Today, it’s practically impossible for organizations to operate without sending data over the Internet. We use our personal and sensitive information daily for processes such as identification and authentication and constantly expose them to threats from cyber attackers.
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, the global average data breach cost in 2024 is $4.22 million. This highlights the need for organizations to build and implement robust security strategies such as cyber security monitoring. Cyber security monitoring is like having a security camera or guard watching your valuable data 24/7 for any signs of an attack. In this post, we’ll explore the concept of cybersecurity monitoring and how it can be a crucial part of your security strategy. We’ll start by defining cybersecurity monitoring and why it’s important. After that, we’ll explore some cyber security monitoring tools and their benefits.
What Is Cyber Security Monitoring?
Cybersecurity or process monitoring is continuously observing and analyzing your computer network or systems to prevent cyberattacks. The primary objective of monitoring in cybersecurity is quickly identifying signs of vulnerability and responding to potential security threats in real-time.
Importance of Cyber Security Monitoring
Cybersecurity monitoring is a critical part of any organization’s security strategy. There are several reasons why monitoring cybersecurity is crucial if your organization relies on the Internet for its business operations:
- Early threat detection—By continuously monitoring their systems and network, organizations can detect threats before they escalate and cause real damage. Potential security threats include anything from malware to abnormal activities and unauthorized access.
- Compliance with security regulations—Organizations are required to comply with strict data privacy and security regulations. Implementing cybersecurity monitoring will help them maintain those standards.
- Minimal financial loss—By implementing cybersecurity monitoring, organizations can avoid significant losses associated with data breaches. Successful cyberattacks can lead to downtime, resulting in revenue loss. At the same time, they can incur fines from regulatory bodies for noncompliance. There is also the possibility of lawsuits, which means legal fees.
- Maintaining reputation—Effective cybersecurity monitoring can help organizations protect their reputation and customer trust. Data breaches can severely damage a company’s image and brand.
- Business stability—Continuously monitoring can help organizations avoid downtime and ensure the smooth operation of business activities.
- Improve security posture—Organizations will have a better understanding of their security system. Cybersecurity monitoring will strengthen their security posture and prevent future attacks.
Key Components of Cyber Security Monitoring
Cyber security monitoring is a continuous process involving several key components that help organizations detect, analyze, and respond to security issues in real or near real-time.
Security information and event management (SIEM)
Security teams use SIEM systems to collect, analyze, and manage security data from an organization’s network infrastructure. The network comprises several devices or endpoints that are data sources. SIEM solutions help aggregate security data from these sources in a centralized dashboard to give security teams a complete view of the IT environment.
In short, SIEM tools help a security team see what’s happening across the organization and ensure their security system is working as intended.
Despite the initial costs of implementation, SIEM systems have several benefits.
- SIEM solutions can process large amounts of data from various endpoints, allowing an organization’s security team to detect threats early and respond quickly. Early threat detection means the attack radius remains minimal.
- SIEM solutions can automate the collection and analysis of relevant security data, ensuring the organization remains compliant with security regulations. Organizations can easily create compliance reports and avoid heavy fines.
- From a security perspective, SIEM solutions provide full-network visibility. SIEM systems can easily connect with multiple endpoints/network devices and applications. All endpoints create log data containing valuable information, which helps identify security vulnerabilities and incident response. SIEM solutions allow security teams to capture and perform real-time analysis of log data during monitoring.
- Modern SIEM solutions automate threat detection and response using AI and machine learning.
- SIEM solutions can detect phishing attacks and malicious insider threats by correlating and analyzing the data from multiple endpoints to understand user behavior patterns.
Intrusion detection systems (IDS)
In cyber security monitoring, IDS analyzes an organization’s network traffic, activities, and devices, looking for known malicious activities or policy violations. If an IDS detects suspicious activities or patterns, it alerts the system administrators or security team of the potential threat. There are two types of IDS: network-based IDS (NIDS) and host-based IDS (HIDS).
