What does a SOC Analyst Do?

These days, cybersecurity has never been more important for companies around the globe. Even though many companies use the most sophisticated and latest versions of antivirus software, firewalls, and various other resources, there is no denying that criminal hackers and other threats are getting a lot more sophisticated as well. Companies need to always be on their toes so that they can proactively put plenty of effort into protecting their information and data systems from the latest threats. As you probably already know, this can be very time consuming.

There is one way around it, though—you could hire a SOC analyst to lead a SOC team. Lots of companies are now doing all that they can to set up the best possible SOC team for their company. Haven’t done this yet? Don’t worry—we’ll go through what a SOC expert is and how they can help you in this blog post.

If you haven’t heard of the term SOC yet, you might be confused already. It simply stands for “security operations center” and refers to the overall team and their responsibilities that help protect the company’s IT and technology. The SOC professional that you hire would be in charge of the whole team. They need to be an individual who has extensive knowledge and experience of working with tech and IT processes and systems, and also be able to meticulously plan for all possible emergencies, daily events, incidents and keeping breaches at bay, that might occur. that might occur. Hopefully, this plan won’t be needed though, as the SOC analyst will be able to put in some thorough preventive measures in place.

SOC Analyst Responsibilities

Now that you are aware that a SOC team and a SOC expert might be some things that you need in your company if you don’t already have them, you maybe want to know a bit more about what they do. More specifically, you’ll no doubt want to learn more about the roles and the responsibilities of all SOC professionals as hiring one will likely come at quite a large cost for your business. Here are some of the main duties of a SOC analyst.

Investigate All Suspicious Activities

If there are ever any signs of suspicious activity in any of your business accounts or elsewhere in your information and data systems, then it will be your SOC expert’s responsibility to investigate them further. Suspicious activity doesn’t always mean that you have been targeted by cyber criminals but it’s important to check it out just to be on the safe side. A SOC analyst will know which checks to carry out on all kinds of activities that are flagged as suspicious and they’ll be able to get to the bottom of them in no time at all.  

Maintain Secure Monitoring Tools

The SOC analyst will also need to keep an eye on all of the different tools and platforms that are used for cybersecurity. That’s so they can check that they are always working as well as they should be and that any potential issues with them are flagged and that the appropriate team members are notified. It might be the case that the tool just needs to be updated. It’s really important that they are continually monitored, though, so that the SOC team are happy knowing that they are working as well as they should. Any faults or bugs could result in them being a lot less effective. 

Liaise With And Delegate To The Rest Of The SOC Team

The SOC analyst will likely be the head of your whole SOC team, so they will need to have plenty of experience and skills in managing others. It will therefore be their duty to liaise with everyone else in the team and to ensure that everyone is up to date with what is going on and where the team is currently at. They will also need to delegate tasks and jobs as and when they come in. A strong leader in this position will ensure that the whole team works efficiently and that everyone knows exactly what they should be doing.

Review And Report On All Cybersecurity Processes

It is also the SOC analyst’s job to continually review all of the cybersecurity processes that are in place throughout the company. They will need to keep regular reports that document how well each process is working and whether there is any room for updates and improvements. These reports should be passed on to their senior manager, who is usually the CTO, CIO, or CISO.

Keep All Security Programs And Resources Up To Date

Most tools and resources that are used for cybersecurity, such as antivirus software, firewalls, vulnerability scanning, system wide operating systems, will need to be regularly updated to ensure the information systems are running the latest version. It’s up to the SOC expert to carry out these updates.

Why You Might Want To Outsource Rather Than Hire a SOC analyst

If you are a small or medium-sized company, you might find that hiring a specialist SOC expert can be quite expensive. Here are some reasons why you might want to outsource to a company like BitLyft:

• It usually works out a lot cheaper than hiring full-time employees as you will only pay BitLyft for the work it carries out and won’t need to offer financial benefits.
• They offer 24/7 cyber monitoring, which might not be financially possible for an on-site SOC team at your company would be possible if you had an on-site SOC team.
• It makes your business’s compliance a lot easier. Companies like BitLyft are fully compliant so you won’t have to set up any frameworks that meet regulatory standards in your own firm.

So, there you have it. SOC experts are now a key part of any company these days. You don’t always have to hire a full-time individual to work in your team, though, as it’s something that can be easily outsourced. You just need to decide which option is the best for your company. Once you do decide, you will find that there are so many benefits of utilizing a SOC.

BitLyft can help you assess your current state of security with our FREE ASSESSMENT. Then, we can you formulate plan to become NIST compliant. We offer many of the services at a fraction of the cost of an in-house team. Contact us today to get started.