4 Ways to Use SIEM for SMB

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are often seen as a necessity only for large enterprises with massive environments to monitor for security threats. While this may have been true over a decade ago, in the early days of SIEM. Since then organizational IT infrastructures have become increasingly multifaceted, and the threat landscape continues to evolve. These days, small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) also struggle to manually manage the security of their IT environments. But how exactly can a SIEM benefit your SMB? Read on to find out.

1. SIEMs Efficiently Prioritize and Escalate Threats.

A breach can be devastating for any organization, and SMBs are no exception. In fact, 60% of small companies close within six months of a successful cyber-attack. Swift detection to prevent an attack or reduce dwell time is critical to limiting damage. SIEMs are well known for their ability to monitor and detect threats in real time. Once detected, a SIEM can determine its risk prioritization, escalating the event to ensure it quickly gets to the right person. Additionally, some SIEMs normalize data into readable language so security teams don’t have to waste time translating what an event means. They can also correlate events, providing additional context to aid in threat investigation and analysis.

2. SIEMs Reduce Alert Fatigue.

SMBs often have complex environments just like larger enterprises. Any modern organization now requires a sizeable portfolio to manage even basic day-to-day operations. This has become even more true with the increase of remote work. With every asset added to an infrastructure comes new potential threat vectors and more security event notifications. Even small organizations can end up with hundreds, if not thousands, of security events every day. With this many alerts coming through, it’s no surprise that dangerous security risks or suspicious behavior can pass by unnoticed.

Instead of manually sifting through these events, a SIEM allows you to filter alerts so you only get the notifications you want. SIEMs even allow you to tailor these filters for each data stream, since an event may indicate a threat on one device, it may be completely benign on another. This ensures that there aren’t just a reduced number of notifications, but also that these are alerts worth looking into.

3. SIEMs Centralize Security.

As mentioned above, SMBs may have limited personnel, so it’s critical to have tools that enable these smaller security teams to work smarter. Complex infrastructures don’t just produce hundreds of security events, they produce them in different places. Critical alerts may be missed simply because there are too many consoles to check. A SIEM can consolidate any number of data streams, providing a singular source of truth. Typically, a SIEM has a console that can be tailored to your needs, with dashboards or displays that provide details of your choosing. Some SIEM tools, like Event Manager, even allow for integration of unique or unusual data sources, like third party applications, to fully centralize your security monitoring.

4. SIEMs Assist with Compliance Efforts.

SMBs are not exempt from security regulations like PCI-DSS, SOC, CMMC, and GDPR. SIEMs have various features that can help an organization stay compliant with regulations. For example, PCI DSS requires keeping logs of any changes, additions, or deletions to a root account, all of which a SIEM can flag. Additionally, SIEMs have detailed audit trails and can generate reports that can provide proof of compliance to assessors.

Choosing the Right SIEM for Your SMB

Since many SIEMs are geared towards large enterprises, they may not always be suited for SMBs, who may be working with more limited budgets. However, there are a variety of mid-range SIEM solutions on the market that are easy to use and provide better value than some of the heavy-weight options without the over-complexity.

One option to consider is Event Manager. Event Manager is a simplified SIEM solution that’s easier to manage than an enterprise-level option, but still has the capabilities and features needed to seamlessly scale alongside a company, including centralized monitoring, swift incident response, and both built-in and tailored integrations. Additionally, Event Manager comes with a team of cybersecurity experts who can help with deployment and regular tuning. Finally, Event Manager’s pricing model ensures that SMBs can grow without unexpected jumps in cost. While many SIEM solutions license by the amount of data processed, which can be unpredictable and costly, Event Manager uses predictable device-based pricing.

No matter the solution you choose, a SIEM can help any SMB gain visibility into their environment, providing insights on critical access and reducing the risk of security breaches.