As SOAR becomes increasingly prevalent in the cybersecurity industry, more and more organizations are considering implementing a SOAR solution to enhance their security operations. Naturally, as the demand for SOAR increases, so does the number of vendors offering SOAR solutions to potential customers. But, it needs to be pointed out that not all SOAR technologies are the same.
While the basic principle behind every solution is largely similar, the features and quality of operations are solely dependent on the quality of the vendor itself. So, before you invest in a SOAR solution, it is very important to learn what makes a good SOAR solution.
In this article, we will learn what clients need to expect from a good SOAR solution, how to recognize which SOAR best fits the needs of your security operations, and how our very own Cloud SOAR stands out from the crowd.
What to expect from a quality SOAR technology?
The goal of every SOAR solution is to simplify mundane and repetitive tasks by implementing automation and machine learning. The way that SOAR (which stands for Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response Technology) does this is by creating an integrated system of security tools that are interconnected. What this means is that a good SOAR solution should provide the following:
Faster, more efficient security operations: While other security technologies, such as SIEM, allow you to keep track of the daily cyber alerts, they don’t provide assistance with the remediation process. On the other hand, SOAR does very much help with the remediation phase. It does so by learning from predictable patterns and experiences with similar threats in order to provide a suitable solution for a given threat.
Automation of repetitive tasks: One of the biggest advantages that any SOAR technology should provide is the ability to automate repetitive tasks within a security operations center (SOC). SecOps and analysts are the ones making the most out of this advantage as they don’t have to manually check every single alert - SOAR is going to do that for them.
Operating from a single platform: The goal of implementing SOAR is to optimize the way security operations are handled. In this regard, SOAR allows its clients a centralized platform from which they can easily manage the incident response workflow. SOAR is supposed to swiftly integrate with other security tools in order to provide SOCs with an easier way to manage their entire operations.
More effective threat hunting: By automating repetitive tasks via automation, SOAR frees up more time for security analysts and SecOps teams, thus allowing SOCs to become more effective at tracking and detecting real threats. By highly limiting the need for human intervention, SOAR speeds up the regular chain of activities, and thanks to its machine-learning nature, oftentimes eliminates threats even before security analysts detect them.
Improved recognition of false positives: Recognizing false positives from false negatives is one of the most time-consuming tasks that SOCs have to deal with on a daily basis, and SOAR is an ideal solution for this issue. By automating certain repetitive tasks, SOAR single-handedly analyses these tasks, and by applying machine learning, it can effectively tell apart real threats from false disturbances.
While there are other, more advanced features that top-quality SOAR technologies provide, the ones that we mentioned above are absolutely elementary and represent the very core of what capabilities SOAR should be able to offer.
How to recognize the right SOAR technology for your organization
There are a few very clear telltale signs that will show if a certain SOAR solution matches your needs and preferences. First, you need to make sure that the SOAR technology you’re considering has the elementary features that one SOAR should provide:
Allows you to adjust the degree of automation: The degree of automation should be adjustable, meaning that security operations teams can determine which operations they want to automate and which operations they want to be handled by security experts.
Integrates swiftly with other security tools: SOAR should be able to easily integrate with other security tools your SOC might be using. This way, SOAR will provide a single pane of glass to manage operations and serve as a valuable asset to add to your cybersecurity arsenal.
Drastically speeds up security operations: SOAR will allow you to break free from tiresome and false alerts that take up much of your time, thus allowing you to speed up your daily operations.
While providing the basic features of a quality SOAR technology will get the job done, when choosing a SOAR solution, you’ll want to dig a little deeper in order to find the right technology that matches your particular type of security operations. And this is done by carefully analyzing the quirks and oddities of the SOAR technology. By delving into the characteristics of their SOAR technology, you can find out what kind of advanced features they offer. In this regard, it’s very important to find out if the vendor you choose to collaborate with provides custom-made solutions for the client according to their specific needs and preferences.
How Cloud SOAR differs from the rest
Оur Cloud SOAR solution reveals exactly how it helps your SOC by underlining the imminent benefits that you’re bound to receive upon implementing the technology. Furthermore, Cloud SOAR proactively responds to critical client needs by employing various unique, unparalleled techniques, including:
Triage Incident management: Cloud SOAR is the only SOAR solution with dedicated triage capabilities, and by utilizing advanced forensics and evidence management, Cloud SOAR makes sure to manage all aspects of an incident case, from detection to remediation.
Deduplication: Cloud SOAR’s machine learning algorithm for Deduplication/ARK 2.0 allows incidents with similar characteristics to merge together. This enables Cloud SOAR to create incidents only when an original case arises.
Progressive automation: Cloud SOAR is also the only SOAR to provide Dual Model Orchestration, meaning that it takes dual approaches (incremental steps and curve jumping) to provide ML-enabled checklist and workflow-based automation.
Multi-Tenancy and clustering: Cloud SOAR applies a sophisticated multi-tenant engine, which is specifically designed to support both MSSPs and also adjust to complex corporate environments.
Open Integration Framework: Cloud SOAR allows clients and partners to create an integration with various tools in 3 days average time, with no advanced coding experience required beforehand.
