Your Security Operations Center (SOC) is a vital safeguard against threats and vulnerabilities in your organization. But is it as powerful as it could be? Or is it hindered by a lack of communication between departments and silos?
Much of the conversation around SOCs and how effective they are revolves around technology: but what about the people behind that technology? A SOC’s greatest strength may lie in its ability to bring together a variety of people from different departments and areas of expertise. When those people work together as one, a SOC is truly strong. But when they operate in isolation or from within far-flung departments, they can seriously hinder threat detection and response.
If you want your Security Operations Center to operate at its best, then cross-functional collaboration is the secret. This includes collaboration within the SOC team itself, as well as across other departments in your organization.
What happens when SOCs aren’t collaborative?
When your SOC’s operations are fragmented, that can lead to risks in your overall security posture. While it may have been acceptable to follow a traditional approach of isolated departmental functions in the past, this setup no longer meets the needs of a modern organization.
The world of cybersecurity is constantly evolving, and more complex and insidious threats are always waiting beyond your firewall. To respond effectively, you need a team that can work as one. But when operations are siloed, all sorts of problems begin:
- Incomplete information – Siloed departments often lead to critical security information being compartmentalized, preventing SOC teams from accessing essential data for threat analysis. Without transparency and open sharing of information, SOC teams are effectively navigating in the dark.
- Slow incident response – Inefficient communication and collaboration adds up in the worst possible ways, slowing your incident response times and allowing physical and cyberthreats to escalate as your team tries to understand what’s going on.
- Inadequate threat intelligence sharing – Without clear communication channels and transparent sharing of information, SOCs can be caught flat-footed in the face of evolving risks and vulnerabilities.
- Resource redundancy – Departments may unwittingly duplicate each other’s efforts, wasting time and resources and diverting attention from strategic security initiatives.
So how do you get the people behind your SOC to work together as a unified front? How do you break down barriers that separate SOC teams from other departments? We have some targeted solutions to help you do that and more.
When you foster collaboration and communication within and across your entire organization, that ultimately enhances your ability to detect, mitigate, and respond to security incidents rapidly and effectively. And that’s the ultimate goal of an SOC.
What can SOCs do to foster collaboration?
It’s one thing to know your people need to collaborate across functions: it’s another to make it happen. Fortunately, there are several strategies you can deploy to open up communication channels and ensure that everyone is working cohesively. We recommend the following ideas:
- Implement a unified communication platform. Using the same tools and software platforms facilitates real-time information sharing across departments, breaking down communication barriers. Consider security platforms that not only facilitate communication and shared insights, but include features like log management and analysis, correlation of security events, real-time monitoring, and incident response workflow management.
- Provide regular cross-functional training. Providing cross-functional training for SOC personnel and employees across various departments can be the quickest way to get everyone on the same page. Focus on sharing information, enhancing everyone’s understanding of security protocols, and encouraging people simply to connect and get to know each other. The more connected and engaged they feel, the more likely they are to collaborate when it matters most.
- Automate your incident response. Want to make sure everyone knows exactly what to do in case of a security threat? Leverage automation tools and incident response processes that make the process almost automatic. When your people don’t have to wonder what’s next, they can act quickly to contain and mitigate any threat they face. Good software solutions can help you automate and streamline your incident response, no matter what threats may arise.
- Look at threats holistically. Your goal is to give your people a holistic snapshot of your security, and that means using software that can aggregate and centralize threat intelligence feeds. This can give your SOC team a comprehensive view of the threat landscape and empower them to act on any suspicious patterns that emerge.
- Conduct joint security simulations. Bring together people from various departments to practice what would happen in a variety of threat scenarios. Collaborative simulations in a low-stakes environment can improve their ability to respond rapidly and efficiently during actual security incidents.
One of the best ways to get everyone connected and working as one is to ensure you’re using security software that has the power to bring people together. A great software solution can give everyone access to vital information, breaking down silos and surfacing insights that may otherwise have gone undetected.
For example, Bold Group’s Manitou alarm monitoring software can facilitate real-time information sharing, streamline workflows, and give everyone a holistic view of the organization’s security landscape. This empowers teams to work collaboratively across departments and beyond silos, more effectively protecting your organization from emerging threats.
Manitou can give your team the power to:
- Monitor and act on your security needs from a centralized hub
- Swiftly identify and respond to potential threats, all from one place
- Act on data from thousands of security devices within one unified dashboard
- Automate pre- and post-alarm tasks, ensuring a consistent response
- Optimize efficiency with precise action patterns
- Scale with the right integrations and add-ons as needed
Most of all, Manitou’s unified interface makes it easy for everyone to work together. It puts the power of collaboration right at your fingertips, bringing all your data into one simple interface and making it available to anyone who needs it, any time. Give your team the edge that only Manitou can provide: try it today and see the difference it can make.