What is SIEM?

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): In-Depth Overview

Key Components and Functions of SIEM

Data Collection

SIEM systems collect data from a wide array of sources, including most network devices (such as firewalls or routers), servers, applications, security appliances (like antivirus software and intrusion detection/prevention systems), and even cloud-based services. This data consists of logs, event records, and other security-related information.

Data Integration: SIEM integrates with a wide array of third-party applications and data sources, making it versatile in its application. For example, SIEM can work in tandem with intrusion detection systems (IDS/IPS), antivirus software, and vulnerability scanners.

Normalization and Correlation

After collecting data, SIEM systems normalize and correlate it. Normalization involves translating data from various formats and sources into a standardized format for analysis. Correlation entails examining the data for patterns, relationships, and anomalies that might indicate a security threat.

Search and Analysis: Users are able to perform searches, queries, and data analysis to uncover patterns, trends, and anomalies within the collected data.

Visualizations: Some SIEM offer extra data visualization tools to create charts, graphs, and dashboards to help users understand their data at a glance.

Scalability: SIEM can scale to handle large volumes of data and can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud.

Customization: Users can create custom apps and add-ons to extend the functionality of SIEM to meet specific business needs.

Data Storage and Retention

SIEM solutions store security event data for an extended period, often in a secure and tamper-evident manner. This historical data can be valuable for compliance purposes or forensic investigations.

Reporting and Dashboards: SIEM systems offer customizable reporting capabilities and dashboards. Security teams can create reports to provide insights into the organization's security posture, trying to track trends, identify vulnerabilities, and demonstrate compliance with security policies to stakeholders.

Compliance: SIEM solutions can help in meeting regulatory compliance requirements. As they provide a centralized platform , making it easier to demonstrate compliance with various industry standards and regulations.

Benefits of SIEM

Improved Threat Detection

• SIEM systems enhance through the continuous monitoring of various data sources, including network traffic, system logs, and application activity.
• By correlating information from multiple sources, SIEMs allow to identify complex attack patterns that might go unnoticed by individual security tools.
• SIEM's real-time alerting and threat detection capabilities should enable organizations to respond quicker to security incidents.

Compliance Management

• Regulatory compliance is a significant concern for many organizations, particularly those in industries such as finance, healthcare, and government. SIEM simplifies compliance management by generating detailed logs and reports that align with regulatory requirements and industry standards.
• SIEM systems provide a centralized platform for collecting and storing the data necessary for compliance reporting. This includes audit logs, access control records, and user activity logs. Security teams can easily generate compliance reports, which are often required for regulatory audits and assessments.
• Compliance is not only about meeting legal requirements but also about demonstrating a commitment to robust security practices. SIEM can help organizations showcase their diligence in safeguarding sensitive data and adhering to security best practices.

Historical Analysis

• SIEM's data retention capabilities enable historical analysis of security events and incidents. This historical data can be invaluable for several purposes, including forensic investigations, trend analysis, and understanding the evolution of attack techniques.
• Forensic Analysis: When a security incident occurs, SIEM can provide historical data that allows security teams to trace the attack back to its source and understand the full scope of the breach. This information is crucial for evidence collection and legal proceedings.

Integration

• One of the strengths of SIEM is its ability to integrate with other security tools and technologies. This integration enhances an organization's overall security posture by streamlining security operations and increasing overall effectiveness.
• SIEM can integrate with antivirus software, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), vulnerability scanners, identity and access management (IAM) solutions, and more. This interoperability aims for a coordinated and orchestrated response to security incidents.

Real-time Threat Detection

NDR solutions are designed to provide real-time threat detection by continuously monitoring network traffic and looking for anomalies or suspicious activities. This real-time detection can complement SIEM, which traditionally relies on log data that may not be immediately available. By integrating NDR with SIEM, you can feed real-time threat data directly into your SIEM system, enabling faster response to threats.

Enhanced Contextual Data

NDR solutions can provide rich contextual data about network traffic and user behavior, such as packet-level data, flow data, and user behavior analytics. This additional context can help SIEM solutions better understand the nature and scope of security incidents, allowing for more accurate threat identification and response.

Reduced False Positives

NDR tools are designed to reduce false positives by applying sophisticated analytics to network traffic data. By reducing the noise in the data, SIEM systems can focus on more relevant and high-impact security events, making the overall security monitoring process more efficient and effective.

Improved Incident Response

NDR solutions can help SIEM systems automate incident response by providing real-time information about emerging threats. When NDR detects a suspicious event, it can trigger automated responses within the SIEM, such as alerting security teams or initiating predefined security workflows.

