SIEM Modernization and Optimization - Step 2 - Define Your Goals
SIEM modernization requires clearly defined goals to minimize residual risk, optimize capabilities, and safeguard the solution against attacks. The overarching aim should be to ensure the Security Operations Center’s (SOC) residual risk remains at or below the organization’s risk tolerance. Strategic and methodical implementation is crucial to maintain low-risk levels throughout and after the modernization process.
A key driver for SIEM modernization is the increasing prevalence of AI-powered attacks. Modern SIEMs need to analyze behavioral anomalies across systems to detect sophisticated threats like AI phishing, deepfakes, and synthetic identity attacks. Ultra-modern SIEMs leveraging AI and an observable data lake can improve attack detection by providing a comprehensive view of data points that may seem innocuous in isolation. Agentic AI can automate response workflows, including alert acknowledgement, data correlation from multiple sources, vulnerability identification, and prioritized alerts to the human security team.
Safeguarding the SIEM itself is paramount. Goals must be in place to ensure SIEM optimization limits residual risk through measures like data provenance and integrity checks, including cryptographic watermarking or hashing, to guarantee data trustworthiness. Securing the architecture with a Zero Trust approach is essential to protect against poisoning, adversarial attacks, and vulnerabilities. Active Identity and Access Management (IAM) using continuous authentication and risk-based access decisions will protect the system from credential stuffing and social engineering.
To set up the SIEM for success, organizations should focus on minimizing residual risk, achieving and optimizing key capabilities, and reliably safeguarding the solution. This methodical approach leads to a stronger security posture and a more manageable implementation. Ensuring data feeding models have not been tampered with requires robust controls. The new SIEM itself needs to be hardened against attacks, making a Zero Trust architecture key.
To read the complete article see: Link to Full Article [🔗]