Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Security Information &
Event Management

Background on Network Components
 Router
 IPS/IDS

 Firewall
 Switch (L2 & L3)

 Servers (Application, Database, etc.)
 Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

 Virtual Private Network

2

Typical Corporate Environment

4

Log Management

5

 Log management (LM) comprises an approach to
dealing with large volumes of computer-generated log
messages (also known as audit records, audit trails,
event-logs, etc.).
 LM covers log collection, centralized aggregation, longterm retention, log analysis (in real-time and in bulk
after storage) as well as log search and reporting.

Log Management Challenges
 Analyzing Logs for Relevant Security Intelligence
 Centralizing Log Collection
 Meeting IT Compliance Requirements
 Conducting Effective Root Cause Analysis
 Making Log Data More Meaningful
 Tracking Suspicious User Behavior

7

Introduction to SIEM

8

 The term Security Information Event Management
(SIEM), coined by Mark Nicolett and Amrit Williams of
Gartner in 2005.
 Describes the product capabilities of gathering,
analyzing and presenting information from network and
security devices; identity and access management
applications; vulnerability management and policy
compliance tools; operating system, database and
application logs; and external threat data.

Introduction to SIEM

9

 Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a term
for software and products services combining security
information management (SIM) and security event manager
(SEM).
 The acronyms SEM, SIM and SIEM have been sometimes used
interchangeably.
 The segment of security management that deals with real-time
monitoring, correlation of events, notifications and console views
is commonly known as Security Event Management (SEM).
 The second area provides long-term storage, analysis and
reporting of log data and is known as Security Information
Management (SIM).

Key Objectives




Identify threats and possible breaches
Collect audit logs for security and compliance
Conduct investigations and provide evidence

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SIEM vs LM

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Functionality

Security Information and Event
Management (SIEM)

Log Management (LM)

Log collection

Collect security relevant logs + context
data
Parsing, normalization, categorization,
enrichment

Collect all logs

Indexing, parsing or
none

Log retention

Retail parsed and normalized data

Retain raw log data

Reporting
Analysis

Security focused reporting
Correlation, threat scoring, event
prioritization

Broad use reporting
Full text analysis,
tagging

Alerting and
notification

Advanced security focused reporting

Simple alerting on all
logs

Other features

Incident management, analyst workflow,
context analysis, etc.

High scalability of
collection and storage

Log pre-processing

Why is SIEM Necessary?
 Rise in data breaches due to internal and external
threats
 Attackers are smart and traditional security tools
just don’t suffice
 Mitigate sophisticated cyber-attacks
 Manage increasing volumes of logs from multiple
sources
 Meet stringent compliance requirements

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Elements of SIEM
Monitored Events

Event Collection

Core Engine

User Interface

13

BIG 3 for SIEM

15

Compliance

SIEM

Security

Operations

SIEM Process Flow

Data
Collection

Extract
Intelligent
Information

16

Add Value

Presentation
Dashboards
& Reports

Typical Working of an SIEM Solution

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SIEM Architecture
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System Inputs

Event Data
Operating Systems
Applications
Devices
Databases

Data
Collection
Normalization

Contextual Data
Vulnerability Scans
User Information
Asset Information
Threat Intelligence

SIEM

System Outputs
Analysis
Reports
Real Time Monitoring

Correlation
Logic/Rules
Aggregation

Adding Context
Examples of context
 Add geo-location information
 Get information from DNS servers
 Get User details (Full Name, Job Title & Description)

Add context aids in identifying
 Access from foreign locations
 Suspect data transfer

20

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8 Critical Features of SIEM

#1. Log Collection

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 Universal Log Collection
 To collect logs from heterogeneous sources
(Windows systems, Unix/Linux systems,
applications, databases, routers, switches, and
other devices).

 Log collection method - agent-based
or agentless
 Both Recommended

 Centralized log collection
 Events Per Second (EPS) – Rate at
which your IT infrastructure sends
events
 If not calculated properly the SIEM solution will
start dropping events before they are stored in
the database leading to incorrect reports,
search results, alerts, and correlation.

#2. User Activity Monitoring

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 SIEM solutions should have Out-ofthe-box user activity monitoring,
Privileged user monitoring and audit
(PUMA) reporting feature.
 Ensure that the SIEM solution gives
the „Complete audit trail‟
 Know which user performed the action, what
was the result of the action, on what server it
happened, and user workstation/device from
where the action was triggered.

#3. Real Time Event Correlation

A
D

B
C

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 Real-time event correlation is all
about proactively dealing with
threats.
 Correlation boosts network security
by processing millions of events
simultaneously to detect anomalous
events on the network.
 Correlation can be based on log
search, rules and alerts
 Predefined rules and alerts are not sufficient.
Custom rule and alert builder is a must for
every SIEM solution.
 Ensure that the process of correlating
events is easy.

#4. Log Retention

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 SIEM solutions should automatically
archive all log data from systems,
devices & applications to a
‘centralized‟ repository.
 Ensure that the SIEM solution has
„Tamper Proof‟ feature which
‘encrypts‟ and ‘time stamps‟ them
for
compliance
and
forensics
purposes.
 Ease of retrieving and analyzing
archived log data.

#5. IT Compliance Reports

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 IT compliance is the core of every
SIEM solution.
 Ensure that the SIEM solution has
out-of-the-box regulatory compliance
reports such as PCI DSS, FISMA,
GLBA, SOX, HIPAA, etc.
 SIEM solutions should also have the
capability to customize and build new
compliance reports to comply with
future regulatory acts.

#6. File Integrity Monitoring

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 File integrity monitoring helps security
professionals in monitoring business
critical files and folders.
 Ensure that the SIEM solution tracks
and reports on all changes happening
such as when files and folders are
created, accessed, viewed, deleted,
modified, renamed and much more.
 The SIEM solution should also send
real-time alerts when unauthorized
users access critical files and folders.

#7. Log Forensics

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 SIEM solutions should allow users to
track down a intruder or the event
activity using log search capability.
 The log search capability should be
very intuitive and user-friendly,
allowing IT administrators to search
through the raw log data quickly.

#8. Dashboards

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 Dashboards drive SIEM solutions
and help IT administrators take
timely action and make the right
decisions during network anomalies.
 Security data must be presented in a
very intuitive and user-friendly
manner.
 The dashboard must be fully
customizable
so
that
IT
administrators can configure the
security information they wish to see.

Self-Hosted, Jointly-Managed

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Hybrid-Model, Jointly-Managed

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Why SIEM implementation fails?
 Lack of Planning


No defined scope

 Faulty Deployment Strategies



Incoherent log management data collection
High volume of irrelevant data can overload the system

 Operational



Lack of management oversight
Assume plug and play

“Security is a process, not a product”

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Business Benefits

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 Real-time Monitoring
 For operational efficiency and IT
security purposes

 Cost Saving
 Compliance
 Reporting
 Rapid ROI

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

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