Correlation of Network and Endpoint Data

NDR solutions often integrate with endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, allowing for the correlation of network and endpoint data. This integration enables SIEM to provide a more comprehensive view of an attack's progression across the network and endpoints, improving threat detection and response.

Threat Hunting

NDR can assist in threat hunting by providing security analysts with the ability to proactively search for signs of hidden threats within the network. The results of threat hunting efforts can be incorporated into SIEM for long-term analysis and trend identification.

Compliance and Reporting

SIEM is often used for compliance and reporting purposes. NDR can help ensure that network traffic data is accurately and comprehensively captured for compliance requirements. This helps organizations meet regulatory standards and provides a more complete audit trail.

In summary, NDR makes SIEM smarter by enhancing its capabilities with real-time threat detection, contextual data, reduced false positives, improved incident response, and better integration with network and endpoint security tools. When used together, NDR and SIEM create a more robust and proactive security posture, helping organizations detect and respond to threats more effectively.

Quick, Ready-to-go Algorithms That Detect Complex Cyber Threats

The machine learning Network Detection and Response (NDR) platform ExeonTrace offers the flexibility to complement or replace a SIEM system. Regardless of your choice, ExeonTrace delivers top-tier security analytics and renowned AI algorithms, along with pre-built threat analyzers crafted in Switzerland by a skilled team comprising data scientists, machine learning experts, ethical hackers, and network security specialists.

ExeonTrace transforms your SIEM solution, such as SIEM, Elasticsearch or ArcSight into an effective network alarm system. Say goodbye to manual analysis and rule development as you embrace pre-configured detection algorithms for immediate use.

In a Nutshell: Ways NDR Fills the SIEM Gaps

NDR solutions enhance an organization's security posture by providing real-time, behavior-based threat detection, visibility into encrypted traffic, rapid incident response, and automated threat triage. By complementing SIEM systems, NDR helps organizations bridge the gaps in their cybersecurity strategy, creating a more comprehensive defense against a wide range of threats.

Real-Time Visibility:

NDR solutions provide real-time visibility into network traffic, which helps in identifying and responding to threats as they happen. This complements SIEM, which often relies on log data and may have a delay in detection.

Behavior-Based Detection:

NDR focuses on analyzing network traffic and endpoints for unusual or suspicious behaviors, which can identify threats that may not generate explicit log entries. SIEM, on the other hand, is more rule-based.

Threat Detection at Scale:

NDR can effectively analyze network traffic across the entire organization, making it well-suited for large-scale environments. SIEM may struggle to provide detailed analysis at such scale.

Automatic Threat Triage:

NDR solutions use machine learning and behavioral analytics to automatically prioritize and triage security alerts, reducing the workload for security teams. SIEM typically generates a high volume of alerts that require manual analysis.

Visibility into Encrypted Traffic:

NDR can inspect encrypted traffic, providing insights into encrypted threats that SIEM may struggle to analyze without decryption capabilities.

Rapid Incident Response:

NDR solutions enable rapid incident response by providing contextual information about the source and target of threats, which can help security teams take swift action. SIEM may require more time to piece together this information.

Forensics and Investigation:

NDR solutions retain historical network traffic data, allowing for in-depth forensics and investigations. SIEM may store logs but often lacks the same level of network traffic detail.

Reducing False Positives:

NDR solutions focus on reducing false positives by correlating network behavior, providing context, and using machine learning to identify genuine threats. SIEM, due to its reliance on logs, may generate more false positives.

Integration with SIEM:

NDR solutions can integrate with SIEM platforms, enhancing the capabilities of both systems. NDR can provide enriched data to SIEM for more comprehensive analysis.

Cloud and Hybrid Environments:

NDR solutions extend their visibility and threat detection capabilities into cloud and hybrid environments, addressing the challenge of monitoring these areas that SIEM may not natively support.

Anomaly Detection:

NDR solutions excel at identifying deviations from normal network behavior, making them effective in detecting insider threats and zero-day attacks, where predefined SIEM rules may not apply.

Simply deploying ExeonTrace can transform your SIEM into an efficient AI-driven network security system.

Additionally, any identified threats and alerts can seamlessly integrate into your SIEM through a REST API, supporting your existing workflows.

Unique visualizations are also available to enhance your comprehension of your network's data patterns.

Deploying ExeonTrace is a quick process, as it directly utilizes your current IT infrastructure as sensors. Book your free tour and consultation with us today to see it live!