NIDS is deployed within the network behind firewalls to monitor inbound and outbound traffic from your devices and flag threats. Companies may require multiple NIDS depending on the amount of traffic and size of their network structure.
HIDS runs on the devices themselves with access to the network and internet. It only monitors network traffic on a specific endpoint, like computers, routers, or servers.
An IDS can operate with various methods of threat detection. The two most common are signature-based and anomaly-based detection. Each has its benefits and limitations, and companies should consider using both methods to increase the scope of detection and catch as many threats as possible.
Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS)
An IDS does not take action against security threats; its job is to detect and alert the security team. Because of this, companies usually combine IDS with intrusion prevention systems.
An IPS monitors network traffic for security and takes action by automatically blocking or removing malware, triggering other security measures, or enforcing security policies. Unlike IDS, it doesn’t require human intervention to function, and this can allow the security team to focus on more complex threats.
Like IDS, IPSs use signature-based and anomaly-based threat detection methods when monitoring network traffic. They also use an additional method—policy-based detection—which can detect and block any actions that violate an organization’s security policy.
Types of IPS include network-based IPS (NIPS) and host-based IPS (HIPS). They function just like their IDS counterparts but go beyond detection and alerting with their threat-prevention capabilities.
IPS and IDS can be integrated with SIEM systems to enhance cybersecurity monitoring. SIEM can help provide threat intelligence and find false positives.
Log Management
A computer network comprises multiple devices that generate logs whenever an activity is performed. Log sources can be host-centric or network-centric and involve activities like SSH connections, accessing a network resource, connecting via a VPN, deleting a registry, visiting a website, and more. It’s essentially records of system events, user activities, and security incidents.
Log management starts with log collection, which is the gathering of logs from various sources in the network. The next step is storage. Log data is typically stored in a centralized repository for easy access and analysis. An organization can choose between local and cloud-based log storage. A security team can then perform log analysis, with the help of specialized tools, to uncover actionable insights into security threats, anomalies, and trends.
Proper log management should be a critical part of security management because log data contains valuable information about an organization’s security infrastructure. Organizations should consider implementing advanced log management systems like SIEM solutions.
SIEM solutions can help with centralized log collection. Logs come from various sources with many different formats, and SIEM solutions can normalize and correlate the data for easy analysis. SIEM systems can also track and monitor logs in real-time, helping with quick threat detection and response.
Types of Cyber Security Monitoring
Several types of cybersecurity monitoring focus on different aspects of an organization’s security infrastructure. An organization can choose to combine multiple types to ensure comprehensive protection. Types of cybersecurity monitoring include:
1. Network Monitoring
Network monitoring involves observing and analyzing network traffic to prevent unauthorized access and identify malicious activity. Its primary objective is protecting an organization’s computer network against insider and external security threats.
The tools used for network monitoring include intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, virtual private networks, network access control, and firewalls.
2. Endpoint Monitoring
Endpoint monitoring focuses on the devices connected to an organization’s network. Protecting endpoint devices like computers, routers, and mobile devices should be the top priority of any organization with a robust security strategy. Any cyberattacker attempting to gain access to a network is very likely to exploit any vulnerabilities in an endpoint.
Endpoint detection and response systems, antivirus software, and host-based firewalls are among the tools used for endpoint security monitoring.
3. Application Monitoring
Application monitoring involves the continuous monitoring of software applications to prevent unauthorized access and manipulation. The primary objective of application security monitoring is identifying potential vulnerabilities in an application’s code or design.
4. Cloud Monitoring
Cloud monitoring tracks the behavior of applications, data, and infrastructure across an organization’s cloud environment. Its goal is to prevent data breaches, reduce downtime, avoid delays, and ensure smooth business operations. Cloud security monitoring supervises both physical and virtual servers in cloud environments.
Cloud monitoring analyzes user behaviors, workflows, and how third-party applications interact with an organization’s cloud assets. Some best practices for implementing cloud security monitoring include enforcing identity and access management solutions, using SIEM systems for continuous monitoring, conducting regular security tests and audits, using IDS and IDP, and educating staff on how to deal with security threats.
