Data Backup Digest

Security information and event management, or SIEM, describes a process that utilizes real-time security analysis with comprehensive logging and reporting. It’s this final act of data storage that makes SIEM a crucial element when trying to achieve compliance with data regulations and laws in the 21st century.

SIEM at a Glance

The job of monitoring IT system security has grown exponentially in recent years. What used to be manageable by a small team or, in some cases, one skilled individual, has exploded into a series of smaller tasks that can only be handled by qualified professionals.

As a result, SIEM has become more prevalent than ever before. It combines traditional security analysis with full-scale event logging and reporting, thus providing all of this information in a single, centralized location. It makes the task of managing IT security much more efficient – but it doesn’t make it any easier.

Maintaining and managing IT system security is a complex task. In fact, it’s become even more complicated in recent years. With so many different hardware and software systems at play, along with different network configurations, workstations, and even the dawn of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) working environment, IT security is a difficult task for even the most skilled professionals.

How SIEM Helps You

Thankfully, the integration of security and event logging can benefit you and your organization in a number of ways.

As mentioned, its benefits start right away. By centralizing and collating security with event management, logging, and reporting, your entire team will benefit from a highly streamlined system that hosts everything they need in a single, convenient location.

But modern SIEM software takes this even further. Most systems work by monitoring data from antivirus software, firewall logs, and more. It then processes this data, sorts it, and identifies any potential threats before generating an automated alert.

Moreover, modern SIEM software categorizes these risks based on established standards and rules. Not only does this make it easy for an IT team to separate serious threats from any potential false positives, but it also makes it easy to prioritize threats and track your team’s actions.

It’s important to understand these threats can come from anywhere – especially in a business or enterprise setting. As such, most SIEM software can identify threats in company emails and messaging apps, cloud-based resources, external sources, and more. By taking a proactive approach to IT security, modern SIEM software can actually make your entire system more secure than ever before.

When generating logs and reports, SIEM software typically processes data in three ways. It starts by aggregating data from various sources – in this case your antivirus software, email server, messaging apps, and more – before comparing and analyzing data in the second phase. During the third phase, SIEM software identifies any data breaches, threats, or vulnerabilities and alerts system administrators immediately.

As you can see, modern SIEM software has a lot to offer to the average business or enterprise owner. Not only can it help protect your system from next-gen threats and attacks, but it can help your team respond in the event of an actual emergency.