Inside SIEM: Exploring SIEM’s Architecture and Components

In a time of rampant data breaches and cyber-attacks, companies must continually re-assess their cybersecurity game plan. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a cybersecurity solution widely praised for its benefits – yet it is seen as complex, which is understandable given its many components. Nonetheless, gaining a comprehensive understanding of SIEM can help your business maximise the benefits of the solution and in turn optimise your cybersecurity strategy.

This article will help you do just that – we’ll demystify SIEM by uncovering its components, their functions, and the significance of each within the SIEM architecture. We’ll also delve into data centralisation, correlation rules, automated threat response, and reporting capabilities, and understand how they work together to form a cohesive system.

Key Takeaways

SIEM’s main features enable it to identify potential attacks.

SIEM systems use advanced security protocols and monitoring techniques to detect anomalies.

SIEM systems analyse security events in real-time.

SIEM automates – reducing response times for security teams.

The Architecture of SIEM

SIEM’s architecture is made up of several components, including data collection agents, a central repository for storing event data, advanced analytics tools, and a user interface for managing and controlling security operations. The insights generated through SIEM allow security analysts to monitor and address potential security threats across a network without the need for excessive micromanagement of the data collection process.

Data collection agents, also referred to as agents, forwarders, or connectors, are deployed across an organisation’s network (e.g., servers, endpoints, devices, applications) to gather security events and information. After collection, data is sent to a central repository, where it is normalised for easy interpretation. This centralisation process is what gives SIEM its powerful threat detection capabilities – as SIEM can quickly correlate disparate events from various sources.

At the heart of SIEM are advanced analytical tools, which allow it to identify trends and analyse data in real time. Through the application of correlation rules, SIEM compares real-time event data with historical patterns to accurately identify anomalies and potential threats. This event correlation process distinguishes genuine threats from false positives, ultimately saving analysts valuable time and resources.

SIEM solutions also allow security analysts to manage security operations, which includes tasks such as setting correlation rules, viewing alerts, and generating reports. Security analysts can access insights and engage in security orchestration through its interface and leverage all necessary functionalities within one single platform.

Core Components & Features of SIEM

The trickiest thing about cybersecurity is that organisations need to be able to detect and act against suspicious activity before it detrimentally damages business operations.

SIEM helps organisations do the impossible by continuously monitoring network activity, aggregating key data, and applying correlation techniques to identify anomalous patterns that may indicate security breaches.

Modern SIEM systems also have intelligent alerting mechanisms in them that further help minimise false positives and optimise response time. When an alert is triggered, the response mechanisms within SIEM are activated to mitigate the identified threat.

To further understand SIEM, let’s review some of its core components and features that work together to offer comprehensive visibility into an organisation’s IT environment, facilitating effective threat detection, incident response, and compliance management.

Security Event Management (SEM)

Focusing primarily on real-time monitoring and correlation of security events, SEM is responsible for detection of suspicious activity and enables security teams to respond quicker to threats and incidents.

SEM not only facilitates efficient incident responses but also helps businesses adhere to compliance requirements by generating detailed logs of security incidents.

Features	Benefits	Examples
Real-time monitoring	Rapid detection of suspicious activities	Intrusion detection systems
Incident Responses	Prompt remediation of security incidents	Incident response platforms
Compliance Management	Fulfilment of regulatory requirements	Compliance software

Network, Device & Identity Monitoring

The collection and monitoring of log entries and devices across an IT network are a key part of SIEM.

By consolidating and analysing log entries on an ongoing basis, SIEM centralises security data and provides insights into the activities transpiring across the network and provides a system health check. This, in turn, enables proactive identification of unusual network activities.

The network, device and identity monitoring functionality of SIEM is highly beneficial as it offers real-time surveillance of an organisation’s network and all its connected devices, which is particularly useful given the vast amounts of data collected by businesses nowadays.

Real-Time Monitoring and Alerting

SIEM’s advanced technology continuously surveys activities on the IT environment and provides real-time alerts at the earliest signs of suspicious activity or potential threats. This aspect of SIEM is crucial in incident management, empowering organisations to respond swiftly to potential security incidents and threats.

This process can be understood as having three main stages:

SIEM conducts real-time monitoring of a wide range of security-related events and activities within an organization’s IT environment by continually scanning event logs, in an attempt to detect anomalous or suspicious behaviours.

The correlation engine analyses and correlates these events to identify patterns or anomalies that may indicate a security incident. For example, a series of failed login attempts by one user, followed by a successful login might be flagged as suspicious behaviour.

Continuous monitoring provides a consistent flow of information, enabling immediate incident response and risk mitigation.

The high-level monitoring, correlation, and analysis that SIEM conducts effortlessly without draining the time of internal resources is what makes it valuable for any growing business.

Real-Time Analysis of Security Events

In addition to real-time monitoring and alerts, SIEM has the ability to provide real-time analysis of security events, allowing security analysts to respond to security threats. This is primarily driven by event correlation rules, which correlate and analyse various event logs to make security alerts more precise.

SIEM’s ability to do this is important for your business as it reduces the window of opportunity for attackers, with less stress and effort on your end. It provides immediate information about potential threats, which enable security teams to take quick action to reduce the impact of potential malicious activity.

Real time analysis is primarily done through two key techniques, which are known as event log and network activity monitoring.

