft. The customer does nothing.

Managed SIEM services offer companies a range of cybersecurity services. The most important of these is log management. Log management is where the provider takes security data from across your company’s network, feeds it through its SIEM system, and then organizes all the events data into a pattern which it can then use to identify threats, deal with issues, and provide reports for auditing.

Asset Discovery

Managed SIEM services also do something else that’s important: asset discovery. Companies don’t often know what assets they have or what data they need to protect. With asset discovery, BitLyft will itemizes all your data and systems and bring it all under a single umbrella. No part of your network is cut off.

Let’s take a look at three reasons why you might consider managed SIEM services.

Lack of Resources

Most small companies don’t have the resources to perform all of the functions that managed SIEM services offer. A small company may not have any dedicated IT professionals at all. Even if it does have some, they are probably already busy dealing with other IT issues. This could include implementing new software strategies and researching the best product stack for company operations. Often, there just isn’t time in the day to monitor all network events and respond to them individually.

One of the jobs of IT professionals is to identify vulnerabilities in the company network and resolve them. But with limited resources and growing IT scope at many companies, CIOs often don’t have the resources to dedicate to identifying vulnerable systems. Again, this is something that third-party managed SIEMs can do. They scan your network to find weak points and then take measures to address them, making a breach less likely over the long-run.

Lack of Time

Getting up to speed with a complex SIEM product takes a lot of time. Each product is different, and IT professionals may have to dedicate entire days or weeks to learn how to use it effectively. Also, the software itself is demanding on a company’s labor time. Cybersecurity personnel have to physically sit there monitoring logs and investigating threats since most SIEM systems don’t do this automatically.

If you run a small business, you need your IT professionals doing the highest value-added tasks, not focusing on monitoring networks. A lack of time, therefore, is why many firms choose a managed approach.

Managed SIEM services can do things like behavioral monitoring and spot unusual activity on the network quickly. Third-party operators can inform you of suspicious behavior and immediately alert you. This helps you to eliminate issues as soon as they arise.

Lack of Budget

Hiring IT employees to sit and monitor your network is expensive. It’s something that only the largest and most lucrative companies can bring in-house. Most companies, therefore, choose a managed solution instead. Managed SIEM services are much less expensive than paying a full-time salary to a new member of staff but they offer many of the same benefits.

Managed SIEM services rely on teams of dedicated analysts who spread their time across multiple clients. Smart software feeds events to these analysts who then analyze it and send reports to companies. Often, managed SIEM services will perform actions to protect your network on your behalf.

What’s interesting about managed SIEM services is that they can help improve productivity at your company as well as security. Suppose, for instance, that you use a managed SIEM provider to manage your company’s firewall. Firewalls are great for keeping out unwanted traffic, but they have a nasty habit of blocking lots of things that would like to be able to go in and out of your network – such as traffic that has not been categorized good or bad yet, or an attack method that the firewall isn’t aware of yet..

Managed SIEM services can update firewall settings, along with other security settings across your IT landscape, allowing vital information to get through while at the same time tweaking the system so that you aren’t inundated with malware and viruses. Managed SIEM can help you capitalize on all your priorities and ensure that you can take advantage of maximizing your IT resources.

Conclusion

Managed SIEM is a form of security information and events management that reduces costs and frees up time and resources in your company for other applications. For many companies, managed SIEM is the only option: hiring a full-time SOC is just too expensive and would put undue strain on company finances.

Managed SIEM services often offer much more value than mere threat detection and log management. With a managed SIEM, you can also discover what data your organization holds and what needs protecting. (It sounds trivial, but asset discovery is a vital tool that helps to protect your data and proprietary information while at the same time, boosting compliance).

Managed SIEMs also provide behavioral monitoring. You may, for instance, have an employee who sees an opportunity to sell trade secrets. Behavioral monitoring can detect unusual activity on your network, giving you the information you need to investigate serious breaches further.

In short, managed SIEM services help firms get the cost of monitoring their networks down while at the same time boosting security performance.

How BitLyft Cybersecurity Can Help

BitLyft Cybersecurity offers Co-Managed Cybersecurity to help businesses of all sizes to safeguard their systems, protect their networks and ensure no cybercriminals can steal their data. With experienced specialists helping to manage your business’s defenses and answer any security-related questions and concerns you may have, it’s the ideal solution for a convenient and flexible cybersecurity solution.

We’ll help explain the services we offer and how they can be customized to your exact needs.