SOC-As-A-Service Ultimate Guide

Security will always be an essential component of any organization. After all, no good can come from having your system infiltrated by outsiders and hackers. Though there are countless ways to go about it, like installing firewalls or hiring IT security services, establishing a security operations center (SOC) is arguably the best approach.

A security operations centre, also known as SOC, is a facility that manages security-related tasks. While it may not be a necessity, for the most part, it brings a lot of benefits to an organization. (1)

Here’s a quick look at some of the most important perks of having an SOC

• The mere presence of an SOC team reassures your stakeholders and customers.
• An SOC monitors your IT infrastructure 24/7. When an issue occurs, the cyber security business team can immediately resolve the incident, reducing downtime.
• In some cases, these issues may not even occur in the first place as the SOC team typically works out preventive measures for potential security threats to your organization.
• If there was a cyberattack, the cyber security services team is responsible for investigating the issue. It may not seem like much help, but investigations can come in handy as they tell you the cause of the incident and dictate how you will deal with the issue. (1)

SOC-as-a-service (SOCaaS) is essentially a readily-available security operations center that you can employ if you’re in dire need of better security. Although you do not have complete control of the facility, you will still have some authority to give specific commands or tasks. (2)

So, why should you employ SOCaaS if you can create one yourself? To answer that question, it may be best to discuss the challenges of establishing an SOC first.

If you’re planning on setting up an in-house SOC, here’s a look at the challenges you will have to deal with:

1. Establishing an operational SOC generally takes several months or even years.
2. Creating a dedicated SOC team requires a considerable amount of money as you’ll have to hire several skilled individuals. You may end up spending millions of dollars at most.
3. You need to find someone with the skills and experience to efficiently manage the SOC.
4. Even after establishing an SOC, it’s not guaranteed to benefit your organization. (3)

For these reasons, only bigger organizations can afford to establish their own computer security service operations center.

The main idea behind SOCaaS is to allow organizations to enjoy the benefits provided by a regular SOC even if they have limited resources to set up their in-house SOC. Here’s a quick rundown on the biggest perks of signing up for SOCaaS:

1. SOCaaS is much more affordable than establishing an SOC. For your reference, SOCaaS prices begin at USD$2500 per month. Meanwhile, creating an SOC may cost millions.
2. Even if you have the necessary budget, you’re more likely to get better results from SOCaaS than an in-house SOC. This is because the service provider likely already has everything they need, including equipment and staffing, while you have to start from scratch.
3. Since they already have an SOC prepared, you don’t have to wait for months or years to be able to reap the benefits. Your company can enjoy the perks of having an SOC immediately.
4. You don’t have to dedicate a room in your building to your staffing since the SOCaaS has a team already in place in their own office, which, in turn, reduces your expenses.
5. In some cases, you may end up creating an SOC that doesn’t comply with security policies, and this can lead to further issues. SOCaaS providers, however, know how to work around those issues.
6. If it turns out that your organization didn’t actually need an SOC, you can always stop your subscription with the SOCaaS provider. Meanwhile, if you created the SOC yourself, you cannot get back the money, time, and effort you spent building it from scratch. (2)

Due to these characteristics, SOCaaS is often a much better investment than establishing your own enterprise security services centre, at least in the short run.

As tempting as it may be to employ SOC-as-a-service for your organization, one must keep in mind that it’s not really a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. If you’re absolutely sure you need an SOC for the entirety of your company’s lifespan, it may be best to establish a security operations centre yourself. Otherwise, you may want to look into companies providing SOCaaS and start comparing their service packages.