What are SIEM Tools and Why They Matter?

Introduction

Talk about the must-haves in a cybersecurity or infosec toolkit and SIEM tools are sure to secure the top berth. With the digital world experiencing an unprecedented surge in breaches, cybersecurity experts are increasingly counting on these tools for safeguarding organisations.
SIEM or Security Information and Event Management tools are unanimously popular in the infosec world for real-time monitoring, threat detection, and superior response capabilities. The recent AI advancements have also made way to the SIEM domain - leading to the development of more advanced AI-powered SIEM tools to combat evolving AI-backed threats.
The blog below offers a guide on the curated list of top SIEM Tools.

Overview of SIEM in cyber security

SIEM encompasses a holistic security solution for organisations, offering a 360-degree visibility of activities within a network. These tools allow security analysts to have a preview of the vulnerabilities, enabling them to curate proactive defensive strategies and meet compliance protocols.
This security information and event management system is an arsenal of various standard and advanced security capabilities or tools - ranging from AI-powered user & entity behaviour analytics (UEBA) to data loss prevention (DLP) to cloud access security brokers (CASB), and more. Integrating the latest advancements (read AI) in SIEM has made threat detection and mitigation faster and smarter.

Significance of SIEM tools

Security teams leverage an array of SIEM tools to gather and analyse data from an organisation's network, systems, servers, and users in real-time. This aids in early detection of threats that further help to generate timely alerts to avert possible damage.
Popular SIEM tools generally offer these core functionalities:

• Efficient Log Management: Collects vast amounts of data in a single platform in an organised manner to analyse the potential of threats, attacks, and breaches.
• Event Correlation: Security analysts interpret this data to identify patterns and relationships in detecting potential threats.
• Incident Monitoring and Response: Security analysts leverage SIEM tools to monitor incidents within the organisation's network, providing routine alerts and reviews of all detected activities.

SIEM tools ensure optimal protection of enterprise data and systems, thus limiting attempts to unauthorised access of even the most sophisticated breaches.

Top SIEM Tools

Here is the list of top SIEM tools that are widely renowned for their advanced features and positive feedback.

1. Splunk Enterprise Security A powerful SIEM tool, Splunk Enterprise has been developed for big enterprises and is equipped to mitigate complex security requirements. The tool is highly equipped in handling large amounts of data from contemporary IT infrastructure, security events, network traffic, and user activity logs. Programmed with a robust analysis engine to dig deeper and unearth hidden threats or security breaches.
Key Features:
• Conducts in-depth security data analysis with a powerful analytics engine
• Detects real-time threats and suspicious activities
• Advanced analytics features like User behaviour analytics (UBA)
• Compliance reporting for adhering to security standards
• Can be integrated with a wide range of security tools
• Ideal for large organisations with complex IT infrastructure

2. LogRhythm SIEM One of the most user-friendly security information and event management tools for organisational use. Unlike some SIEM tools that require expert handling, LogRhythm makes things extremely convenient with its easy-to-use intuitive interface. In fact, this is a tool that even non-technical people can easily handle. Equipped with prebuilt content and predefined security rules and filters, LogRhythm detects potential security incidents immediately after deployment.
Key Features:
• Pre-built security content for seamless threat detection
• Equipped with Incident response workflow management for efficient security incident management
• Automates repetitive tasks in the security response with Security orchestration and automation response (SOAR)
• User-friendly interface
• Ideal for mid-sized businesses

3. Elastic Security This is one of the best free SIEM tools in the current cybersecurity tool market. Elastic Security is an open-source SIEM platform for organisations seeking flexibility in their SIEM solution. Experts rely on this robust search engine to process large volumes of data from different sources into actionable insights.
Key Features:
• Open-source and highly customisable
• Identifies real-time threats and suspicious activities
• Equipped with centralised storage for seamless log analysis
• Easy to integrate with other security applications

4. Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM This is a cloud-based solution equipped with an intuitive user interface for simple usage. Ideal for businesses of all sizes, especially the ones looking for scalable and cloud-native solutions. Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM empowers organisations to gather, store, and analyse security data from diverse sources and platforms.
Key Features:
• Cloud-based deployment for easy setup and integration
• Equipped with log management for centralised storage
• ML-powered threat detection for real-time threat hunting
• Highly scalable, ideal for cloud-based environments

5. IBM Security QRadar A highly advanced and capable SIEM solution designed by IBM Security. This power-packed tool is known for its smart threat detection, compliance reporting, and TPI. Equipped with advanced features, the QRadar can identify complex and sophisticated security threats easily.
Key Features:
• Identifies complex threats from disconnected events
• Leverages external threat data for improved threat detection
• Compliance reporting adhering to security standards
• Armed with Network traffic analysis (NTA) for advanced monitoring of network activities
• Best match for large organisations with complex security needs

Key factors to consider before selecting SIEM tools:

SIEM tools are indeed a priority to ensure uncompromised data integrity and 360 degree entrepreneurial cyber security. But there are certain key factors to consider before finalising one. Such as:

• Scalability: Must be equipped enough to handle large volumes of both current and projected data related to logs and events.
• Integration compatibility: A crucial factor to consider for uncompromised threat management without exhausting the budget. The selected SIEM tool must be integrated smoothly with other operational applications like SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response), endpoint security, and most importantly TIP (Threat Intelligence Platform).
• Advanced Analytics: Look for advanced features like UEBA (user and entity behaviour) for intelligent threat detection in advance.
• Forensic Competency: The ability to conduct detailed investigations is a must-have feature to mitigate advanced security incidents.
• Regulatory Reporting: Must be able to provide pre-built and custom compliance reports as needed.

Conclusion

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools are essential for effective detection and response to cybersecurity threats. In other words, these tools are a critical weapon in today's vulnerable digital landscape, marred with cyber attacks. The increasing complexity of cyber threats has led to a high demand for professionals skilled in SIEM, especially those with SOC analyst certification. These qualifications on a resume demonstrates expertise in security monitoring and incident response, making candidates highly valuable in the cybersecurity job market.