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Businesses have lost billions, if not trillions, of dollars due to security breaches. We frequently hear in the news about important consumer data being lost by a big business. To reduce cybersecurity threats, businesses are experimenting with various methods. Among all the solutions, SecOps (Security Operations) processes have boosted security and business reliability. For improved outcomes, it is time to combine IT security and operations. If you are unaware of SecOps, you might be living under a rock. SecOps has recently been attempted but failed by certain businesses. It was due to their failure to develop the proper SecOps plan. Read on to understand the top practices for implementing SecOps processes.
Understanding the concept of SecOps
SecOps refers to the collaboration between security and operations teams with the purpose of enhancing information security. Since cyberattacks have become more complicated, enterprises create a synergy between security and operations teams. Each team had its own resources, tools, and responsibilities prior to SecOps. The overall security of the IT system was compromised as a result. Both teams may share resources, tools, and duties thanks to SecOps. SecOps facilitates the integration of various security tools and procedures.
Many enterprises have used SecOps to drive automation across both teams. With SecOps, organizations have increased visibility into the network’s security. Often, enterprises experience downtime due to a lack of communication between IT operations and security teams. Ensuring high service availability is the responsibility of both security and operations teams. Here are some benefits of SecOps for enterprises in 2023:
- SecOps will bring more hands on the deck for growing cybersecurity concerns. Cybersecurity responsibilities can be shared equally across both teams. With SecOps, more experts can address evolving security threats.
- Businesses prioritize enhancing the whole IT infrastructure’s speed. They frequently forget about security when doing this. SecOps allows security to be prioritized across many IT activities.
- Teams from IT operations and security will address recurring problems that result in security failure when they work together. Programs and software systems will be created with the goal of removing typical security threats.
- Enterprises must innovate to maintain their competitiveness. However, innovation must never come at the cost of security. With SecOps processes, organizations can ensure that innovation does not overshadow security.
- Cyber attackers find vulnerabilities in the network and exploit them to the fullest. When security and operations teams join hands, vulnerabilities within the IT network can be addressed quickly. Fewer or no loopholes will be available for hackers to exploit.
What are the best practices for implementing SecOps processes?
SecOps can work like magic for your organization, only if it is implemented the right way. Everything will not happen automatically after merging IT operations and security teams. The management has to set the base for the exchange of information and tools. When done the right way, SecOps processes improve service availability significantly. Here are the best practices to implement SecOps processes:
1. Determine the scope of SecOps – When creating a SecOps plan, it is crucial to analyze the enterprise requirements. Different businesses may use SecOps in different ways. There is no universal SecOps approach that is effective for all businesses. For the same reason, it’s critical to ascertain what the organizations hope to accomplish using SecOps processes.
While forming a SecOps strategy, an enterprise can choose to outsource some redundant tasks. Internal security and operations teams might be freed only for crucial tasks. It depends on the security teams and their competencies. If the security teams are confident in handling a task, it should be assigned to them. Tasks that require some other skills can be outsourced by the enterprise.
The communication process between the security and IT operations departments must be very transparent. SecOps personnel shouldn’t become anxious whenever a security breach occurs. For the SecOps teams, there must be SOPs to adhere to. By doing so, cybersecurity threats can be eliminated quickly without hampering service reliability.
2. Build dependable workflows – Different challenges will be faced by the SecOps teams with time. However, there must a dependable workflow to follow during an incident. SecOps teams must use a process—driven approach to tackle a cybersecurity threat. It includes defining security processes throughout the life cycle of an incident. Automated pipelines can be used to build repeatable workflows for cybersecurity threats. The tools used for different incidents can change, but the entire SecOps process must be unified.
3. Conduct training for SecOps teams – Forming a SecOps team will not immediately boost service reliability. To prepare for potential difficulties, an organization must train its SecOps personnel. The red-blue exercise is the most fundamental and practical exercise for SecOps teams. Make two teams out of your internal staff members. The red team will attempt to compromise the system, while the blue team works to reduce the dangers. Working together more often will benefit the security and operations teams. Internally, the system can also be examined for common flaws.
4. Automate SecOps processes – Automation is the key to implementing SecOps processes effectively. Across large and distributed IT environments, you cannot expect internal employees to handle every security task. Some security tasks might be redundant and utilize most of the working hours. It is time organizations looked towards AIOps based analytics platforms for SecOps processes. An AIOps based analytics platform can automate different security tasks like event correlation, data cleaning, pattern discovery, root cause analysis, and synthetic monitoring. Some SecOps processes might require a human touch. You can preserve your internal employees for crucial security tasks that require a human touch. AIOps will help you implement SecOps processes effectively even with a limited SecOps team.
5. Define the SecOps roles – The roles played by each SecOps team must be thoroughly understood. A handful of SecOps’ duties include communication, event prioritization, issue investigation, and incident response. A SecOps team may also be responsible for a variety of other tasks. To maintain Business Reliability, each SecOps procedure needs a specialized team of experts. There is no confusion during an emergency when everyone is aware of their respective roles beforehand. With the merger of the security and operations teams, all of these must be completed. Improve cybersecurity in 2023 by implementing SecOps techniques!
