What is a Security Operations Center?
A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a centralized facility where a team of security professionals monitors, detects, analyzes, and responds to cybersecurity incidents. The SOC serves as the hub for an organization's security operations.
Core Functions
Monitoring
- 24/7 surveillance
- Log analysis
- Alert triage
- Threat hunting
Detection
- SIEM correlation
- Anomaly detection
- Threat intelligence
- Pattern recognition
Investigation
- Alert analysis
- Forensic examination
- Root cause analysis
- Evidence collection
Response
- Incident containment
- Threat remediation
- Recovery coordination
- Post-incident review
SOC Team Roles
Tier 1: Alert Analyst
- Initial triage
- Basic analysis
- Escalation
Tier 2: Incident Responder
- Deep investigation
- Incident handling
- Remediation
Tier 3: Threat Hunter
- Proactive hunting
- Advanced analysis
- Tool development
SOC Manager
- Operations oversight
- Resource management
- Stakeholder communication
SOC Models
In-House SOC Full internal capability.
Managed SOC (MSSP) Outsourced to provider.
Hybrid SOC Combination approach.
Virtual SOC Distributed team.
Key Technologies
- SIEM
- SOAR
- EDR/XDR
- Threat intelligence platforms
- Forensic tools