The seven key benefits of a modern Security Incident & Event Management (SIEM) solution

1. It collects and analyzes data from all sources in real-time;
   Organizations are generating more data than ever before. To keep up with the increase of data, SIEM tools must ingest data from all sources – including cloud and on-premise log data – to effectively monitor, detect, and respond to potential threats. Modern SIEM solutions can’t just ingest and analyze more data. They thrive on it. The more data an organization can provide its SIEM software, the more visibility analysts will have into the activities. The more effective they will be in detecting and responding to threats.
2. It utilizes machine learning to add context and situational awareness to increase efficiency;
   Today’s attacks are becoming more sophisticated, meaning organizations need equally advanced tools. Attackers often rely on compromised credentials or coercing users into performing actions that damage their organization. To identify these threats more quickly, SIEM tools should be equipped with machine learning capabilities like UEBA. This enables the monitoring of suspicious user behavior from internal as well as external threats.
   By implementing UEBA, organizations will see a dramatic increase in their SIEMs’ ability to track and identify threats. UEBA limits false positives, so analysts have better situational awareness before, during, and after a threat – increasing efficiency and enable spending their limited time on real threats.
3. It’s flexible and scalable architecture improves time to value;
   The amount of data produced by organizations has skyrocketed over the past few years, resulting in organizations needing big data architectures that are flexible and scalable. That way they can adapt and grow as the business changes over time. Modern SIEM solutions can deploy in virtual environments, on-premise, or in the cloud with the ability to handle complex implementations. Some SIEMs provide a short implementation time and low maintenance resource requirements, resulting in the SIEM providing value within a matter of days.
4. SIEM provides enhanced investigation and incident response tools;
   Modern SIEM solutions go beyond essential security monitoring and reporting. They provide analysts with the clarity they need to improve decision-making and response time. With innovative data visualization and intelligent business context to help analysts better interpret and respond to what the data is telling them, the incident response becomes more sophisticated. Better analytics means teams can efficiently manage incidents and improve their forensic investigations – all within a single interface.
5. A SIEM makes security analysts more productive from day 1;
   Once logs are collected, a SIEM system must provide use cases to help the security team detect and respond to threats immediately. For example, providing various correlation rules, complying with compliance standards, and detecting insider threats should be use cases that the SIEM security solution provides readily available across all applications immediately from implementation.
6. Cybersecurity staff requirements will be reduced;
   Today’s security teams are increasingly time-constrained, so enhanced automation frees analysts from manual tasks. It enables them to orchestrate responses to threats better. The best Modern SIEM solutions utilize unsupervised machine learning to help ease the burden of overworked security analysts. This is done by automating threat detection, providing enhanced context and situational awareness (such as threat intelligence), and utilizing user behavior to gain better insights.
7. A few SIEM solutions come with predictable pricing;
   SIEM licensing models based on data usage are outdated. Data volumes are continually increasing, and organizations shouldn’t be punished for that. Modern SIEM pricing models should instead be based on the number of devices sending logs, meaning organizations won’t have to worry that their data usage affects the cost, allowing them to focus on scaling for future business needs. Make sure you analyze the total cost of ownership, also for when the SIEM security needs to scale. Some vendors have added cost when increasing hardware capabilities or the number of employees that need access to the SIEM software.

When choosing a SIEM solution, businesses should consider organizing a workshop, either internally or alongside a SIEM partner, to define and agree on the project scope and timeline. To determine the deployment’s scope and timeline, you must identify, and more importantly prioritize, an initial list of use cases to dictate what the necessary log sources may be. It is also essential to agree upon a timeline for deployment to ensure the SIEM security aligns with the business’s goals.