Today, the IT security environment of any organization should be a major concernfor any business owner or security manager. In Addition, business owners arebecoming increasingly conscious, and are starting to take drastic actions toincrease their cyber defense against security breaches and cyber-attacks. It isimportant for any organization to measure their security posture and take steps tokeep digital assets and infrastructure very secure.

About two-thirds (65%) of major financial services companies were hit by cyberbullying last year, while 45% have experienced an increase in attacks since theoutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the financial industry is one of themost regulated and highly protected, cyber criminals do not hesitate to continuallyaggressively attack such system to access important information that theseindustries have access to.

Another industry positioned as a jackpot to malicious actors will beTelecommunication. This is because they have a large customer database, whichcan be exploited for malicious activities. In February 2021, ten members of acybercriminal gang were arrested after a campaign in which they trickedTelecommunication companies into giving celebrity phone numbers to new devices,stealing more than $100 million.

These recent events over emphasize the need for a comprehensive and strongsecurity backing to act on a real basis for analysis, monitoring, prevention, andremediation of cyber events and attacks within your IT infrastructure. Securityconscious organizations are increasing their risk-taking capabilities by investing inSecurity Operations Center (SOC).

WHY SOC?

A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a facility with an internal IT security team whose main function is to monitor and regularly evaluate the day-to-day operations of organizations. . It centralizes an organization’s IT security monitoring and incident response activities in a single location and is responsible for remediating both internal breaches and external cyberattacks.

The Benefits of a Dedicated and Effective SOCHaving a dedicated SOC provides an organization with multiple benefits, including continuous network monitoring, centralized visibility, reducedcybersecuritycosts, and better collaboration.

Continuous Monitoring – Cybercriminals will never take a break. While a company may observe standard business hours, there is no guarantee that attackers will do the same. Cybercriminals will commonly perform their attacks after hours or on weekends to maximize their probability of success.

As a result, minimizing cybersecurity risk requires 24/7 monitoring of the organization’s IT infrastructure and data. This means that a company must be capable of staffing multiple shifts of their security team to ensure that SOC analysts and incident responders are available around the clock.

Centralized Visibility – Most enterprise networks are growing more complex. Digital transformation initiatives have driven the deployment of cloud computing andInternet of Things (IoT)devices, while the growth of remote work and bring your own device (BYOD) policies has spurred the connection of remote and mobile devices to the corporate network.

As a result, maintaining visibility and security across the enterprise network has grown more complicated. Technologies that work on one platform may not be effective on another, and new technologies introduce unique vulnerabilities and security requirements that require new security solutions. To effectively secure such a diverse network, an integrated network visibility solution is required. The tools used by an effective SOC provide this, enabling an organization to achieve full visibility into its network infrastructure and potential attack vectors.

Reduced Cybersecurity Costs – Maintaining strong corporate cybersecurity can be expensive. A company may require multiple platforms and licenses to achieve comprehensive visibility and protection against cyber threats. A centralized SOC enables an organization to reduce these costs by sharing them across the entire organization.Additionally, an effective Security Operations Center helps an organization to save money in the long run by reducing cybersecurity risk. A data breach can easily carrya price tag in the millions of dollars, and a successfulransomware attackcarries heavier costs in terms of downtime and system recovery. A SOC that blocks evena single cyberattack before the damage is done has already demonstrated a significant return on investment.

Alternative to setting up an internal SOC

The cost of building or operating a fully functional Security Operation Centre mightbe too overwhelming according to specific security needs and IT budgets. Acommon alternative to building an internal security operations center is tooutsource this function to a managed security services provider (MSSP). An MSSPprovides services such as Alerting & Monitoring, Incident response, Threat Hunting.Forensic Analysis etc. Outsourcing to an MSSP reduces the upfront costs of newhardware and software, as well as the cost of employing IT security specialists.

CyberSOC Africa provides such Managed cyber security service protection in thehighest standard with a strong local presence and an unmatched cyber intelligencenetwork. CyberSOC possesses a true understanding of Africa’s unique threatscape,local cybercrime motivators, and attackers’ MO. We provide you with a 24/7 team of cyber security experts and incident responders, challenging the status quo anddelivering, state-of-the-art solutions and protection to your business and IT assetsusing powerful tools to ensure your security and an effective remediation plan inthe event of an attack, with minimal disruption to your business.

Anyone can be a victim of a cyber-attack, do not wait till you are.

Send us an email now: info@cybersocafrica.com