Furthermore, Cloud SOAR will allow you to fuse security intelligence and analyze data from hundreds of leading third-party security and threat intelligence sources. And all of these unique features combined make Cloud SOAR a state-of-the-art solution in the cybersecurity world and allow clients to maintain safe and effective security operations.
Is SOAR a proven solution with real results in practice?
While SOAR sounds like the perfect solution for all your cybersecurity complications, what people need is actual proof that SOAR applies all of this in practice and actually enhances the workflow of security operations. After all, the numbers should speak for themselves, and every SOAR vendor keeps a track record of how well their SOAR solution fits the client’s organization. Cloud SOAR, for example, doesn’t need to prove its quality too much - the stats speak for themselves:
Minimizing time spent on incident resolution by 90%
Increasing accurately handled incidents by 300%
Maximizing SecOps and security analyst’s efficiency by 80%
After all, choosing the right SOAR technology for your particular type of security operations can add tremendous value to your security strategy.
The key features that Cloud SOAR provides
As we mentioned earlier, the quality of a single SOAR technology is hidden within its special and unique characteristics. In this regard, Cloud SOAR bodes particularly well as the technology it uses is originally crafted and includes many one-of-a-kind features, such as:
Automated responder knowledge based on machine learning
Specific Triage Module for Financial Services and CyberFraud
The only SOAR vendor with multiple patented technologies
Rich and insightful knowledge base
Encrypted database
Containment automation
End-to-end SOAR platform
Dual model orchestration
Incident triage and false positives reduction
Automated playbooks that provide rapid data enrichment and correlation for “pre-incident” event validation
Open integration framework which allows clients to create an integration within 3 days
Cloud SOAR allows clients to integrate their own scripts on playbook without the need to re-create each function on playbooks from scratch. Furthermore, Sumo Logic is an independent vendor, meaning that no clients will be at risk of being locked in a singular vendor and given an open architecture. And unlike other SOAR vendors, Sumo Logic offers both capex and opex licensing models.
How does Cloud SOAR help your organization?
Cloud SOAR provides a highly customizable security solution that is adjustable to the needs of every specific client. Cloud SOAR easily responds to all cyber threats and helps with:
Threat Intelligence Gathering
Triage and Notification
Hunting and Investigating
Evidence Management
Risk Assessment
Context Enrichment
Threat Containment
Reporting and KPIs
The key to every good SOAR solution is to leave no space for any weaknesses, and Cloud SOAR is well aware of that. Not only does Cloud SOAR adjust its features to be perfectly compatible with the needs of your organization, but Cloud SOAR also sends a highly skilled engineer to monitor and assess the nature of your security operations in order to precisely tailor Cloud SOAR according to your needs and preferences.
Separating real threats from false positive alerts
In order to combat the false-positives-false-negatives conundrum, Cloud SOAR drastically cuts down the time spent on threat investigation and validation times through data enrichment:
Keeping track of previous incidents: Cloud SOAR automatically triages, investigates, contains potential tracks by using conditional logic decision-making based on previous incidents, and applies that knowledge on current alerts.
10x reduction of analyst time spent on alert identification: By using 100+ out-of-the-box automation tools, Cloud SOAR enables analysts to identify false positives even before creating full incidents. This frees a large portion of their time and allows them to use it on hunting real threats.
Cloud SOAR leverages automated Runbooks in order to provide rapid data enrichment, which is in perfect correlation with the “pre-incident” event validation. By implementing this process, Cloud SOAR is able to combine several sources of information from various technologies, thus effectively separating real threats from false positives that often require manual work and drain limited resources.
How does Cloud SOAR tackle incident threats?
Cloud SOAR largely influences the entire process of incident lifecycle automation. This includes:
Triage
Notification
Context enrichment
Hunting and investigation
Threat containment
Cloud SOAR uses a specific type of technology that allows incident responders to build a response workflow that utilizes automation to quickly detect, respond to, and mitigate potential threats. incidents. But what’s more important to note is that Cloud SOAR allows SecOps and analysts to be more effective at their jobs by optimizing their workflow processes, thus enabling them to do far more on a daily basis with considerably fewer resources. That’s the beauty of proper SOAR technology.
How to determine which SOAR solution will provide the best ROI
Ultimately, choosing a SOAR solution is very much dependent on your specific security operations. Every SOAR solution has its own strengths and weaknesses, and what you need to do in order to ensure that you’re maximizing your ROI is to analyze which SOAR solution would be the right fit for your organization. And the best way to find that out is to look closely at your key performance indicators. Answer these questions and you’ll have a better perception of what the ideal SOAR solution looks like:
What does my security organization lack at the moment?
Which components of my security operations are critical for my organization?
Which SOAR solution provides the features that best align with my needs?
It doesn’t need to get more complicated than this. In the end, what you need to do is to make sure that the vendor you choose to collaborate with is indeed reputable, therefore you will steer clear from potential scams. After that, you need to find out if they provide a customizable SOAR solution, which is key if you want to create an impenetrable security system. And then, before you decide to invest, it’s a good idea to request a demo of their SOAR solution just so that you can determine that the SOAR solution perfectly responds to your needs.
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