Steps for Implementing Cyber Security Monitoring
There are several key steps in the implementation of cybersecurity monitoring.
1. Risk assessment
Risk assessment is the first step in implementing cybersecurity monitoring in an organization. It involves identifying and analyzing potential security risks to the organization’s digital infrastructure. Risk assessment focuses on assessing vulnerabilities in network systems and applications, and understanding cyber threats. It will help security teams prioritize resources to address the most critical vulnerabilities.
The benefits of conducting regular risk assessments include regulatory compliance and increased security awareness throughout the organization. Risk assessment starts with identifying every asset that needs protection and is vulnerable to potential threats. Common threats include malware, phishing, insider threats, ransomware, etc. The next step is identifying weak points by scanning for vulnerabilities or running penetration tests. Afterward, risk analysis is done to determine how likely each vulnerability is to be exploited by attackers. Next, a mitigation plan is developed and implemented. It requires regular monitoring to remain effective.
2. Define Objectives
An organization’s cybersecurity strategy must be in line with its business goals. Set clear and realistic security objectives and define the scope of monitoring. Do you want to ensure regulatory compliance, prevent intrusions, or minimize downtime? Having clear security objectives will help an organization select the appropriate cybersecurity tools.
3. Select Security Tools and Solutions
Risk assessments will reveal the current security posture of an organization. Once an organization knows the potential threats it’s likely to face, it can identify the appropriate cybersecurity tools that match its objectives and requirements. Depending on their budget and existing infrastructure, organizations may consider cloud-based or on-premises security solutions.
4. Develop Security Policies
Organizations should develop enforceable security policies to cover how data is stored, secured, and retained. They also need to create an incident response plan to guide their actions. Security policies must be aligned with regulatory standards and easily accessible by all staff.
5. Train Staff
Everyone, not just the security team, needs to be informed about the importance of cybersecurity monitoring. As long as they can access the network, they should be able to recognize and report potential security threats. Organizations must conduct regular security training and awareness campaigns to enforce security policies.
6. Review Security Strategy
Organizations must regularly review and audit their security practices and make any necessary improvements. Maintaining regulatory compliance, updating security tools, and improving threat detection and alerting are among the things a security audit will address.
Techniques and Tools for Cyber Security Monitoring
Cybersecurity monitoring relies on several advanced tools and techniques to be effective.
1. Signature-Based Detection
Signature-based detection is a threat detection and prevention technique used by intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS). It involves the analysis of network data packets for unique characteristics or behaviors associated with a particular security threat. A signature-based system keeps a database of known attack patterns (signatures). If a match is found in any packet, the system flags it as a threat and either alerts the security team or takes action.
It’s similar to how antibodies in the human body can recognize bacteria or viruses through unique markers called antigens. Our bodies can adapt to unknown threats, but new or zero-day cyberattacks can evade a signature-based IDS. Therefore, a signature-based detection and prevention system requires regular intelligence updates to remain relevant and effective against constantly evolving threats.
2. Anomaly-Based Detection
An anomaly-based system can catch new threats that evade a signature-based system. It uses machine learning to establish a baseline definition or trust model of standard system behavior. It compares network activity to this model and flags any deviation as a potential threat. Anomaly-based systems are prone to false positives because they can flag previously unknown but legitimate network activities as threats.
3. Stateful Protocol Analysis
This technique provides more accurate threat detection capabilities by monitoring the behavior of network protocols. Stateful protocol analysis detects deviations by examining the interaction of network protocols during a connection and comparing it against specific rules. It can prevent DDoS attacks where a cyberattacker attempts to overwhelm an organization’s computer network with numerous TCP connection requests.
4. Machine Learning and AI in Cybersecurity
Integrating AI and machine learning into cybersecurity can enhance the protection of an organization’s network. AI cybersecurity uses algorithms, machine learning, and neural networks to process large amounts of data from multiple sources at high speeds to detect cyber threats.
