Most organizations have become dependent on data. It is obvious that this data must be well protected to avoid downtime and penalties. Even though many companies consider that they take the necessary steps to secure their data, it still remains a big challenge. Indeed, hackers never sleep. In this blog we would like to tell you more about the Security Operations Center (SOC), which enables you to continuously improve your security.

The Network Operations Centre (NOC) is a well-known phenomenon. This is a regularly occurring integration within organizations. It consists of one or more locations in which experts work together to monitor a (company) network. The Security Operations Center (SOC) is comparable with this in regard to its organization, the main difference being that the focus is entirely on cybersecurity. Individual solutions, such as virus scanners, firewalls, etc., only cover their own specific area. In contrast to this, the major advantage of a SOC is that it monitors everything and compares the individual areas with each other. This provides a far more comprehensive insight into the current situation.

IN-HOUSE OR OUTSOURCE?

Since companies these days are heavily dependent on IT, even when that is not their core business, a SOC is no longer a luxury for larger organizations. It is now a necessity, a view that is totally endorsed by the government.1 As you are probably aware there are many practical obstacles between having a dream and actually putting it into practice, and unfortunately this also applies for a SOC. Implementing such a center yourself takes a long time and is generally too expensive, and there is another major problem: the tight labor market. Specifically in IT there is a scarcity of personnel. This has been true for quite a long time, and primarily in the area of security.

There has been a shortage of IT personnel for quite a long time. This has led to an increasing number of organizations outsourcing these activities. Increasingly often organizations are opting for managed services, firstly because the relatively low investment provides a high return, and secondly due to the support provided by cooperation with a specialist. Technical developments occur so frequently that it is almost impossible for non-specialized companies to keep up. They therefore opt to outsource these activities to an experienced partner. The SOC is available as a managed service.

24/7 DETECTION

There is another important advantage of the SOC: the continuous monitoring of security. Cyberattacks mostly occur outside of office hours. At that time there is little chance that someone from the organization is watching, let alone that there is someone on site who can immediately intervene. The Friday afternoon is extremely popular, as this is when the employees' thoughts are already focused on the weekend.

However, cyber threats come from all corners of the world. They occur 24/7 and are not restricted by weekends, offices or time zones. Continuous vigilance is therefore required.

The Avit Security Operations Center provides this vigilance. We not only have sufficient personnel available to provide high-quality SOCs for multiple organizations, but we also operate internationally. This means that we monitor what is going on within your organization from different time zones. This enables us to provide detection for your systems 24/7, and proactively react to and combat any threats. And what happens if an attack still manages to get through the security? Then we ensure that you are up and running again as soon as possible.