Before explaining about SOC-as-a-service, here’s a brief explainer on what a SOC is:
A SOC or Security Operations Center is a central platform of an organization that manages and carries out its cybersecurity operations. It consists of a team of information security specialists along with systems and mechanisms to monitor, analyze and manage the organization’s security posture.
The role of a SOC is to prevent, detect, analyze and manage cyber threats across the entire fabric of the organization’s digital infrastructure. It includes networks, servers, databases, applications, websites, and other systems. Today’s business environment is filled with a complex interweb of people, systems and processes. With heightened information security risks and stringent compliance requirements, an effective, well-managed SOC is proving to be a crucial factor in protecting business systems and data.
The typical scope of a SOC’s functions includes agent-based response, asset discovery, vulnerability assessment, intrusion detection, behavioral monitoring, log management, and cloud-based SIEM (security information and event management).
SOC-as-a-service refers to an outsourced-SOC model wherein an organization outsources its security functions to a third-party service provider. This third-party service provider is referred to as an MSSP(Managed security service provider).
In a SOC-as-a-service offering, the SOC operations are carried out by the MSSP. Apart from the cost associated with building and manning an in-house SOC from the ground up, several other challenges are motivating businesses to prefer SOC-as-a-service to meet their organizational security needs.
Here are four key areas in which SOC-as-a-service offers a better alternative to a traditional in-house SOC:
Even if they could, it presents an additional point of concern for the organization which is not directly related to its core business function. With a SOC-as-a-service offering, the security responsibilities and management oversight are handled by the MSSP. Thus, ensuring a seamless experience for the organization.
With technical expertise, first-hand experience, and specialized processes, a third-party SOC-as-a-service provider would be better suited to handle the SOC needs of an organization.
SOC-as-a-service offerings are gaining increasing traction and adoption across the world. The main draw of the SOC-as-a-service model lies in the fact that businesses have a scalable, round-the-clock solution to address their organizational security concerns at an overall lower cost with added convenience. Employing SOC-as-a-service offers many advantages. But an organization must also consider compatibility, regulations, and MSSP capabilities, etc to select the best MSSP to suit its needs. There are certain benefits and downsides to each type of SOC. Every organization must consider its own organizational security requirements before choosing an in-house SOC vs SOC-as-a-service.