What Are SOC as a Service (SOCaas) Companies?

Should you consider a SOCaaS Company?

In the modern age, looking after your data is one of the most important best practices your businesses can implement. If you’re a business owner, it’s important to consider just how much your entire company could be reliant upon the web. If you’re aware of the consistent rise of cybercrime, you may be considering setting up a security operations center, or SOC. You can set this up in-house if you want to manage all of your data and security from the office, but there are also a lot of opportunities to outsource this to ‘SOC as a service’ (SOCaaS) companies. So, what is a SOC… and when should you consider outsourcing?

What is a SOC?

Imagine your favorite movie about the space program. (NASA. “Houston, we have a problem.” That sort of thing.)

Now, think about the control room that’s in those movies. Screens everywhere. Maps. Trajectories and data mapping and seasoned analysts watching for every move, every possible contingency, 24/7.

Take that control room and replace NASA with your company’s data systems.

Instead of monitoring the trajectory of a space shuttle, the experts are watching your data move through your system. Looking at access and authentications. At user behavior. Watching for any anomalous activity or potential threats that could hit your system and compromise your data, your employee’s data, or the data of your customers.

That control room is your SOC. Your Security Operations Center.

Each SOC responds differently to threats based on their organization’s policies and protocols for dealing with security incidents. Some will deal with the problems themselves, and some just work to identify what the issues are so that they can seek help from the authority who deals with the systems.

Of course, your SOC doesn’t have to be in-house, and there are many benefits to using SOC-as-a-Service companies.

What is a SOC as a service company?

SOC as a service is pretty self-explanatory; SOC is offered as a service by an external company, and they will manage your internal security. From monitoring the activity of your devices to the management of your Cloud services. Not only this, but they will also partner with your existing IT staff in order to learn your company’s technology fingerprint, and set up the processes to deal with any potential cybersecurity threats in the future.

This can beneficial to any organization, as the best of these companies are made up of professional security engineers and analysts, with extensive histories in managing a variety of security products and services. This means that you have the protection of professionals who have extensive knowledge of looking after systems all over the world.

When Should I Consider SOC as a Service?

There are many reasons why your business could benefit from a SOC as a service company:

• Having your own SOC is expensive: If you’re a small business owner, keeping your SOC in-house may be too expensive, as it can cost a lot to hire security specialists. Not only this, but you’ll also have to increase your office space to cater to them, which can take even more of a toll on your budget.
• Most SOC as a service companies offer 24/7 monitoring: Having an in-house SOC will only benefit you so much, as you can’t have your security specialists monitoring your systems for 24 hours a day (unless you pay them a lot to do so). Most SOC as a service companies offer 24/7 monitoring to their clients, so you’ll always be protected from cyber threats.
• They offer state-of-the-art protection: SOC as a service companies offer the most up-to-date cybersecurity protection, and it’s likely that you will have a higher level of security if you outsource your SOC. It’s a lot easier for hackers to get into your systems if they are self-contained, and you are a lot more at risk if you decide to keep your security in the office.
• The security engineers are highly skilled: You could hire some security specialists in-house, but the likelihood is that they aren’t as highly skilled as those in SOC as a service companies, who deal with current threats on a daily bases. By going through SOC as a service companies, you can get access to these specialists, without paying the premium costs that you’d have to fork out if you were going to hire them directly.
• It offers you a good balance of human and tech support: Not only do SOC as a service companies offer the best technology that you can get when it comes to detecting issues, but they also have skilled people on hand to identify any potential issues, too. These companies offer a good balance between the two types of cybersecurity protection, for any type of business.
• They offer training to your members of staff: These SOC as a service companies also can take the time to educate your staff members, so that they can identify any issues, and react appropriately. This means that you’ll have people on hand who can notice problems immediately.
• Peace of mind: When you outsource to a SOC as a service company, you can rest easy knowing that your cybersecurity is being looked after by expert analysts who know exactly what they’re doing. Having in-house cybersecurity has the tendency to be more unreliable, and it’s difficult to know that you’re hiring the right people for your businesses needs.
• Regular reports: Some of these companies will send you regular reports on the status of your services (even hourly reports, in some cases) so that you are always up-to-date with the status of your cybersecurity.
• Flexibility: Some SOC as a service companies offer full support to your business and its cybersecurity needs, whereas others take a bit more of a backseat when it comes to your SOC. You can choose the level of support that you require, and tailor your SOC as a service plan to your budget, and your needs as a company.

A SOC is something that could secure any organization and provide immense value, whether you decide to manage your cybersecurity in-house, or with an external SOC as a service company. However, SOC as a service companies offer an array of extra benefits for the business owner… if you partner with the right company.

If you have a limited budget, and you want more advanced, around-the-clock support from your SOC, then consider reaching out to us at BitLyft. We would love to have a short conversation about how we can set your IT infrastructure up for secure, lasting success.