In the context of cyber security, SIEM plays a critical role in providing a centralised view of the security posture of an IT estate. By aggregating log data produced by various hardware and software components across an organisation’s network, SIEM systems help security analysts pinpoint unusual activity that could indicate a cyber threat or breach. They facilitate the detection of patterns, execution of automated responses to security events, compliance reporting, and provide valuable forensic data for incident response.
SIEM technology typically includes capabilities such as data aggregation from disparate sources, event correlation (which consolidates related records to identify patterns indicative of a security threat), alerting, dashboards, and sophisticated data search, that enables security teams to respond to incidents promptly and effectively.
As cyber threats grow more sophisticated, the role of SIEM systems in detecting advanced threats, reducing noise from false positives and managing the sea of data faced by security teams has become invaluable. Effective SIEM deployment demands careful tuning to reflect the unique environment of each organisation and ongoing management to adapt to the evolving threat landscape and IT infrastructure changes.
Key Characteristics:
- Provides real-time and historical analysis of security events
- Aggregates and normalises data from various sources
- Facilitates automatic and manual incident response
- Supports compliance reporting and forensic investigation
Examples:
- Real-World Example: After noticing multiple failed login attempts followed by a successful unauthorised access from an unusual location, a SIEM system notifies security personnel, enabling them to take immediate action to mitigate the potential threat.
- Hypothetical Scenario: Security analysts use the SIEM system’s dashboards and reporting features to track the progress of a ransomware attack within an organisation, helping them isolate the affected systems and initiate disaster recovery procedures.
Related Terms:
- Security Event Management (SEM): The real-time monitoring, correlation of events, notifications and console views part of a SIEM system.
- Security Information Management (SIM): The collection, analysis, and reporting of log data, which is often managed within a SIEM solution.
- Log Management: A key component of SIEM, which involves the collection and storage of computer-generated event logs across an organisation.
- Event Correlation: A process that links related records and activities to identify security threats, a critical functionality of SIEM systems.
