Solving cybersecurity when an SOC isn’t in the budget

No business is small enough to avoid ransomware. Over half the businesses targeted by ransomware are small businesses. The majority do not have dedicated cyber security resources, much less a full security operations center (SOC) or a security information and event management (SIEM) solution, and are therefore helpless to identify and respond to attacks. Many do not survive a ransomware attack, and those that do often suffer permanent damage to business and reputation.

What small businesses need

Even if your organization can’t afford to build a SOC, it’s important to understand what SOCs do, so you can fulfill the function through a solution that fits your business. A SOC is an environment that provides the ability, through SIEM and other security products, to collect, detect, analyze, and respond to cyber events. Through a managed SOC, the organization can also take advantage of security expert knowledge to proactively improve the organization's security posture to help in preventing many types of incidents.

A SOC, internally supported or through a managed service,  is critical for detecting and surviving ransomware and other attacks. Lack of SOC capabilities results in insufficient knowledge around the organizations current risk and exposure, inability to identify malicious activities, and being unable to respond to an incident before it is too late.

An excellent SOC:

• Knows your organization and where gaps exist.
• Has the ability to assist in identifying what should be collected.
• Has the ability to ingest all data sources.
• Tracks and monitors your organizations attack surface and possible threat vectors.
• Provides expert monitoring custom to your organization.
• Has expert knowledge of authentication and authorization principals.
• Has the ability to quickly and accurately detect and respond.
• Has the ability to provide, or assist in, mitigation of impact due to exploitation.

Speed of attack detection and response is a critical factor for any SOC as damages (ie. cost to the business) rise exponentially the longer a bad actor is on a network. As a result, real-time, highly accurate detections and responses are crucial for protecting a network.

Solving for the SOC gap

However, many small businesses lack the expertise to build and staff a SOC either part or full time. The only fiscally responsible and security focused approach is therefore to outsource the functions of the SOC.

Who should you trust?

• An organization that works with you to identify what you have and how it can best be utilized
• An organization that can provide guidance on gaps in coverage
• An organization that provides enterprise-level abilities within your budget
• An organization that utilizes expert analysts to develop custom detections specific to your environment
• An organization with a proven track record of near real-time detection and response
• An organization that provides experts in the field to proactively work with you to improve your security posture.
  
  

How QOMPLX solves the SOC gap for small business

QOMPLX Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service solves for this function through a highly differentiated approach.

• QOMPLX’s Cyber platform integrates existing signals your organization has with signals from three proprietary SaaS solutions:
• Q:SCAN - attack surface monitoring and management
• Privilege Assurance - user privilege management
• Identity Assurance - identity authentication with near real-time attack detection
• Expert analysts are thereby enabled to quickly respond to incidents and help you limit any damage to your infrastructure and reputation and proactively address issues to improve your overall security posture.
• Cost control through efficient human resource utilization and scalable implementation

Small businesses are at risk from ransomware and other attacks. Utilizing a SOC, or implementing a replacement service, is an essential step in protecting business and reputation. This way, you can enable your organization, regardless of size, to respond to attacks in real-time.