What is SOAR?
SOAR stands for Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response. It’s a set of tools and technologies that streamline and improve an organisation’s security incident detection and response (IDR) process. SOAR platforms automate repetitive tasks, allowing security teams to focus on more complex investigations and threat mitigation strategies.
Benefits_
- Improved efficiency: SOAR automates repetitive tasks like log collection, event correlation, and initial incident analysis, freeing up security analysts’ time for more strategic work.
- Faster response times: Automation helps identify and respond to security incidents more quickly, minimising potential damage and downtime.
- Enhanced consistency: SOAR enforces consistent incident response procedures, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring a standardised approach to security incidents.
Use cases_
- Security event information gathering: SOAR can automatically collect security event data from various sources across the IT infrastructure, centralising information for efficient analysis.
- Incident alerting and prioritisation: SOAR can analyse collected data, trigger alerts for potential security incidents based on predefined criteria, and prioritise incidents based on severity.
- Automated response actions: SOAR can automate routine response tasks such as isolating infected systems, quarantining suspicious files, or blocking malicious IP addresses.
- Workflow management: SOAR helps orchestrate the entire incident response workflow, guiding security teams through defined procedures and facilitating collaboration among different teams.
Microsoft offers security solutions that integrate with SOAR platforms:
- Microsoft Sentinel: A cloud-native SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) platform that collects, analyses, and correlates security data from across Microsoft 365, Azure, and on-premises environments. Microsoft Sentinel data can be integrated with SOAR platforms for broader analysis and automated response.
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: This endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution can be integrated with SOAR platforms to automate response actions on compromised devices.
- Azure Logic Apps: This server-less workflow automation service within Azure can be leveraged within SOAR platforms to build custom automation workflows for specific security incidents.
By implementing a SOAR strategy and leveraging Microsoft security solutions, organisations can significantly enhance their security operations, automate incident response tasks, and empower security teams to focus on more strategic security initiatives.
