Security Information and Event Management– otherwise known as SIEM, is a cybersecurity solution that monitors an organization’s IT infrastructure by relaying actionable intelligence and allowing IT security teams to manage potential threats. SIEM provides organizations with insights into potential threats through analysis of security data collected from a variety of systems. 

It’s no secret that SIEM solutions are often viewed as only necessary for large organizations to utilize in monitoring their threat landscape. While this may have been true in the past, it’s equally no secret that the threat landscape has continued to rapidly evolve, as the number of breaches has steadily increased over the years. Within the past two years, cyber attacks on SMBs have increased by 150% according to a 2022 article by TechRepublic. Additionally, organizational IT infrastructures have become increasingly complex, and the threat landscape continues to broaden, making it vital for SMBs to use solutions that will effectively and quickly mitigate threats. 

1. Faster Detection and Response

For SMBs especially, a breach can be a devastating blow to their organization and its survival. For SMBs with 500 employees or fewer, the average cost of a breach is estimated at $2.98 million according to Hashedout. Timely detection and analysis of a threat are imperative to SMBs in reducing the amount of damage done. What makes SIEM the perfect solution is its ability to detect threats in real-time. Upon detection the SIEM solution will determine the risk prioritization, therefore escalating the event and ensuring it is acknowledged and mitigated quickly. Furthermore, SIEM solutions normalize data into readable language making it easier for IT security teams to address the threat. 

2. SIEMs Reduce Alert Fatigue

Today, SMBs have complex environments much like larger organizations. With an increase in remote work and IoT devices, present day organizations require a sizeable portfolio to manage daily operations. With every addition to an organization’s infrastructure, there is a possibility of new threats and cracks hackers could use to get into an organization’s infrastructure. Consequently, even small organizations have an increasing number of posed threats and could end up with hundreds of security events daily. 

SIEM also takes away the burden on IT security teams of manually sifting through daily security events. SIEM solutions filter through these alerts so security teams can focus on the alerts that matter. Certain SIEM solutions may also allow organizations to create their own filters for security events, to more efficiently get to the threats that require immediate attention.

3. SIEMs Streamlined Security

For SMBs, which inherently have limited personnel, it becomes even more important for security teams to have tools that help them work more efficiently addressing critical threats. Complex infrastructures don’t simply produce countless security events daily, they also produce them in different places within their infrastructure. Alerts may be looked over due to an abundance of consoles needing to be checked. SIEM solutions consolidate every stream of data into one singular source, making it much more efficient for security teams. Often, SIEM solutions include a dashboard or display that allows for easy access and a one-stop solution for monitoring an entire infrastructure.

Choosing the Right SIEM Solution

SMBs may find that SIEMs are more geared toward large organizations, therefore not every SIEM solution will be suited to their resources. SMBs will likely be dealing with a limited budget when choosing their security solutions. That’s where mid-range SIEM solutions come in. Mid-range SIEM solutions may be of better value and will be easier for SMBs to implement in their current security. SMBs may find higher-level SIEM solutions overly complex for what they need and likely beyond their budget. 

AgileBlue’s next generation Cloud-based SOC and SIEM is a perfect fit for SMBs. AgileBlue not only provides SIEM but also a SOC-as-a-Service that will successfully offload the day-to-day cybersecurity functions and will be ready to jump into the action in the event of a cyber incident. AgileBlue’s Cloud-based SOC and SIEM help mature your security posture and defend your enterprise by measurably reducing the time it takes to detect and respond to threats.

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