The cybersecurity landscape is changing rapidly. Once, hackers primarily sought financial gain through ransomware and other money-focused exploits. Now, however, their focus has broadened, with a growing emphasis on stealing personally identifiable information (PII) and personal health information (PHI). These types of data offer monetary value and opportunities for exploitation, making them high-value targets in industries beyond traditional financial sectors.
Security Operations Centers (SOCs) have quickly become the foundation of modern cybersecurity strategies, helping organizations detect and respond to threats in real time. As the scope of threats evolves, SOCs must too. SOCs need to address several vulnerabilities, including safeguarding financial data, protecting sensitive healthcare records, and the growing prominence of IoT-connected devices.
This article explores how to build a robust SOC that tackles traditional IT risks and addresses emerging IoT-specific challenges. Along the way, we’ll highlight solutions that help organizations stay ahead of cyber threats.
What is a Security Operations Center (SOC)?
A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a dedicated team or facility that monitors, detects, investigates, and responds to cybersecurity incidents in real-time. SOC teams manage an organization’s entire IT ecosystem, including traditional systems and IoT devices. Their primary functions include:
- Monitoring network and device activity to identify unusual behavior.
- Detecting potential threats through sophisticated tools like SIEM platforms and machine learning-based systems.
- Investigating alerts to isolate genuine risks from false positives.
- Responding to incidents swiftly to minimize impact and prevent further harm.
An effective SOC unifies technology, processes, and personnel to safeguard critical systems and data. For industries like healthcare, SOCs must address unique IoT threats such as vulnerabilities in connected medical devices.
Building a Security Operations Team
Creating an effective Security Operations Center (SOC) starts with assembling the right team. Clear roles and responsibilities are crucial to keeping potential threats contained, from traditional IT vulnerabilities to those emerging in IoT-connected environments. For high-risk industries, where breaches impact lives and livelihoods, having a specialized and well-coordinated team is non-negotiable.
A robust SOC team typically includes professionals in layered roles, such as:
- Tier 1 Specialists to handle 24/7 monitoring of alerts and initial incident triage.
- Tier 2 Analysts focusing on deeper investigations, analyzing trends, and escalating significant threats.
- Tier 3 Experts dedicated to advanced threat hunting, forensic analysis, and designing proactive defenses.
- SOC Managers to oversee strategy, workflows, and ensure team alignment with organizational security goals.
SOC support software must support operational roles such as IT professionals, CISOs, and IT Security teams so they can operate effectively in complex IoT environments.
What Does a Security Operations Center Do?
A valuable SOC provides continuous monitoring and protection across an organization’s many attack surfaces. This is particularly critical for industries such as healthcare, financial services, and higher education, where a breach can spell disaster. Other systems that rely on continuous security include transportation, logistics, and manufacturing, where any delays become costly quickly.
Real-Time Monitoring and Threat Detection
Continuous monitoring is the backbone of SOC operations. SOCs deploy advanced tools like SIEM platforms, behavioral analytics, and machine learning solutions to track IoT devices, detect anomalies, and mitigate risks across traditional IT systems. This ensures rapid detection of malicious actor behavior before it escalates. Integrating with other security tools enhances real-time monitoring by automating data collection and analysis, reducing the workload on SOC teams.
Incident Response and Analysis
SOCs are fundamental to the incident response lifecycle, coordinating everything from initial detection through to containment and recovery. Playbooks specific to IoT-related compromises allow teams to quickly isolate infected devices, minimize operational disruptions, and investigate vulnerabilities.
Threat Intelligence and Reporting
SOCs integrate external threat intelligence sources to remain aware of emerging vulnerabilities, attacker tactics, and broader industry-specific risks. Comprehensive reports—from security metrics to compliance audits—not only aid internal stakeholders but also facilitate long-term risk management.
Security Operations in Healthcare
Healthcare organizations face a unique set of cybersecurity challenges driven by the need to protect sensitive patient data, ensure HIPAA compliance, and secure an array of interconnected medical devices. Specialized SOC capabilities play a critical role in addressing these demands by offering advanced monitoring and incident response tailored to clinical environments.
The complexity lies in managing the intersection of IT, OT, and IoT systems, where operational technology in medical devices must work seamlessly alongside traditional IT infrastructure. SOC teams mitigate risks by continuously analyzing system behaviors, isolating threats to maintain operational continuity, and enforcing robust compliance measures that align with regulatory and patient safety standards. This proactive and highly specialized approach ensures healthcare facilities remain secure amidst an increasingly targeted threat landscape.
Security Operations Center Models
Organizations can adopt various SOC models depending on their size, resources, and specific requirements, particularly as they expand networks to include IoT.
In-House SOC
Building an internal SOC provides complete operational control and fosters tailored threat management strategies. However, it demands significant investments in technology and expert staffing across functions, which can be cost-prohibitive for smaller organizations.
Managed SOC Services
Outsourcing SOC responsibilities to a third party provides access to specialized expertise, 24/7 monitoring, and scalable solutions, reducing upfront investment costs. While valuable, this approach requires careful vendor vetting to ensure ongoing alignment with organizational objectives.
