Look for These 8 Key Capabilities in a Managed SOC Service
In today’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, protecting your organization’s digital assets has never been more critical. As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, traditional security measures often fall short in providing the comprehensive protection needed to safeguard sensitive information. This is where a managed Security Operations Center (SOC) comes into play. A managed SOC offers a robust, proactive approach to cybersecurity, leveraging advanced technologies and expert analysis to detect, respond to, and mitigate threats in real time. From continuous monitoring and threat intelligence to incident response and compliance management, discover how a managed SOC can be a game-changer for your cybersecurity strategy.
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The 8 key capabilities of a managed SOC
The right Managed SOC service will include these key capabilities:
- 24/7/365 service: The SOC must be operational every hour of every day, all year long. This is the most crucial factor to consider since many attackers try and time their attacks when companies have less staff available, especially over holiday weekends — ransomware attack rates climb by about 30% during the winter holiday season.
- Integrated threat intelligence: Threat intelligence is the lifeblood of a SOC. Ensure the SOC you choose brings in multiple threat feeds to quickly identify the latest emerging threats.
- Threat hunting: To find and neutralize threats, a SOC must always have experienced cybersecurity analysts on hand. These experts will proactively hunt for latent threats and other security dangers that could be hiding in a company’s network.
- Expert analysis: A SOC is only as good as its cybersecurity experts. Ensure the analysts and threat hunters your SOC relies on are true cybersecurity experts, trained to detect suspicious behavior as well as stealthy threats.
- Time to resolution: These days, it’s less of an “if’ and more of a “when” a company will face a cyberattack. Discovering a cyberattack quickly and limiting the damage that it does is critical to a company’s survival. Ask how the SOC will respond to and remediate an incident.
- SIEM-less log monitoring: Find out if you’re required to deploy a security information and event management system (SIEM) for the SOC to function. Ideally, you want to have a Managed SOC solution that does not require a SIEM — technology that can be very costly and cumbersome to manage.
- MITRE ATT&CK alignment: It’s one thing to have a CSF in place but another to be able to leverage the MITRE ATT&CK framework in the event of an attack. Understanding how the MITRE ATT&CK framework can help prevent and mitigate cyberattacks is important for incident response.
- Intrusion monitoring: The right SOC will be able to detect suspicious activity in real time, including connections to terrorist nation-states and unauthorized TCP/UDP services, as well as backdoor connections to command-and-control servers.
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Easy integration of the SOC is key for operations and cost- effectiveness
Cost is always a top concern when considering making security moves. You want to be sure you’ve got everything covered but you also don’t want to pay for extraneous bells and whistles. Opting for a Managed SOC should save you money over establishing your own. To make it even more cost-effective, choose a Managed SOC that smoothly integrates with leading types of endpoint, networking and cloud solutions, including:
- AV/AM Monitoring
- Firewall Analyzer & Monitoring
- Email and DNS Monitoring
- PSA ticketing support platforms
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X-factors to keep in mind
As you’re reviewing your practical checklist of desirable features and functions in a managed SOC, keep these two x-factors in mind to make a smart choice.
Make sure its future-ready
A SOC that’s merely “good enough” right now isn’t the right solution. Your business is dynamic and ever-changing. You need a Managed SOC service that grows as you do, with simplified pricing that makes sense throughout your relationship. Pricing that’s volume-based or by the terabyte leads to bills that balloon quickly. An ideal solution is priced by the number of endpoints you maintain, so as your endpoint infrastructure grows, you can manage costs along the way. This is especially important for MSPs as they pick up new customers and those customers’ businesses expand and contract.
Make sure it stays that way
Don’t settle for weak support or a lack of innovation when you choose your Managed SOC. It’s critical to choose a Managed SOC provider that continues to innovate. The cybersecurity landscape is a fast-moving world, with new threats and risk factors popping up every day. Your SOC must be able to keep up with the changing demands of today and be ready to face the threats of tomorrow, so you can be confident that your security is in good hands.
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Kaseya’s Security Suite Helps Businesses Mitigate All Types of Cyber Risk Affordably
Kaseya’s Security Suite has the powerful tools that IT professionals need to mitigate all types of cyber risk including email-based threats effectively and affordably without breaking a sweat.
BullPhish ID — This effective, automated security awareness training and phishing simulation solution provides critical training that improves compliance, prevents employee mistakes and reduces a company’s risk of being hit by a cyberattack.
Dark Web ID — Our award-winning dark web monitoring solution is the channel leader for a good reason: it provides the greatest amount of protection around with 24/7/365 human and machine-powered monitoring of business and personal credentials, including domains, IP addresses and email addresses.
Graphus — Automated email security is a cutting-edge solution that puts three layers of AI-powered protection between employees and phishing messages. It works equally well as a standalone email security solution or supercharges your Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace email security.
RocketCyber Managed SOC — Our managed cybersecurity detection and response solution is backed by a world-class security operations center that detects malicious and suspicious activity across three critical attack vectors: endpoint, network and cloud.
Datto EDR — Detect and respond to advanced threats with built-in continuous endpoint monitoring and behavioral analysis to deliver comprehensive endpoint defense (something that many cyber insurance companies require).
Datto AV – Safeguard businesses effortlessly against sophisticated cyber threats including Zero Days and ransomware with AI-driven, next-generation antivirus protection that is over 99% effective, far surpassing the industry average.
Vonahi Penetration Testing – How sturdy are your cyber defenses? Do you have dangerous vulnerabilities? Find out with vPenTest, a SaaS platform that makes getting the best network penetration test easy and affordable for internal IT teams.
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