You are implementing more systems in your office, funded by the”Cyber Secure Local Government” grant: a state-of-the-art firewall, advanced workstation protection, and a mail filtering system. Each of these tools is an important step forward. But each of them is also starting to generate hundreds or even thousands of alerts and logs a day. Hidden in this torrent of information are both false alarms and subtle signals of a real, ongoing attack. A fundamental question arises: who is supposed to analyze all this?
Even the best IT team of a few people in a local government, burdened with dozens of other responsibilities, cannot conduct effective 24/7 monitoring. It’s physically impossible. As a result, expensive security systems operate in a vacuum, and the first, key signals of an intrusion go unnoticed for days or weeks - until a ransom demand appears on the screens and it’s too late.
This problem has been recognized by lawmakers. Both the existing National Interoperability Framework (NIF) and the upcoming NIS2 directive require SOCs to have the capability to continuously monitor and detect security incidents. The answer to this requirement is to implement a Security Operations Center (SOC). For many local government leaders, this sounds like an unrealistic dream. But thanks to a modern service approach, this dream is becoming an achievable and fully grant-funded reality.
Shortcuts
- Your new firewall generates thousands of alerts a day. Who has time to analyze all that?
- What is a Security Operations Center (SOC) and why is it the “digital heart” of any mature organization?
Your new firewall generates thousands of alerts a day. Who has time to analyze all that?
Imagine that you have installed a state-of-the-art video surveillance system with a hundred cameras in the office. The problem is that no one is looking at the monitors. The cameras record, but without an analyst to watch the images in real time, the system is just an archive, not a prevention tool. You react only after the fact, analyzing the footage of a break-in that has already happened.
It’s exactly the same with cyber security systems. A firewall, EDR system or IDS are your “digital cameras.” They generate a constant stream of data about what is happening on your network. Without a team of analysts who can interpret this stream, separate false alarms from real threats, and correlate seemingly unrelated events, you will miss subtle signals of attack preparation.
A small IT team at JST, which must simultaneously take care of computers, printers, networks and dozens of applications, simply doesn’t have the time to be a 24/7 security analyst. This leads to the phenomenon of “alert fatigue” (alert fatigue), where in the flurry of information, those really important signals simply get lost.
📚 Read the complete guide: SOC: Security Operations Center - czym jest, jak działa, jak wybrać
What is a Security Operations Center (SOC) and why is it the “digital heart” of any mature organization?
The Security Operations Center (SOC) is a specialized unit whose sole task is to protect the organization by continuously monitoring, detecting, analyzing and responding to cyber security incidents. It is the “digital heart” and “brain” of the entire defense system.
The SOC consists of three key elements. The first is people - a team of specialized analysts who work in shifts (often 24/7) to provide continuous protection. The second is processes - detailed, rehearsed procedures and playbooks that tell analysts exactly what to do when different types of threats are detected.
The third element is technology, the centerpiece of which is a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) class system. It’s an intelligent platform that collects and correlates logs and alerts from all the systems in an organization, and then, using advanced rules and algorithms, looks for patterns in them that indicate a potential attack.
How do you envision a SOC? Think of a city monitoring center for your network.
The best analogy for understanding what an SOC is is to compare it to a municipal monitoring and emergency management center. At such a center, operators watch images from hundreds of cameras scattered throughout the city in real time. As a result, they are able to quickly detect an incident - an accident, a fire, an act of vandalism - and immediately send the appropriate services to the site.
This is exactly how the SOC works. Analysts watch a “digital image” of the entire office on their monitors. When the SIEM system (the equivalent of an intelligent image analysis system) alerts them to suspicious activity - such as an attempt to log in from an unusual location, or a computer communicating with a server known to distribute malware - the analyst immediately verifies it.
Its task is to assess whether it is a false alarm or a real threat. If the threat is real, the SOC triggers the response procedure - it informs your IT team, provides recommendations (e.g., “immediately isolate this computer from the network”) and supports further action. It’s an early warning and first response system.
Why do KRI and NIS2 make the ability to continuously monitor cease to be an option and become an obligation?
