- Analysts cannot monitor and track events coming from multiple tools because they have no visibility into the threat environment.
- Incident management takes away time from problem management because processes are ad hoc and the continuous monitoring, collection, and analysis of massive volumes of security event data is responsive rather than tactical.
- Organizations are struggling to defend against and prevent threats while juggling business, compliance, and consumer obligations.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Security operations is no longer a center but a process. The need for a physical security hub has evolved into the virtual fusion of prevention, detection, analysis, and response efforts. When all four functions operate as a unified process, your organization will be able to proactively combat changes in the threat landscape.
- Raw data without correlation is a waste of time, money, and effort. A SIEM on its own will not provide this contextualization and needs configuration. Prevention, detection, analysis, and response processes must contextualize threat data and supplement one another – true value will only be realized once all four functions operate as a unified process.
- If you are not communicating, then you are not secure. Collaboration eliminates siloed decisions by connecting people, processes, and technologies. You leave less room for error, consume fewer resources, and improve operational efficiency with a transparent security operations process.
Impact and Result
- A centralized security operations process actively transforms security events and threat information into actionable intelligence, driving security prevention, detection, analysis, and response processes that address the increasing sophistication of cyberthreats while guiding continuous improvement.
- This blueprint will walk through the steps of developing a flexible and systematic security operations program relevant to your organization.
Build Your Security Operations Program From the Ground Up Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should build a security operations program, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the ways we can support you in completing this project.Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
- Build Your Security Operations Program From the Ground Up – Phases 1-4
1. Establish your foundation
Determine how to establish the foundation of your security operations.
- Build Your Security Operations Program From the Ground Up – Phase 1: Establish Your Foundation
- Information Security Pressure Analysis Tool
2. Assess your current state
Assess the maturity of your prevention, detection, analysis, and response processes.
- Build Your Security Operations Program From the Ground Up – Phase 2: Assess Your Current State
- Security Operations Roadmap Tool
3. Design your target state
Design a target state and improve your governance and policy solutions.
- Build Your Security Operations Program From the Ground Up – Phase 3: Design Your Target State
- Security Operations Policy
4. Develop an implementation roadmap
Make your case to the board and develop a roadmap for your prioritized security initiatives.
- Build Your Security Operations Program From the Ground Up – Phase 4: Develop an Implementation Roadmap
- In-House vs. Outsourcing Decision-Making Tool
- Security Operations MSSP RFP Template
- Security Operations Project Charter Template
- Security Operations RACI Tool
- Security Operations Metrics Summary Document
Workshop: Build Your Security Operations Program From the Ground Up
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
1 Establish Your Foundation
The Purpose
Identify security obligations and the security operations program’s pressure posture.
Assess current people, process, and technology capabilities.
Determine foundational controls and complete system and asset inventory.
Key Benefits Achieved
Identified the foundational elements needed for planning before a security operations program can be built
Activities
1.1 Define your security obligations and assess your security pressure posture.
1.2 Determine current knowledge and skill gaps.
1.3 Shine a spotlight on services worth monitoring.
1.4 Assess and document your information system environment.
Outputs
Customized security pressure posture
Current knowledge and skills gaps
Log register of essential services
Asset management inventory
2 Assess Current Security Operations Processes
The Purpose
Identify the maturity level of existing security operations program processes.
Key Benefits Achieved
Current maturity assessment of security operations processes
Activities
2.1 Assess the current maturity level of the existing security operations program processes.
Outputs
Current maturity assessment
3 Design a Target State
The Purpose
Design your optimized target state.
Improve your security operations processes with governance and policy solutions.
Identify and prioritize gap initiatives.
Key Benefits Achieved
A comprehensive list of initiatives to reach ideal target state
Optimized security operations with repeatable and standardized policies
Activities
3.1 Complete standardized policy templates.
3.2 Map out your ideal target state.
3.3 Identify gap initiatives.
Outputs
Security operations policies
Gap analysis between current and target states
List of prioritized initiatives
4 Develop an Implementation Roadmap
The Purpose
Formalize project strategy with a project charter.
Determine your sourcing strategy for in-house or outsourced security operations processes.
Assign responsibilities and complete an implementation roadmap.
Key Benefits Achieved
An overarching and documented strategy and vision for your security operations
A thorough rationale for in-house or outsourced security operations processes
Assigned and documented responsibilities for key projects
Activities
4.1 Complete a security operations project charter.
4.2 Determine in-house vs. outsourcing rationale.
4.3 Identify dependencies of your initiatives and prioritize initiatives in phases of implementation.
4.4 Complete a security operations roadmap.
Outputs
Security operations project charter
In-house vs. outsourcing rationale
Initiatives organized according to phases of development
Planned and achievable security operations roadmap