Event logs contain important information and data about activities within an IT environment. The log management process in SIEM involves compiling and analysing logs, which allows security teams to investigate any suspicious activities. It ensures that the massive volume of data generated by security events is centralised, helping analysts identify patterns and anomalies much sooner.

The real-time analysis of security events enables organisations to promptly address security threats. By providing instant insight and enabling swift action, your organisation can maintain a secure IT environment, prevent damages to your brand and focus on revenue generation!

User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA)

Some SIEM platforms incorporate User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA), which is a technique that uses machine learning establish a behavioural baseline profile of users and entities (such as devices, applications, etc.) within a network.

After SIEM establishes a baseline profile for normal behaviour, it then performs pattern and anomaly detection, looking for deviations from these baselines, potentially indicating a security threat. All under the UEBA capabilities, the system then notifies security analysts to act in the event of any unusual activity.

User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA) Component Function Benefit	Function	Benefit
Behavioural Analysis	Analyses and identifies behaviour patterns	Understanding normal behaviour patterns for users and entities
User and Entity Profiling	Creates profiles for each user and entity	Understand their typical behaviour for users and entities
Anomaly Detection	Identifies deviations from established baselines of normal behaviour and alerts security analysts about unusual activities	Facilitates early detection of security issues and enables swift response to potential threats

UEBA is a key part of SIEM and takes detection accuracy and capabilities to a new level. With UEBA, security teams no longer face the impossible task of having to predict and prevent future events.

Compliance Requirement Tracking

Another component of SIEM is its compliance management function, which ensures that organisations meet legal, regulatory and security requirements.

SIEM compiles compliance data from various sources and creates comprehensive compliance reports that help organizations demonstrate compliance with industry-specific regulations, internal security policies, or for audit purposes. They can generate reports on events, trends, and policy violations.

The table below may help you better visualise how SIEM is involved:

Security Information Management (SIM) Components	Compliance Standards	Role in Compliance Management
Real-Time Monitoring	PCI DSS	Identifying security incidents
Alerting	HIPAA	Notifying of potential breaches
Compliance Requirements Tracker	SOX	Ensuring regulatory compliance

This component enhances the performance of SOCs by automating compliance management and reporting, hence reducing their workload. As you can see, SIEM is not just about security – but can also support other parts of the business too!

Incident Response Automation and Reporting

Another core feature of SIEM is Incident Response Automation and Reporting. With predefined rules, SIEM automates the process of responding to incidents and provides comprehensive reports for in-depth analysis.

This feature makes life much easier for security analysts, as it streamlines the response process, minimising the time between threat detection and response in both legacy SIEMs and cloud environments.

SIEM systems also have reporting features that offer detailed insights into the effectiveness of the security system. This allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing security measures, and even the potential to refine the system, if you wish.

This mechanism includes automated defensive measures, communication protocols for rapid dissemination of threat information, and tools for forensic analysis post-incident. Understanding how these tools work can help you feel more confident in the powers of SIEM.

Event Correlation Rules for Identifying Potential Attacks

Event correlation rules are an important feature of SIEM which ensure the precise detection of unusual activities. They can quickly recognise, for instance, that multiple incorrect login attempts indicate a brute force attack. This process is also crucial in managing logs by providing threat intelligence to enable the rapid detection and response to cyber threats through proactive threat hunting.

Thousands of correlation rules can be configured to cater to varying security needs, with rules chosen based on specific threat scenarios. One-to-one correlation can be used for monitoring specific events closely, such as repeated access attempts from a single source.

Security Analysts

Last, but definitely not least, Security Analysts play a critical role in maximising the benefits of SIEM. As integral members of a Security Operations Centre (SOC), analysts are actively involved by continuously monitoring security threats and potential attacks using the SIEM solution.

Security analysts, also referred to as SOC analysts, can utilise SIEM-generated data analytics to address potential threats, while also ensuring that their company adheres to established security standards. The intelligence gathered from continuous analysis is important for analysts to proactively address vulnerabilities and defend against potential threats.

Security analysts ensure that SIEM reaches its full potential by utilising analytics, intelligence, and their own expertise to improve digital security.

Conclusion

SIEM systems, while complex at its surface, can simply be understood as being made up of several main components: SEM, network, device & identity monitoring, real-time monitoring and analysis, incident response, and compliance tracking, among others.

As we discussed, SIEM can collect vast amounts of data from various sources across a business’ network. Its correlation engine then analyses this data, enabling it to detect any suspicious pattern or activity and send alerts when action is needed to mitigate risk. These high-level processes run on their own – meaning that you can count on SIEM to keep your business safe and can take a proactive approach to risk management with ease.

About Blacklight AI SIEM

Blacklight AI SIEM is a truly proactive AI-powered and cloud-native detection software. Architected, designed, and built using industry best practices, it offers the maximum level of flexibility and extensibility. At its core, Blacklight’s architecture is rooted in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics to empower cybersecurity professionals with the tools they need to predict, detect, and mitigate threats effectively.

Blacklight integrates with all cybersecurity solutions and serves as the command centre for any organisation. The solution enables security teams to uncover threats more efficiently, gain better visibility, significantly decrease costs, and minimise risk, all from a single platform.

Learn more: blacklightai.com

Book a demo: blacklightai.com/contact-us/