Learn more about security automation below.
Security Automation
Security automation is the automated detection, investigation, and remediation of cyberthreats with or without human interaction by identifying incoming threats, triaging and prioritizing alerts as they surface, and responding to them on time.
In addition, security automation comes in various shapes and sizes. It can be a stand-alone tool or an integrated solution that is part of a larger security operations center (SOC). These solutions are useful for security professionals and SOC analysts to streamline and automate security tasks and processes and free up human resources for more strategic tasks.
Solutions can be implemented alone or with other security technologies such as antivirus engines, firewalls, and SIEM. Security automation solutions also integrate with existing security solutions such as SIEMs (Security Information and Event Management) or IPS/IDS (Intrusion Prevention Systems/Intrusion Detection Systems) to enhance their capabilities by adding features such as automated detection, investigation, and remediation of cyber threats with or without human interaction.
How Security Automation Helps
Security automation solutions are useful for organizations of all sizes in three main areas:
Improve efficiencies in incident management.
Automation can be used to improve efficiencies in incident management. A modern SOC needs to handle more than just the volume of alerts it receives, but also prioritize them based on signal value, severity, and need for attention.
A security automation solution considers all these factors while prioritizing alerts. It is then an analyst’s job to triage the alerts that are deemed worthy of investigation and remediation.
Automate investigation processes.
Security automation can also be used to automate the investigation process. By automating the investigation process, the SOC reduces the time it takes to perform forensic analysis on security incidents. This is especially useful in escalating incidents that require immediate attention, such as malware infection or data theft attempts.
Save time on remediation processes.
Automation can also save time during remediation processes. Security automation solutions help automate remediation processes by automatically patching vulnerabilities identified during forensic analysis, preventing further damage from occurring.
It can also automatically block malicious traffic using threat intelligence feeds, saving security teams time and effort when deploying signatures and rules to block attacks.
Meet compliance mandates.
Automation can also be used to help organizations meet compliance mandates such as the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), and others. Automating compliance checks ensures that these standards are met and monitored continuously and that all required information and documentation is collected and available for auditors and regulators.
Security strategy
Security monitoring is an important part of any organization’s security strategy. In addition, security monitoring involves collecting and analyzing data about the organization’s IT infrastructure, applications, and end-users; as well as generating alerts on potential security incidents such as system intrusions, malware infections, or unauthorized access. Security monitoring solutions can either be deployed on-premises, in the cloud or in a hybrid environment.
Conclusion
All organizations should monitor their security, but the volume of alerts generated by traditional means can be overwhelming for security teams. Security automation can help by prioritizing alerts, automating investigation processes, and automating remediation processes.
