Streamlining security operations centers

Streamlining security operations centers (SOC): The transition from a security operations center to a threat collaboration environment.

There is an onslaught of security data – generating information in different formats, storing it in different places, and forwarding it to different locations.
The organization lacks a dedicated enterprise security team. There is limited resourcing available to begin or mature a security operations center.
Many organizations are developing ad hoc security capabilities that result in operational inefficiencies, the misalignment of resources, and the misuse of security technology investments.
It is difficult to communicate the value of a security operations program when trying to secure organizational buy-in to gain the appropriate resourcing.
There is limited communication between security functions due to a centralized security operations organizational structure.

Critical Insight

Security operations are no longer a center, but a process. The need for a physical security hub has evolved into the virtual fusion of prevention, detection, analysis, and response efforts. When all four functions operate as a unified process, your organization will be able to proactively combat changes in the threat landscape.
Functional threat intelligence is a prerequisite for effective security operations – without it, security operations will be inefficient and redundant. Eliminate false positives by contextualizing threat data, aligning intelligence with business objectives, and building processes to satisfy those objectives.
If you are not communicating, you are not secure. Collaboration eliminates siloed decisions by connecting people, processes, and technologies. You leave less room for error, consume fewer resources, and improve operational efficiency with a transparent security operations process

Security operations center employees often monitor various technologies to maintain security at their facilities. Today’s security systems include gunshot detection, mobile tracking tools, mass notification, and business risk alerts, among others. That’s only a small sample of the many systems potentially involved in securing a facility and its people.

These disparate technologies can lead to SOC employees missing critical alerts when they are not integrated into a central view. Security leaders when sitting down to streamline security operations centers (SOC) can certainly follow these four minimum requirements when looking to integrate their security operations center (SOC):

1. Alarm details

Real-time alarms and alerts are triggered for various reasons, such as video motion and analytics, door events, intercom buttons, temperature sensors, or Internet of Things (IoT) devices… the list goes on. When alerts are received, security command center operators need to know:

The date and time of the alarm
The type of alarm and what triggered the event

2. Location, location, location

Knowing the location of the alarm is critical to coordinating a response. SOC operators need to know:

The building name, floor, area, or zone where the alarm occurred
The geolocation of the alarm automatically plotted on the map

3. Livestreams from nearby video

Situational awareness requires immediate live video feeds from cameras near the triggered event. The SOC counts on geospatial association with the ability to pinpoint each device to locate and show nearby live video feeds.

4. Alarm clips provide immediate context

Wherever and whenever possible, operators require video clips of triggered events. A well-integrated SOC should automatically capture a short clip from the camera nearest the event showing what triggered the alarm.

With a solid baseline for the necessary functionality from integrated security systems, security leaders can work to ensure compatibility across SOC technologies. By ensuring that alarms reach SOC operators; the surveillance feeds and other monitoring systems are organized, and SOC employees can produce reports of SOC activities, security leaders can reduce risk in their organizations.

Today’s SOC teams must protect more assets, people, and locations, often using an expanding list of devices — many installed by different teams at different times. When combining security technologies, security teams can respond more quickly to events and improve security outcomes.

Impact and Result

A unified security operations process actively transforms security events and threat information into actionable intelligence, driving security prevention, detection, analysis, and response processes, addressing the increasing sophistication of physical and cyber threats, and guiding continuous improvement.

Author – Simon Morgan