‘It’s not a case of if, but when…’ It’s a phrase quoted regularly by cybersecurity experts to confirm the possibility of a cyber-attack on organisations, and while the adage sounds a little hyperbolic, statistics are very much on its side.
In 2020, nearly half of all UK businesses (46%) and over a quarter of charities (26%) identified data breaches. With the average breach taking 280 days to find and contain, it’s not hard to imagine a significant portion still going unreported.
While firewalls, anti-virus software and email filtering are no less essential, it’s a Security Operations Centre (SOC) that underpins your entire company security.
How Does a SOC Work?
A SOC provides your business with people and technologies, working around the clock to identify, isolate and react to threats against your business. Don’t let the ‘centre’ title dissuade you; you needn’t provide any extra space or resources.
Your SOC will be overseen by security specialists; investigators, auditors, and responders, each fulfilling roles for every stage of the security journey. That’s everything from prevention right up to – if necessary – remediation.
This all-encompassing view of your business:
- Prevents against threats before they penetrate your systems
- Monitors your networks for malicious or unusual activity
- Assesses your most vulnerable network locations, amending their protections accordingly
- Provides detailed reports on any active or prevented threats
Why Does My Business Need a SOC?
Your security needs to fulfil regulatory requirements, justify your security budget and provide you and your users greater freedom of work. The SOC’s holistic approach takes care of all three:
Your regulatory responsibilities - Including the prevention, auditing and repairing of any data breaches affecting your users and clients. With a SOC, you have a proven and reliable solution that fulfils all three requirements should you ever need to report to the ICO.
Consolidating your security budget - For many businesses, the holistic approach of a SOC solution means fewer vendors to deal with and fewer costs to manage. By preventing the risk of GDPR fines or ransomware demands, your security costs are much more predictable – and reasonable.
Greater business bandwidth - Nearly every business cites cybersecurity as a key concern, yet few have the skills or resources to deliver their own solutions. A SOC provides outsourced protection by industry specialists; there’s no need to manage, monitor or mentor a security department
How Do I Find a reliable SOC Provider?
For many businesses, this is where it can get a little tricky; how does a SOC provider match your budget without compromising your cybersecurity standards? How personalised is their service? How extensive is their coverage and availability?
When looking for a SOC provider, they’ll need to answer all these questions and more – so whatever it is you’re looking for, ask.
If you want to know more about SOC, you may be interested in watching our on demand webinar. Hosted by our own Graham Stead and RocketCyber, this introduction to SOC services is the perfect opportunity to find the answers you seek.
