Five reasons for outsourcing your IT security operations
By Errol Fernandes, Director of National Security Sales, Bell Canada
The cyber threat landscape is changing all the time, so now more than ever, it’s important for your business to have a technologically-advanced Security Operations Centre (SOC).
But to be effective, a SOC requires more than just the latest technology. It also needs round-the-clock monitoring by cybersecurity experts who have the education, experience and knowledge to respond quickly at the first sign of trouble. Achieving this task in-house can be challenging and costly.
Fortunately, managing your own SOC is not the only option. Here are five reasons to consider outsourcing SOC functions instead.
1. Reduce cost and complexity
Security today is more complex than ever, and often depends on a customized set of specialized hardware and software solutions from dozens of brands. Those solutions need to be installed correctly, configured according to your needs and managed continuously. They also need to be kept up to date with the latest patches and upgrades – and then reconfigured to ensure it all still works together seamlessly.
All that requires a great deal of expertise and takes a lot of time. It can also involve significant ongoing investment, with large upfront expenditures whenever you need something new. If you don’t have a lot of space, the physical footprint of the hardware infrastructure itself can add to the costs, requiring you to buy or lease a bigger data centre.
With an outsourced SOC, you can avoid that complexity. You deal with one SOC service provider who can leverage partner relationships with leading hardware and software providers to deliver a complete, tailored SOC-as-a-service solution at an affordable and predictable monthly cost.
2. 24/7/365 protection
Threat actors don’t take vacations, and they definitely don’t keep regular business hours. So if you’re only monitoring your security in an active manner from nine to five, Monday to Friday, you’re leaving your organization open to significant risks.
Some companies rely on automated solutions that notify an on-call technician when an anomaly is detected after hours. While this approach is better than having no after-hours monitoring, it can still delay response times when breaches occur. And when every second counts, this can be critical.
The on-call technician may take time to log in or arrive on site, and when they get there, they may not have the skills to handle the issue quickly and effectively. More valuable time can then be lost trying to get in touch with the right person. All the while, a threat actor may be moving ever deeper into your network.
A dedicated SOC is fully staffed with security experts 24/7/365, so problems can be addressed immediately, therefore limiting the impact on your organization and ensuring that your customers can get back to normal quickly.
3. Bridge the skills gap
Security experts need access to up-to-the-minute intelligence to stay ahead of ever-evolving threats. They also need constant upskilling as the technology and strategies for dealing with those threats change. Most organizations simply don’t have the budget – or the time – to fully staff a dedicated security team and keep them prepared for everything.
On top of that, the industry as a whole is facing a significant skills shortage that puts security experts in high demand. Even organizations that do want to staff an internal security team are likely to have trouble both finding the talent they need and competing for it against companies with deeper pockets. This skills shortage is expected to last until at least 2026.1 No business can afford to wait that long.
Outsourcing your SOC will let you take advantage of a deep pool of constantly improving expertise, without having to add to your own organization’s headcount.
4. Stay compliant with evolving regulations
If your organization handles data or takes payments, it’s subject to compliance requirements from government, industry regulatory bodies and the payment card industry. Those requirements can be complex and may change, so your SOC analyst team needs to be on top of them at all times.
In many cases, compliance requires specific certifications that need to be achieved, managed and kept up to date – including ISO 27001 and SOC-2 for information security management systems. You also need to be able to show fully transparent reporting and traceability for audits and post-incident investigations.
With an outsourced SOC, you can be confident the right certifications are in place, and you can quickly and easily pull together everything you need to support an audit or post-incident investigation.
5. Retain visibility into operations
For many organizations, maintaining full visibility into and control of IT security operations is a priority, and that’s why they might choose to run their own SOCs. But without the right resources, you might not actually have the whole picture. If your tools aren’t tuned properly and your staff doesn’t have the knowledge, skills and time to find and address issues, you might not be in control of your security as much as you think.
An outsourced SOC takes care of the day-to-day cybersecurity needs while offering full reporting and shared visibility into everything that happens. This often translates to increased visibility and a better understanding of your security environment and any incidents.
The right SOC partner is your best defence
There’s a strong case for considering an outsourced SOC service. But the SOC provider you choose also makes a big difference. Look for one who delivers consistent solutions, 24/7 protection, has the cybersecurity credentials and a team who can provide what’s needed, and one that uses next-generation technologies backed by advanced expertise and globally-recognized procedures and capabilities. At Bell, our security experts have been providing these services for years, and we stay at the forefront in identifying new threats, solutions, and the technology and human capital to deliver on them. Visit bell.ca to find out more or to contact us for a consultation.
Sources: