Finding the Right SIEM Software for Your Security Challenges: A Comprehensive Guide

You’re struggling to find the right SIEM software for your security challenges. What are your options? Before you start comparing different SIEM vendors and products, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your SIEM software. What are the main security challenges you face in your network? What are the compliance requirements you have to meet? What are the performance and scalability expectations you have for your SIEM system? How much budget and resources do you have to invest in your SIEM project? By defining your goals and priorities, you’ll be able to narrow down your options and focus on the features and functions that matter most to you.

You have to define your goals. You can use SIEM for:

1. Regulations
2. Audits (Both internal and external)
3. Compliance
4. Threat Detection and Security Monitoring
5. Incident Response
6. Both of them

After defining goals, you need to know the technical requirements of those goals, such as:

1. Do you need real-time detection/correlation, or is periodic/search-based enough?
2. What is the required log retention period for hot, online logs, and archived logs?
3. What is the maximum EPS (Events Per Second) according to your goals?
4. UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics) requirements?

Your goals should include cost considerations, maintenance, and technical skill requirements. Evaluate your data sources Another crucial factor to consider when choosing SIEM software is the type and volume of data sources you have to monitor and analyze. Data sources can include network devices, servers, applications, cloud services, endpoints, and more. You need to ensure that your SIEM software can support and integrate with all the data sources you have, and that it can handle the amount and complexity of data you generate. You also need to consider how you’ll collect, store, and manage your data, and whether you need a cloud-based, on-premise, or hybrid SIEM deployment. Log collection methods such as Syslog, SNMP, Netflow, Packet Capture, text, JDBC/ODBC, Agents, and API (Both Cloud and on-prem) must be considered, as well as log formats like JSON, XML, CEF, LEEF, and proprietary log formats. The volume of data sources plays a critical role here. The requirements to handle 2500 EPS and 15000 EPS may differ significantly in terms of stability and system requirements such as disk usage, RAM, and CPU requirements Compare your options Once you have a clear picture of your goals and data sources, you can start comparing different SIEM options available in the market. Several factors should be taken into consideration, such as functionality, usability, scalability, reliability, cost, support, and customer reviews. Specifically, you should look for features like data collection and normalization, data analysis and correlation, data visualization and reporting, and data response and remediation. To help you compare different SIEM options and find the best fit for your needs, online tools such as comparison websites, reviews, academic research papers or demos can be used. You can compare products by:

· Threat detection capabilities

· Stability

· Not missing/dropping logs (EPS Scalability)

· Scalability (Data, Storage and Performance)

· System requirements

· Disk requirements

· Ease of use

· Ease of correlation rule creation

· Search speed performance

· Total-costs (License, Installation, Maintenance, Operation, System requirements- CPU usage, RAM and CPU requirements)

There are many academic research papers available, such as: http://www.publishingindia.com/jnis/69/the-math-of-siem-analysis-evaluation-of-key-next-gen-siem-features-using-validation/32085/87208/ There are also many comparison websites, such as: https://www.peerspot.com/articles/the-math-of-siem-comparison

Test your solution Before you make your final decision on SIEM software, you should test it in your own environment to evaluate its performance and meet your expectations. Request a free trial, proof of concept, or pilot project from the vendor to assess data quality and accuracy, speed and scalability, usability and functionality, as well as security and compliance. Additionally, get feedback from your security team and stakeholders to address any issues or concerns you encounter during the testing phase.

There are many references available to test your selected solution before buying. For EPS scalability (testing if the solution is missing or dropping logs), you can use the SANS EPS calculation table. For testing threat detection capabilities, you can use cases like: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unraveling-cybersecurity-mysteries-exploring-siem-soc-ertugrul-akbas-73sjc%3FtrackingId=H81F1h%252FxQfuRoA2NNXyfAg%253D%253D For retrieving incidents or log search speed, you should request a visit to production customers. Again, for observing total disk, RAM, CPU usage