Information security operations center

An information security operations center ("ISOC" or "SOC") is a facility where enterprise information systems (web sites, applications, databases, data centers and servers, networks, desktops and other endpoints) are monitored, assessed, and defended.

A SOC is related with the people, processes and technologies involved in providing situational awareness through the detection, containment, and remediation of IT threats. A SOC manages incidents for the enterprise, ensuring they are properly identified, analyzed, communicated, actioned/defended, investigated and reported. The SOC also monitors applications to identify a possible cyber-attack or intrusion (event) and determines if it is a real, malicious threat (incident), and if it could have a business impact.

Establishing and operating a SOC is expensive and difficult; organisations should need a good reason to do it. This may include:

A security operations center (SOC) can also be called security defense center (SDC), security analytics center (SAC), network security operations center (NSOC), security intelligence center, cyber security center, threat defense center, security intelligence and operations center (SIOC). In the Canadian Federal Government the term infrastructure protection centre (IPC) is used to describe a SOC.

SOCs typically are based around a security information and event management (SIEM) system which aggregates and correlates data from security feeds such as network discovery and vulnerability assessment systems; governance, risk and compliance (GRC) systems; web site assessment and monitoring systems, application and database scanners; penetration testing tools; intrusion detection systems (IDS); intrusion prevention system (IPS); log management systems; network behavior analysis and Cyber threat intelligence; wireless intrusion prevention system; firewalls, enterprise antivirus and unified threat management (UTM). The SIEM technology creates a "single pane of glass" for the security analysts to monitor the enterprise.

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