How to Choose the Right SIEM Tool for Your Business

We've heard it time and time again — your security information and event management (SIEM) system should be the “hub” of your cybersecurity operations, a one-stop shop for all your security incidents and events. But as the number of tools we use increases, so does the complexity of our security infrastructure.

Implementing an effective SIEM system should be a transformative step for enhancing your organization’s security posture. While the process involves careful planning, resource allocation and continuous monitoring, benefits like centralized data correlation, automated responses and regulatory compliance make it a crucial component of any effective security strategy. Aligning SIEM initiatives with your organization’s specific business needs and objectives can help maximize the value of your SIEM investments.

However, it can be difficult to evaluate SIEM tools and how they meet your business requirements. The complexity of your business, your security environment and your team’s level of expertise are important factors in the tool selection process. The key is to identify the capabilities you need from a SIEM tool and understand that the best SIEM tool is one your business can use well.

SIEM is crucial for consolidating security events from other systems within your infrastructure. When used effectively, SIEM enables cross-platform, cross-device and cross-vendor correlation, essentially acting as a “single-pane-of-glass” view from which you can jump into other areas of your security infrastructure to quickly detect and respond to any events outside of the norm.

However, it’s impossible to detect anomalies without establishing a baseline for "normal" operations within your environment. SIEM tools together with security orchestration automation response (SOAR) tools, automate the compilation of data from each of your disparate security systems — from firewall events to endpoint detection and response (EDR), to internal and external application events and more — into comprehensive visual reports detailing all activities within them.

When an event occurs in one system, an SIEM tool can tell you whether there is a correlation between the others in your environment. By correlating security events across systems, SIEM tools reduce the time needed to create a well-defined picture of which activities are “normal” and which are abnormal.

Sorting the normal from abnormal in an accurate, efficient and repeatable way is the key to better security. Since modern attack surfaces can touch multiple tools within security infrastructure, this correlation is vital to helping your organization quickly identify and respond to abnormal activities, which may indicate serious cyber threats.

With so many SIEM options available, where should you start when choosing a right tool for your organization? Here are some key considerations to keep in mind when evaluating SIEM solutions:

• The maturity level of your organization: Consider factors like your staffing requirements, the visibility of your security environment, the need for a security operations center (SOC) and managed response services. Does your organization run lots of custom code? Are you currently using legacy apps? The right SIEM tool for you is likely not a one-size-fits all solution.

• Integration capabilities: Your perimeter source toolsets (firewall, VPN authentication sources, zero-trust networks, XDR, EDR) are the source of data for your SIEM. It’s important to account for these and ensure that your SIEM tool can effectively gather and correlate this data.

• Customization options: Will your organization need a SIEM tool that can be heavily customized to fit complex systems and provide granular data, or is your organization looking for an easy, automated solution that runs on its own? A simple, out-of-the-box solution may be better for smaller teams with fewer resources while a customizable SIEM tool may work better for larger, more agile ones.

An expert partner with experience in the security and IAM space can help you better analyze your current state to help decide which SIEM tool is right for you. For example, CDW experts use a SIEM vendor analysis matrix to compare the different capabilities of some of the leading SIEM technology solutions available.

Based on more than 150 general solution requirements, a customer will first rank the importance of specific features within the SIEM vendor analysis matrix, like whether or not the solution must provide preconfigured correlation rules, or whether the solution provides audit-ready reports for the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) or other regulatory standards, for example. From there, CDW experts will compare how well each SIEM solution fares against the customer’s specific requirements and assign a score to each. The SIEM tool that scores the highest will be the one we recommend for that customer.

Choosing and implementing a SIEM is no small undertaking, and the road to success can be long and complex. When implementing or upgrading a SIEM tool, it’s not uncommon for organizations to hit roadblocks along the way.

The security landscape is constantly evolving to meet the ever-changing threats of our modern world. New ways of looking at, sorting and analyzing security data are constantly being introduced; however, there has yet to be a proven solution that is able to duplicate what a well implemented and maintained SIEM can provide. While SIEM tools can be robust on their own, this step doesn't happen overnight.

Rather than choosing a tool immediately, the best first step should be to establish your security team and a comprehensive configuration management database (CMBD). It’s also critical to ensure that your team includes a dedicated resource who understands where your systems are located, where the data comes from and the kinds of data those systems generate. If your organization doesn’t have this resource in-house, consider working with a managed security service provider (MSSP) or using software as a service (SaaS) SIEM solutions.

The final steps before selecting a SIEM tool involve setting realistic expectations and ensuring that your teams are aligned. To get the most out of your SIEM system, be sure to:

• Collaborate with your team to set specific, measurable goals and understand the data you need to gather. Establish clear objectives for implementing a SIEM.

• Determine the value you want to get out of it and involve your teams in the decision-making process.

• Recognize that data volume will continue to grow, so focus on collecting relevant data rather than attempting to capture everything. Be selective about the data you collect and analyze, as collecting too much can be cost-prohibitive and overwhelming for your team.
• Determine what to do with the data you collect. Data consolidation is a significant benefit of SIEM, but what should you do once that data comes in? Seeking assistance from engineers to figure out new data sources is crucial.

Selecting the right SIEM tool should be your final step, preferably accomplished with a trusted partner with deep security expertise who understands your organization’s end goals and specific needs.

There is no single SIEM tool that can cater to every organization's specific needs; the best SIEM tool is one that your organization can leverage to its full potential. Remember, if all you need is a SIEM to check a box, that's perfectly fine. As long as the tool meets your individual needs — from being user-friendly to generating insightful reports — you're on the right track.