Alerts from a Security Operations Center (SOC) provide critical information concerning potential security threats and incidents to an organization.
By receiving alerts from the SOC, an organization can quickly identify incidents and take appropriate action to respond to and mitigate the threat. Without these alerts, an organization may be unaware of a security incident until it's too late, potentially resulting in significant damage to the organization's reputation, financial losses, or other negative consequences.
These alerts can be triggered by a variety of events, such as:
- Security breaches: The SOC may send an alert if it detects a security breach, such as unauthorized access to a network or system, or if it receives notification of a breach from an external source. A few examples of security breaches would include unauthorized access attempts, malware infections, Denial of Service (DOS) attacks, and data exfiltration attempts.
- Vulnerabilities: You might be alerted if the SOC detects a vulnerability in an organization's system or application that could be exploited by an attacker. A few examples of vulnerabilities include Zero Day, weak data encryption, weak authorization credentials, and unpatched software.
- Suspicious activity: The SOC may send an alert if it detects suspicious activity on an organization's network, like abnormal geo location, multiple logins by the same account, or users accessing areas or programs they don’t normally try to access. This could include social engineering attacks, like phishing emails or phone calls designed to trick users to providing sensitive information.
- Compliance violations: You could receive an alert if the SOC detects a violation of an organization's security policies or compliance requirements, such as the unauthorized access of sensitive data or not utilizing SSO or VPN required access. Control over data sharing is also watched to ensure that users don’t provide access to those who should not have it. This would include NIST, CMMC or other cybersecurity frameworks that your organization may be following.
- System failures: The SOC may send an alert if it detects a failure or malfunction in an organization's systems or applications, such as a server outage or a software bug.
- Threat intelligence: Threat intelligence looks at the bigger picture – by finding insights from the data and applying a broader context based on what is happening outside of your organization. Managed SOCaaS teams might use trends seen on other accounts to inform their threat intelligence for your services. Information from external sources about emerging threats or trends, such as threat intelligence feeds, can also trigger an alert.
The specific types of alerts that an organization receives from the SOC will depend on the organization's specific security needs and requirements. The SOC may use a variety of methods to send alerts, such as email, SMS, or a web-based portal. It is important for organizations to have a process in place for responding to and addressing these alerts in a timely and effective manner.
To learn more about how a SOC can help protect your organization from cyber threats, connect with the experts at MindPoint Group.