Having the capability to continuously monitor and detect incidents is no longer just “good practice.” It is a firm legal requirement. The National Interoperability Framework (NIF), which applies to all public entities, requires, among other things, “monitoring access to systems and information” and “recording and analyzing incidents.”
The upcoming NIS2 directive goes a step further, requiring local governments to implement comprehensive “incident handling” policies and procedures. Incidents cannot be handled effectively if we can’t detect them first. What’s more, strict reporting deadlines (24 hours for early warning) enforce having the ability to detect almost immediately.
In practice, the only way to realistically meet these requirements is to have the functionality provided by the SOC. In the event of an audit after an incident, auditors are sure to ask: “What systems and procedures did you have in place to monitor your network? How did you not detect the attack earlier?”. Having an SOC is the best answer to these questions.
”We can’t afford it”: Why is it beyond the reach of most local governments to build their own 24-hour SOC?
When managers hear about the need for an SOC, their first reaction is often to give up. The vision of building an in-house, 24/7 team of analysts seems completely unrealistic from the perspective of the budget and staffing capabilities of a typical local government. And it is a fully justified concern.
Building and maintaining an in-house SOC is a gigantic undertaking. It requires hiring at least 5-6 highly skilled (and very expensive) analysts to cover all the changes. It requires the purchase and implementation of complex and expensive SIEM technology. It also requires creating a whole lot of procedures, training and continuous improvement from scratch.
The cost of such a project is calculated in the millions of zlotys per year. Moreover, there is a huge shortage of cyber security specialists on the market, and it is extremely difficult for local governments to compete with the private sector for them. As a result, for 99% of TSUs in Poland, building their own internal SOC is simply impossible.
What is “SOC as a Service” and how does it allow you to access elite knowledge at a fraction of the cost?
Fortunately, there is a modern and much more accessible solution to this problem: SOC as a Service (SOC as a Service). This is a model in which an organization does not build its own monitoring center, but rents it from an external, specialized provider.
In this model, the SIEM technology is installed in the cloud or in the provider’s data center. Your organization securely uploads its logs and security data to it. The vendor’s remote team of analysts, working 24/7, monitors this data exactly as if an internal SOC were doing it. If an incident is detected, it immediately informs you and supports you in your response.
“SOC as a Service” is a classic example of economies of scale. The service provider spreads the cost of maintaining expensive technology and a team of experts over many customers, so it can offer the service in the form of a predictable monthly or annual subscription, which is many times cheaper than trying to build the same thing from scratch. This democratizes access to elite security.
How does remote security monitoring of your office work in practice?
The process of implementing “SOC as a Service” is relatively simple. The first step is to install lightweight software or a device (called a collector) in your network, whose task is to securely collect logs from key systems (firewalls, servers, workstations) and send them through an encrypted channel to the provider’s analysis center.
Then, the vendor’s analysts, in cooperation with your IT team, configure the SIEM system, adapting detection rules to the specifics of your environment. From that point on, the service runs continuously. You and your team are given access to an online portal where you can keep up to date on the status of security and view reports.
However, the most important thing happens in the background. When an SOC analyst detects a real threat, you don’t get another automated alert. You get a phone call or email from a specific person - an experienced expert - who explains in simple terms what’s going on, how serious the threat is, and what specific steps you should take to neutralize it. You receive not just data, but knowledge and support.
Two SOC models for local government: A comparison
FeatureInternal, proprietary SOCSOC as a ServiceInitial costVery high (hardware, software, recruitment)Low (implementation fee)Maintenance costVery high (salaries of 5-6 analysts, licenses, training)Predictable, fixed subscription feeImplementation timeMany months or even yearsA few weeksRequired competenciesNeed to hire and maintain a team of expertsNone - we use the knowledge and experience of the supplierAvailability24/7 (if a full shift team can be built)Guaranteed 24/7 under contract (SLA)Reality for TSUVery lowHigh, especially with grant funding
What role does the SIEM system, or “intelligent aggregator” of alerts, play in the operation of the SOC?
The technological heart of any modern SOC, whether internal or service-based, is a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) system. Its primary task is to aggregate, or bring together in one place, logs and events from hundreds of different sources across your infrastructure.
