Today’s security professionals are busier than ever, wading through an influx of vulnerability alerts. In addition to existing cybersecurity responsibilities, their role has expanded to thwart the myriad challenges posed by the pandemic. Here, Andrea Fumagalli, Vice President of Engineering, DFLabs explains how Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), the tech that underpins automation reduces the workload for security teams and prevents cyber fraud.Â
The cybersecurity industry is constantly changing, and sensitive data becomes more and more difficult to protect. Many organizations, specifically those that manage valuable information, are lucrative targets for hackers and other malicious parties. Given that they’re often targeted by cyber frauds, it is imperative that their security platform is always one step ahead of cyber fraudsters. They are aware that they have to create a foolproof cybersecurity barrier, and that requires both the employment of the most skilled professionals as well as the inclusion of the best cybersecurity tools currently available.
However, it is a fact that an organization cannot become 100% impenetrable, as we witness even the biggest and best-protected organizations become victims of vicious cyber-attacks. But while a security platform can’t become entirely impenetrable, it can be vastly strengthened so that cyber frauds become fewer and easier to handle. And while employing expert cybersecurityOpens a new window professionals is imminent, it would be futile if they’re not backed with equally sophisticated security technologies. That would be like sending your troops to war with wooden sticks.
In this regard, one of the most advanced and highly sophisticated technologies in the cyber world is Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR). But still, many enterprises and organizations don’t have a full understanding of how SOAR revitalizes their security platform and prevents cyber frauds. And that’s what we’re going to remedy in the remainder of this blog.
Learn More: A CTO’s View on the Future of SOAR
What Makes SOAR Ideal Against Cyber Fraud?
Organizations that are most commonly targeted by cyber fraudsters are those that manage valuable, sensitive information, including:
- Customer/Personal details
- Credit card information
- Payment method details
- Financial credentials
- Financial transactions /PO, wire transfer, money transfer, etc)
- Other information that is of financial or similar interest
These types of organizations, institutions, and enterprises are familiar with the danger these incessant cyber threats pose, and the damage they can cause if they breach the cybersecurity barrier and reach sensitive data.
That’s why organizations that match the description above are always on the lookout for ways to boost their cybersecurity defenses by adding the most contemporary, state-of-the-art technologies. One such technology that’s been making a lot of fuzz in the past couple of years is SOAR. But why is SOAR particularly qualified to be deemed as the antidote to cyber fraud?
Let’s answer that question with an example. Suppose that you’ve stumbled upon a potentially malicious file that could very well end up being a cyber fraud. Now, in order to determine whether the file contains potential malware that could result in cyber fraud, you’ll need to dig in deep and search the source of the file, the characteristics of the logs, and scan it in order to trace potential pieces of evidence of cyber fraud.
Naturally, all of this work done manually takes up quite some time, and what’s frustrating is the fact that there may be thousands of such alerts coming your way on a daily basis. And even if you had the most-skilled security experts on board, it would still be extremely difficult to assess each of these threats before it’s too late and they’ve already caused the damage they intended.
Now, the same process we described above is carried out in a totally different way with the application of SOAR. Instead of having to check the severity of the alerts manually, SOAR does all the threat hunting, checks the incoming alerts, external detection sources, and every other step of the threat-hunting procedure, and basically spoon-feeds analysts with only those alerts that are worthy of their time. This saves analysts a tremendous amount of time, allows them to actually have the time to focus on real threats, and eliminates cyber frauds before they become full-blown incidents.
Learn More: Automation in the SOC – What’s Missing With SOAR and SIEM
Progressive automation and machine learning make SOAR the perfect cybersecurity tool against cyber fraud
A crucial aspect of dealing with cyber fraud is timing. If the hackers succeed in breaching your firewalls and other security barriers, they’ve already accomplished their mission. And the key to prevent cyber fraud is to make sure fraudsters don’t penetrate your security system. And sometimes, mere minutes and seconds can be the decisive factor between a successfully evaded cyber attack and a catastrophic cyber breach.
SOAR addresses the time issue in a particularly effective manner. SOAR is able to carry out security operations automatically by using a Machine Learning engine, which allows the technology to read the characteristics of a certain alert, and by leveraging its Machine Learning capabilities, it can autonomously decide whether an alert poses an actual threat. What’s even more impressive about SOAR is that its progressive automation can be adjusted to include human interaction and provide semi-automated remediations or it can carry out simple tasks like data-collecting and documentation fully automatically, thus saving analysts a lot of time.Â
This instantly resolves the problem of having to deal with thousands of alerts and allows analysts to focus on the threats that really matter. By implementing SOAR, the security platform will receive a multitude of benefits, including:
- Optimal utilization of resources
- A significant amount of time saved by automating tasks
- Improved threat hunting abilities by applying machine learning
SOAR directly influences the way every other aspect of your security infrastructure works and boosts the capabilities of both your security professionals and your other security tools. Cyber fraudsters will try to bombard you with thousands of alerts, leading your security team into overdrive. Their goal is to sneak the real threat undetected while your analysts are too busy manually checking the false positives (false alerts). But thanks to SOAR’s sophisticated threat hunting capabilities backed by Machine Learning, their chances of succeeding will be much, much lower.
Learn More: 5 Ways SOAR Is Transforming Security Operations
How Do I Know if SOAR Fits My Security Environment?
Cyber fraud protection is just one aspect of protecting your security system. Developing a cybersecurity platform capable of deflecting cyber fraud means finding the exact type of security technology that fits your particular environment. Does that mean that SOAR is effective only in particular types of security ecosystems? Not at all.
The great thing about SOAR is that it’s highly customizable. This means that SOAR as technology adapts to your security environment, not the other way around. By implementing SOAR, your conventional workflows will remain untouched, and the functionalities of your other security tools will proceed uninterrupted.
SOAR was crafted to make life easier for security teams, and without a single grain of salt, you can be certain that it will definitely fit in your security ecosystem and dramatically boost your chances of preventing cyber frauds and minimizing damage to your organization.
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