What is a Modern SOC? Automation and AI Transforming Cybersecurity

A modern SOC uses AI and automation to help security operations teams eliminate mundane Tier 1 and Tier 2 tasks and use their human intelligence on more proactive activities like threat hunting. In addition, a modern SOC uses security operations data where it lives—whether that’s in a SIEM, data lake, or at the source tool itself—to perform automated threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR).

In this blog, we’ll cover:

• The definition of a traditional SOC
• The challenges associated with traditional SOCs
• What the modern SOC is
• The benefits of the modern SOC
• How to build a modern SOC

What Is a Traditional SOC?

Historically, the SOC has suffered from too many security operations tools generating too many alerts, ineffective TDIR, and dispersed data.

The SIEM promised to be the answer, driving security operations teams to centralize their data and operationalize it from a single source. But as data needs grew, so did migration and storage costs. Today, security operations leaders are looking for another option.

Why the Traditional SOC Approach Isn’t Working Anymore

Security operations leaders have found that the traditional SOC model is failing. Here’s why:

• Reactive approach: They primarily focus on monitoring and responding to alerts, so security operations teams can only repair rather than prevent damage if they’re hit with something like a ransomware attack.
• Human-centric focus: Traditional SOCs lean heavily on human analysts. To run a single investigation in a traditional SOC, an analyst must access multiple tools and consolidate the data, a heavily manual process that takes too much time and can lead to analyst burnout.
• Siloed tools: As businesses acquire new tools, the security operations program must expand to match the growing attack surface. Unfortunately, most of these tools aren’t interconnected, leaving visibility of the entire attack surface spotty at best.
• Increasingly sophisticated threats: Adversaries are getting smarter. They’re getting better at things like social engineering and phishing, using AI and automation to their advantage to produce more convincing messages. The manual processes traditional SOCs lean on limit their ability to keep up.

Enterprises need to leverage the advanced technologies, automation, and proactive strategies of a modern SOC to effectively counter today’s sophisticated cyber threats.

What Is a Modern SOC?

A modern SOC leverages AI and automation to eliminate tier 1 and tier 2 activities, significantly speeding up the time it takes to contain a threat. It features a security operations platform that integrates with any security toolset, so there’s no need to pay extra for migrating data to a SIEM or data lake. It can also run detections directly at point technologies or within storage solutions, enhancing the speed and accuracy of threat identification. A modern SOC should be able to execute one-to-many responses, where an automated reaction can be triggered from a single location and deployed across various tools, ensuring a swift and coordinated defense against threats.

What Are AI and Automation’s Roles in the Modern SOC?

Understanding the impact of AI and automation on the modern SOC is crucial. According to the 2024 ReliaQuest Annual Threat Research Report, ReliaQuest customers who did not use AI and automation had an average response time of 2.3 days. In contrast, those that fully leveraged AI and automation were able to bring their response times below 7 minutes.

AI-driven tools can analyze vast amounts of data in real-time, identifying patterns and spotting anomalies that might indicate potential threats. Meanwhile, automation streamlines routine and repetitive tasks, such as initial threat triage, log analysis, and incident reporting. Leveraging both significantly reduces the workload on SOCs.

As Gartner highlights, the implementation of AI should be to augment existing staff, not replace them. The modern SOC is not completely autonomous; it requires human intervention. The key is to allocate human efforts to addressing real threats, proactive security measures, and business specific needs, while AI and automation take on the time-intensive Tier 1 and Tier 2 activities. 

What Are the Benefits of the Modern SOC?

Modern SOCs can enhance an organization’s ability to manage cybersecurity threats effectively with:

• A centralized detection library: By centralizing and applying detection orchestration, modern SOCs can quickly deploy new detections, ensuring seamless integration, enhanced accuracy, and reduced operational overhead. They also leverage AI and machine learning to identify threats in real time for faster response times.
• Increased visibility: By integrating various security tools and platforms, modern SOCs provide a holistic view of the organization’s security environment. This integration reduces the need to pivot between tools, enhancing visibility and enabling quicker response to security incidents.
• Improved efficiency and productivity: AI and automation streamline repetitive tasks like alert deduplication, alert triage, and log analysis. This shift allows these analysts to focus on higher-priority activities, such as advanced threat analysis and proactive threat hunting.
• Reduced response times: Advanced analytics and automated response playbooks can help security operations teams cut response times from days to minutes
• Scalability and flexibility: Modern SOCs leverage security solutions like security operations platforms to handle increasing volumes of data and more sophisticated threats.

Start Building Your Modern SOC

When it comes to building a modern SOC, the key steps below are essential for success.

1. Conduct a thorough assessment of your existing SOC capabilities, tools, and processes to identify gaps and areas for improvement.

2. Establish clear objectives and requirements for your modern SOC, aligning them with your organization’s cybersecurity strategy and business goals.

3. Adopt advanced technologies like AI and machine learning to enhance threat detection and automate time-consuming, repetitive tasks.

4. Integrate security tools to collect data for investigation and send automated response actions for containment and remediation. Security operation platforms like ReliaQuest GreyMatter, offer this integration through bi-directional APIs, providing you a unified view of your security environment.

5. Create automated responses to handle routine and repetitive response actions.

6. Incorporate threat intelligence feeds and analytics to stay updated on emerging threats and improve your SOC’s ability to anticipate and mitigate risks.

7. Continuously review and update your SOC’s tools, processes, and strategies to adapt to the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape.

Conclusion

As cybersecurity threats become more sophisticated, the traditional SOC model falls short. By transitioning to a modern SOC that leverages advanced technologies like AI and automation, security teams can effectively stay ahead of threats, mitigate risks, and ultimately better safeguard their organization.