Who Is A SOC Analyst: Exploring the Budding Role of a SOC Analyst
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Softsonix Team
- Dec 22, 2023
- 4 Min Read
Credit - Freepik
Since the cyber-attacks are navigating a vast landscape, businesses are becoming more dependent on SOC analysts. The need for highly experienced SOC analysts has risen dramatically due to the technological advances and the growing security needs. Explore the evolving role of SOC cyber security teams and why it is the need of the hour.
As companies increase their attention to cybersecurity, they need teams that remain vigilant and alert to security risks. A team of skilled SOC Analysts can be a significant step toward controlling cyberattacks while reducing the pressure of security issues. Your SOC functions as the central point of contact for tackling cyber-related threats to your business.
The SOC cybersecurity team comprises a handful of SOC analysts who are the foundation of solid security. These experts are able to handle the weaknesses of even the most sophisticated threat detection software tools to protect against cyberattacks and threats. Driving the article further, we'll delve into the evolving role of SOC analysts, along with the most common analyst tasks, the top SOC cybersecurity team skills, and much more.
Who Are SOC Cybersecurity Experts?
Firstly, let us understand what does SOC stand for. These analysts are basically security specialists who can analyze the peculiar details of keeping the digital assets of an organization safe. Security Operations Center (SOC) is a key function in contemporary security organizations, and SOC analysts operate at the top of the line in cybersecurity and respond to cyberattacks immediately.
A SOC Analyst ensures the security of sensitive business data to ensure that hackers cannot obtain access to the information and use it for any malicious intent. It could contain important data for the company's system or confidential data. The SOC group is accountable for analyzing and implementing different strategies to maintain a company's cybersecurity.
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Understanding The Workplace Of An SOC Analyst
The workplace of an SOC analyst is usually a fast-paced and dynamic one dedicated to monitoring, detecting and responding to security issues within a company. These experts are employed in a central facility equipped with cutting-edge security tools and monitoring systems. SOC Cyber Security analysts frequently work together with the other IT security departments, like incident response teams, threat intelligence analysts and network managers, to collect information, share knowledge and coordinate response strategies.
These analysts work in shifts since security risks can trigger at any time. This means that the SOC is available 24/7, ensuring the continuous surveillance and protection of digital assets in the company. These experts use established procedures and protocols to address the security issues quickly.
To ensure the highest level of security, the SOC cyber security environment is controlled by strict security measures and access controls. Moreover, analysts apply their top skills to protect sensitive business data while maintaining the integrity of their organization.
Recognising The Important Role Of The SOC Analyst
Check Out Below:
Participates in Security Audits
Crucial for ensuring a company's security, security audits lets you discover security weaknesses before hackers or malicious actors could take advantage of them. An SOC Analyst gets directly involved during audits by assisting in the preparation process and analyzing information following the audit.
Incident Response and Investigation
If any security issue arises, SOC analysts play an important role in responding to such situations. SOC analysts immediately collaborated with others on the team to investigate the incident deeply. After thoroughly analyzing, they report the peculiarities about the threats to their cyber security network, with an aim to prevent future attacks.
Immediate Threat Hunting:
SOC analysts are constantly looking for indications of potential security risks or weaknesses within the system or network of the organization. They carry out threat-hunting activities through analyzing the data and using sophisticated tools to find and eliminate the threat or vulnerability before it gets worse.
Malware Analyst:
Malware analysts are experts in analyzing and reverse-engineering malware. They study malware samples and their behavior and find indications for compromise. They possess amazing skills for analyzing the strategies, tactics and methods (TTPs) used by hackers and provide suggestions to mitigate and rectify malware-related attacks.
Vulnerability Analyst:
Vulnerability analysts concentrate upon identifying, analyzing and reporting the vulnerability within the system and applications. They conduct vulnerability checks and review scan results and collaborate alongside other departments to identify and address weaknesses. Moreover, they stay updated with most recent vulnerabilities and advisories to ensure prompt patching and security of vital assets.
What are the top SOC Analyst Skills?
Check out below:
Immediate Response:
These experts must be aware of the criminal activities happening within your security systems and how to respond to these security breaches. They must have the skills to suggest modifications to the security system in any business, ensuring maximum protection from threats in the future.
Reverse Engineering Understanding:
Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing the functions and data flow of software to better understand their performance and functionality. This method is useful to detect malware.
Ethical Hacking:
SOC experts must possess knowledge about ethical hacking, which is really important for any business. They must be aware of likely threats and secure the security systems of the organization.
Security tool knowledge:
The expert must understand how to use security information, SIEM, forensic analysis, and network monitoring to take decisive measures against adversity.
Problem-solving:
Apart from dealing with threats immediately, the analyst must have a strong ability to deal with problems. The expert should be capable of dividing complicated problems into tasks that efficiently manage security issues.
Analytical Thinking:
Analytical thinking can help identify weak indicators, identify the seriousness of a situation, and sketch out possible solutions systematically.
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SOC Analyst Salary
A large portion of the work of an SOC analyst is to dig through system logs to identify attacks and find out what and how systems were affected. Because manually browsing through logs is inefficient and could cause an analyst to become agitated, SOC analysts need skills to automate these tasks and collect useful information from logs.
While the SOC analyst salary levels are decent, you cannot ignore the fact that they reflect SOC analysts typically working in a lower-level position. It isn't always easy to discern SOC analysts' salaries from general data on security analysts in general.
Conclusion
So, by now, you have a deeper idea of what does SOC stand for. With the growing tension of being attacked online, SOCs are more important than ever before. If you are not able to anticipate something that can be risky, an SOC analyst gives you a clear view of what's going on inside your business. Setting up a secure, effective and conforming SOC requires time and expertise to ensure that it's operating properly. Also, some companies do not have this internally and look into outsourcing alternatives.
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