Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a set of services and tools that combine Security Information Management (SIM) responsible for the consolidation of log files and data to generate a report and analysis on security threats and Security Event Management (SEM), which provides real-time analysis of log events and data to establish a correlation between security events.
SIEM is used to provide a holistic view of a company’s cybersecurity by monitoring for threats and events, providing insights in real-time and delivering proactive responses for the organisation’s information security.
First, SIEM works by gathering log and event data across the company’s IT infrastructure, from host systems, devices and applications and then sending it to the SIEM software centralised platform. SIEM identifies this log and decides whether it is malicious by analysing the incidents and whether they are threatening the security of the organisation.
For example, SIEM will provide a real-time report on an account’s login activities. Let’s say an employee forgets their password and entered the wrong code 5 times, the SIEM will alert the organisation that there is a probable attack, depending on the set values. If the password is entered enough times in a short span of time, SIEM will see this as a cyber attack and not just an employee forgetting their password.
It prevents potential security threats from happening, from brute-force attacks, malware and viruses and reduces the impact of security breaches, effectively saving costs for companies in reparations and maintenance. SIEM also provides IT compliance and enables better reporting, analysis and response to security threats and events.