AI can anticipate vulnerabilities and prevent future attacks through predictive analysis. It can automate security checks and detect threats with great efficiency without human intervention.
AI needs regular updates with recent data to remain effective and proactive. It’s important to maintain a balance between AI and human vigilance. AI algorithms need training to prevent adversarial attacks.
Best Practices in Cybersecurity Monitoring
Organizations must adopt key monitoring practices to maintain a robust security infrastructure.
#1. Continuous Monitoring
Cybersecurity monitoring is not a one-off or one-time solution. Organizations need to constantly monitor their network activity and systems to detect threats in real-time before they can cause significant damage.
#2. Regular Audits and Assessments
Organizations must conduct regular security audits and assessments to identify vulnerabilities in their infrastructure and ensure regulatory compliance. Frequent audits and assessments will ensure the security infrastructure stays up-to-date and effective against modern cyberattacks.
#3. Use of Automated Tools
Automated tools like IDPSs, SIEM solutions, and endpoint detection and response tools eliminate human error and ensure faster threat detection. By using automated tools, organizations can improve their MTTD and MTTR.
#4. Incident Response Planning
Security teams need a well-detailed incident response plan outlining the steps and procedures to follow during a cyberattack. The incident response plan requires regular testing and updates to remain effective. It will help the organization minimize damage from an attack and maintain business continuity.
Challenges in Cyber Security Monitoring
Implementing effective cybersecurity monitoring in an organization comes with a few challenges, and organizations must find ways to overcome them. They include:
#1. Data Volume and Complexity
An organization’s network consists of multiple devices and applications that generate vast amounts of data in different formats. Collecting and analyzing this data can make it difficult for security teams to detect and respond to potential threats.
#2. False Positives and Negatives
Cybersecurity monitoring tools can often flag legitimate activities as threats, which can cause unwanted delays or disruptions. At the same time, due to the sophistication of modern cyberattacks, monitoring tools fail to detect actual threats if they don’t have up-to-date intelligence. Cyberattackers can access an organization’s network and remain undetected for extended periods, causing significant damage.
#3. Skilled Workforce Shortage
Human error is one of the leading causes of security incidents, and common mistakes include accidental data exposure, poor passwords, using the same credentials across multiple platforms, and email phishing. An organization will be at constant risk if its employees don’t know how to recognize security threats.
Technology is evolving, bringing along new vulnerabilities, but there’s a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals to match the growing complexity of cyber attackers.
#4. Compliance and Privacy Issues
Organizations must comply with several data privacy and security regulations. They must also find the right cybersecurity monitoring tools to ensure compliance and maintain a robust security infrastructure.
Organizations can overcome these challenges by conducting regular security audits and risk assessments to find vulnerabilities, providing regular security training for employees, implementing strong access controls, and upgrading their current monitoring tools.
Emerging Trends in Cybersecurity Monitoring
We’ve learned that cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and difficult to defend against without the right security strategy. Here are some emerging trends that organizations should consider to stay ahead:
1. AI and Machine Learning
AI cannot be ignored in 2024, and it’s been widely adopted by modern organizations. Having a human touch is valuable, but implementing AI and machine learning into your security infrastructure can make a world of difference. AI can collect and analyze large amounts of data in real-time to quickly detect security threats. AI and machine learning can prevent future cyberattacks before they happen through techniques like behavior analysis.
2. Zero-Trust Architecture
By implementing a zero-trust model, organizations treat every user or device requesting access to their network as a potential security threat by default. Zero trust requires continuous verification, regardless of a user’s or device’s location relative to the network. It protects the network against insider and external threats. Having a zero-trust model is increasingly relevant due to increased cloud service usage and remote working.
3. Threat Intelligence Sharing
Organizations share threat intelligence on platforms like IBM X-Force Exchange to improve their threat detection and response capabilities. Sharing intelligence means organizations can anticipate and prepare their cybersecurity tools for potential attacks. Having relevant threat intelligence can prevent false positives and prevent disruptions.
