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Many business owners find it challenging to distinguish between SIEM and SOAR due to their overlapping functionalities.
Both cybersecurity solutions ingest logs and event data, detect threats and manage incident responses.
Additionally, some next-generation SIEMs now incorporate SOAR capabilities, further blurring the lines between the two.
This article will unpack everything it’s crucial that you know about SIEM vs. ## TL;DR: SIEM vs. After having a birds-eye view of how SIEM and SOAR differ, lets dive deeper into SIEM vs SOAR.
What Is SIEM?
It then categorizes and analyzes this data to identify unusual behavior and potential threats.
Depending on custom rules, SIEM escalates these threats for human analysis.
SIEM: Functions and Use Cases
SIEM solutions play a crucial role in modern cybersecurity.
They enable you to see activities in all systems in your IT online grid.
They organize and analyze aggregated data to detect signs of threat, attack, or breach.
The event correlation process of the SIEM solutions normalizes and correlates incoming logs to identify relationships and patterns.
This makes them indispensable for digital forensics.
Incident Monitoring and Response
SIEM solutions continually monitor your IT infrastructure for persistent security threats.
Key use cases of SIEM solutions include:
What Is SOAR?
Lets discuss these capabilities.
Incident response involves an organized approach to detecting and managing cyberattacks to minimize damage.
Security orchestration and automation refer to using various tools and technologies to automate and coordinate responses to threats.
Threat intelligence management involves gathering and analyzing data on potential threats.
Putting it simply, SOAR connects all your security tools into a defined workflow that can run automatically.
The following are key functions of SOAR solutions.
This integration enables more efficient threat detection, enrichment, monitoring, and incident response.
Proactive Incident Response
The system enhances your SOCs response time to both general and specific lower-risk incidents.
SIEM collects and analyzes real-time security data, while SOAR automates threat response processes, improving efficiency.
The following are the main differences between SIEM and SOAR.
Conversely, SOAR solutions focus on automating incident responses to routine, low-risk security threats without human involvement.
They free up SOC team members time, enabling them to focus on high-value, complex security threats.
SOAR solutions can collect data from SIEM, external emerging threat feeds, and cloud security platforms.
Automation
SIEM solutions offer limited automation capabilities, often restricted to alert generation and reporting.
SOC analysts have to perform manual actions for incident responses.
Human Intervention
SIEM solutions require significant human involvement in investigating, assessing, and responding to alerts.
When To Use SIEM?
You should use SIEM solutions for real-time threat detection, incident response, and compliance management.
They help SOC teams detect and respond to security threats.
SIEM solutions are indispensable for forensic investigations because they provide historical data to track breach timelines and root causes.
They also offer valuable operational insights by analyzing system logs to optimize performance.
When To Use SOAR?
SOAR can also automate routine tasks, making it especially valuable for understaffed SOC centers.
However, if you have to pick only one solution, SOAR is a clear winner.
How To Choose the Right SOAR Platform To Go With SIEM?
When choosing a SOAR platform, ensure it integrates seamlessly with your existing SIEM.
What Are the Most Popular SIEM Platforms?
Here are some of thebest SIEM toolstrusted by security teams.
What Are the Most Popular SOAR Platforms?
Top SOAR solutions offer key features like automation, user-friendly interfaces, and seamless integration with existing security tools.
SIEM excels in threat detection and analysis, while SOAR automates routine incident responses for improved efficiency.
Together, they enhance your SecOps.