Hybrid and Co-Managed Models
For organizations seeking additional support while retaining internal expertise, hybrid SOC models offer an effective middle ground. These approaches balance internal management with external resources, particularly useful for addressing IoT complexities and scaling operations as needs grow.
Challenges in a Security Operations Center
A modern Security Operations Center (SOC) is essential for defending against the increasingly sophisticated cyber threats that organizations face, especially with the growing prevalence of IoT-connected devices.
Legacy Solutions and Manual Processes
Many SOCs still rely on outdated tools and manual processes, which can be inefficient and prone to error. For example, using spreadsheets to track networked devices or manually analyzing threat patterns slows response times and leaves gaps in visibility. Healthcare environments, in particular, face additional risks as connected medical devices, such as infusion pumps and imaging equipment, may operate on legacy infrastructure that cannot be easily updated. This creates vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit. Modernizing SOC operations with tools that provide real-time monitoring and automated threat detection is critical for closing these gaps.
Staffing and Skills Gap
The ongoing shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals poses serious challenges for SOC effectiveness. Managing a SOC requires expertise in monitoring complex networks, responding to diverse threats, and staying ahead of emerging vulnerabilities. For healthcare organizations, this challenge is compounded by the need for specialized knowledge of HIPAA regulations, patient data protection, and IoT device security. Without a properly trained and sized team, healthcare SOCs risk being overwhelmed by the volume of alerts, leading to delays in identifying and mitigating potential breaches. Investments in workforce development, such as cross-training team members and offering certifications in healthcare cybersecurity, can help address these shortages.
Network Complexity
IoT devices have significantly expanded network attack surfaces, leading to a more complex security landscape. SOCs are tasked with managing vast amounts of data from connected devices operating in critical environments. Healthcare providers face the added difficulty of protecting interconnected systems that bridge traditional IT infrastructure with operational technology (OT) used in medical settings. For instance, securing a hospital network may involve monitoring devices ranging from electronic health record (EHR) systems to MRI machines. This level of complexity can overwhelm SOC teams, resulting in missed critical threats or high false-positive rates. Advanced analytics and machine learning tools can help SOCs manage this complexity by automatically filtering and prioritizing alerts.
Budget Constraints and Evolving Threats
Budget limitations can hinder an organization’s ability to build or maintain a well-equipped SOC. Acquiring state-of-the-art technologies, staffing a full team, and implementing advanced training programs require significant investment. This challenge is even more pronounced in the healthcare sector, where resources are often stretched thin across critical areas like patient care and facility operations. At the same time, cyber threats targeting healthcare organizations are rapidly evolving, with attackers focusing on exploiting IoT vulnerabilities and stealing sensitive patient data. Balancing these financial constraints with the need to adapt to emerging threats requires a strategic approach that prioritizes investments in scalable solutions and partnerships, such as co-managed SOC services.
Security Operations Center Best Practices
Comprehensive threat management and resilience against evolving challenges rely on following security best practices. Here's how organizations can enhance SOC operations, with considerations for healthcare environments.
Automation and AI
Leveraging automation and AI-streamlined tools helps reduce manual workloads and speed up response times. By automating incident workflows and using AI-powered analytics to detect threats, SOCs can minimize human error and focus on strategic priorities. For example, in healthcare, automation is vital for managing the vast data generated by IoT-connected medical devices, ensuring rapid anomaly detection and prioritization of critical alerts. Integrations with other tools streamline automated workflows, reducing manual intervention and staffing needs.
Cross-Training and Skill Development
Enriching team capabilities through cross-disciplinary training empowers SOC members to respond effectively to complex threats. Programs that combine general cybersecurity concepts with specialized IoT or healthcare-specific knowledge help fill skills gaps. This approach is especially valuable in healthcare, where understanding HIPAA compliance and the unique vulnerabilities of clinical systems is imperative for robust protection.
Security Strategy Alignment
A successful SOC integrates seamlessly with the organization’s broader security framework. Aligning SOC operations with risk management, governance, and compliance goals ensures cohesive protection strategies. Healthcare SOCs, for instance, must prioritize safeguarding patient data and meeting regulatory requirements like HIPAA while supporting overall operational objectives.
Continuous Monitoring and Performance Optimization
Continuous monitoring paired with regular performance evaluations helps SOCs identify inefficiencies and preempt potential vulnerabilities. Real-time dashboards and metrics like mean time to detection (MTTD) or response (MTTR) are critical for refining processes. For healthcare, constant visibility into connected device activity ensures proactive measures to mitigate disruptions in patient care.
Explore Cylera’s Advanced Asset Intelligence to Streamline and Enrich Your SOC Solution
Adapting your SOC to the IoT landscape is critical for staying ahead in today’s cybersecurity climate. Cylera offers an advanced platform that helps streamline and enhance SOC operations, improve device visibility, and integrates seamlessly with existing infrastructure. Cylera's ability to gather comprehensive IoT data and forward it to other tools supports continuous monitoring and performance metrics. To learn more or explore solutions tailored to your industry, learn how Cylera works or schedule a demo today.