4. Automated Incident Response
Organizations are implementing automated security systems that can quickly detect and respond to security threats without human intervention to deal with modern cyberattacks. Automation using AI and machine learning saves time and minimizes the damage a cyberattack can cause to a network.
Case Studies and Real-World Examples
Organizations can learn from major cyber incidents and successful implementations of cybersecurity tools. They can play a crucial role in an organization’s understanding how to set up their own security infrastructure.
Equifax failed to detect a breach in 2017 because it had outdated software. The breach was detected 76 days after their security team updated an expired SSL certificate for an application that monitored network traffic. The certificate had been expired for nine months. If continuous monitoring was in place, as well as an effective incident response plan, the intrusion would have been detected earlier, and they would have avoided paying out up to $700 million in fines and settlements.
Many organizations use third-party vendors to manage some or most parts of their business operations, but they can be exploited, like in the case of Target in 2013, JPMorgan Chase in 2014 and SolarWinds in 2020. An intrusion into one vendor can affect many other affiliated organizations. This type of attack can be avoided by implement monitoring tools like SentinelOne that detect security issues for third-party credentials such as Slack tokens, Google workspaces, payment gateway tokens, and other items across public and private repositories.
Cybersecurity Monitoring With SentinelOne
SentinelOne offers a robust, unified cybersecurity monitoring solution for modern organizations looking to safeguard their entire digital infrastructure against constantly evolving cyber threats.
SentinelOne’s Singularity endpoint platform revolutionizes endpoint security by integrating AI-powered threat detection and autonomous response. With real-time monitoring of endpoint activities, it can detect and neutralize threats like malware and ransomware autonomously, ensuring minimal business disruption. It uses advanced machine learning algorithms to proactively isolate and mitigate risks, enhancing overall endpoint security management. Security teams benefit from a single dashboard that aggregates monitoring data, providing complete visibility into the health status of endpoints and potential threats.
In addition, Singularity Ranger extends security monitoring to IP-enabled devices, including unmanaged assets, preventing security gaps and ensuring a comprehensive defense strategy.
For cloud security monitoring, SentinelOne’s Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) offers a suite of features tailored to cloud environments. It offers Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Kubernetes Security Posture Management (KSPM), and Cloud Detection and Response (CDR), ensuring continuous protection and compliance monitoring. It also provides agentless vulnerability management and real-time threat detection, securing cloud workloads while adhering to industry standards like PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and NIST.
SentinelOne also facilitates advanced monitoring by enabling custom security policies; event analyzers for investigations; and secret scanning across repositories like GitHub, GitLab, and BitBucket. These tools allow organizations to monitor cloud resources, detect potential breaches in real-time, and quickly respond to constantly evolving threats.
Final Words on Cybersecurity Monitoring
Implementing effective cybersecurity is crucial for any organization looking to navigate the constantly evolving digital landscape today. They must match the sophistication of modern cyberattacks with a proactive cybersecurity strategy. With advanced monitoring tools like SentinelOne, organizations can protect their sensitive data and ensure the continuity of their business operations. By adopting practices such as regular audits and assessments, and implementing modern AI and machine learning technology, organizations can build a truly robust security infrastructure. Explore how SentinelOne can help protect your organization with a demo today.
FAQs
1. What is process monitoring in cybersecurity?
Process monitoring in cybersecurity is the continuous monitoring and analysis of network activities to detect abnormalities and respond to potential security threats.
2. Why is cybersecurity monitoring crucial for organizations?
Cybersecurity monitoring is crucial for organizations because it provides continuous real-time threat detection and response, protecting their sensitive data against cyber threats.
3. What are the benefits of cybersecurity monitoring?
The benefits of cybersecurity monitoring include early threat detection, regulatory compliance, minimal financial loss, protection of reputation, business stability, and improved security posture.
4. Which is the best tool for cybersecurity monitoring?
The best tool for cybersecurity monitoring depends on the organization’s security needs and requirements. Monitoring tools include SIEM solutions, intrusion detection and prevention systems, endpoint monitoring tools, and more.