Next, SIEM performs correlation. Using advanced rules, it searches for links between seemingly unrelated events. For example, a single alert about a failed login attempt is insignificant. But if the SIEM notices 1,000 failed login attempts from the same IP address over a 5-minute period, followed by one successful one followed by an attempt to run an unusual program - it will correlate these events and generate a high-priority alert indicating a force attack.
Modern SIEM systems also use machine learning and behavioral analytics (UEBA) to learn what “normal” behavior looks like on your network, and alert you to any anomalies or deviations from that norm.
Why is SIEM technology without a team of experienced analysts just an empty tool?
Implementing a SIEM system alone, without providing a team to support it, is one of the most common mistakes and the easiest way to waste money. SIEM is not a magic box that automatically solves all problems. It’s an extremely complicated but powerful tool in the hands of an experienced craftsman.
A SIEM system generates a huge amount of data and alerts. Without a human analyst who can interpret this data, understand the context, separate false positives and investigate (threat hunting), it is just a noisy machine. It is the analyst, based on his or her experience and intuition, who can spot subtle patterns in the data that no automated rule will catch.
This is why the “SOC as a Service” model is so attractive. It gives access not only to advanced SIEM technology (the purchase and implementation of which can also be financed by a grant), but above all to what is most valuable and hardest to get - a team of world-class experts who can squeeze the maximum value out of this technology.
How to 100% fund a multi-year SOC monitoring service from the “Cyber Secure Local Government” grant?
The “Cyber Secure Local Government” program explicitly provides for the possibility of financing such advanced services. The catalog of eligible costs in the “Technology” area includes both the purchase and implementation of a SIEM-class system and, crucially, the purchase of security monitoring services in a subscription model.
This means that the local government can use part of the grant to cover the cost of implementation and pay for, for example, a 24-month subscription to the “SOC as a Service” service upfront. This is an extremely beneficial solution. Instead of incurring a gigantic capital expense to build its own SOC, the local government can use the grant to fund a service that immediately, within a few weeks, provides it with access to 24/7 monitoring and a team of experts.
This is the fastest and most cost-effective way to meet KRI and NIS2 requirements for continuous monitoring. It allows you to immediately raise your maturity level from zero to a very high level, without the need for a multi-year, risky project to build your own competence.
In addition to detection, what benefits does the SOC service provide, from faster response to meeting regulatory requirements?
The main benefit, of course, is the drastic reduction in the attack’s Mean Time to Detect (MTTD). Instead of finding out about an intrusion months later, you learn about it within minutes, allowing you to respond immediately and minimize damage. This translates into reduced response time (Mean Time to Respond - MTTR).
Second, the SOC service ensures that key regulatory requirements are met. Having a documented, 24/7 monitoring service is the strongest evidence of due diligence under the NIS2 directive. In the event of an incident, detailed reports from the SIEM system become invaluable evidence and the basis for reporting to the regulator.
Third, SOC provides invaluable knowledge and recommendations. Regular reports on the state of security, detected vulnerabilities and trends allow you to continuously improve your defense system and make more informed investment decisions in the future.
Can you afford NOT to know what is going on in your network?
In today’s threat landscape, lack of visibility and monitoring is no longer an acceptable risk. It’s a conscious decision to operate in the dark and hope that nothing bad will happen. Unfortunately, in cyber security, hope is not a strategy.
The question every local government leader needs to ask themselves is not, “Can we afford SOC?” The real question is, “Can we afford the cost of weeks of office paralysis, loss of residents’ data and the gigantic financial penalties that will result from an attack that goes undetected in time?”
In this context, investing in a monitoring service, especially when it can be 100% financed with external funds, becomes one of the most profitable and logical decisions one can make. It is an investment in peace of mind, predictability and, most importantly, in citizens’ trust.
Related Terms
Learn key terms related to this article in our cybersecurity glossary:
- Security Operations Center (SOC) — Security Operations Center (SOC) is a central location where a team of security…
- NIS2 — NIS2 (Network and Information Security Directive 2) is an EU directive…
- SOC as a Service — SOC as a Service (Security Operations Center as a Service), also known as…
- Cybersecurity Incident Management — Cybersecurity incident management is the process of identifying, analyzing,…
- Incident Response — Incident Response (IR) is an organized process of detecting, analyzing, and…
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