What is SIEM (Security Information & Event Management)?
IONOS editorial team8 mins
Businesses face both known and unknown cyber threats due to increasing digitisation, hybrid work models, and a variety of end devices. Therefore, security concepts such as SIEM (Security Information & Event Management) are more crucial than ever. By logging, analysing, and processing system and network data, security threats can be quickly identified, traced, and mitigated.
What is SIEM?
The abbreviation SIEM stands for Security Information & Event Management, which gives companies more transparency and control over their own data. A standardised security and protection concept allows suspicious security incidents, attack trends and threat patterns to be identified at an early stage. This is made possible by tools that log and analyse a variety of event and process data across every layer of the company, from end devices through firewalls and IPS (Intrusion Prevention Systems) to the network, cloud, and server levels.
SIEM integrates both SIM (Security Information Management) and SEM (Security Event Management) to assess security information and incidents contextually and correlatively in real time, create alerts, and trigger security measures. This approach allows for the early detection and mitigation of potential vulnerabilities and security breaches, as well as quickly preventing any attack attempts. The concept of SIEM was established in 2005 by Gartner. Essential elements of contemporary SIEM solutions include UBA (User Behavior Analytics), UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics), and SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response).
Why is Security Information & Event Management important?
Today, a company’s IT infrastructure no longer consists of just a server and a few end devices. Even medium-sized companies use more or less complex company networks that are made up of a large number of internet-enabled end devices, their own software landscape and several servers and cloud services. Added to this are new working models such as working from home or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).
The more complex the IT infrastructure, the more vulnerabilities can occur if cyber security is inadequate. More and more companies are therefore relying on holistic protection against ransomware, spyware and scareware as well as against new forms of cyberattacks and zero-day exploits.
The importance of security solutions such as SIEM is growing for companies, and not just because of acute threats. Strict data protection requirements under the GDPR or certifications such as BASE II, ISO or SOX now even require a data and system protection concept. This can often only be achieved through SIEM or similar strategies such as EDR and XDR.
By bringing together, evaluating and linking security-relevant log and report data in a central platform, SIEM allows data from all applications and network levels to be analysed in a security-oriented manner. The earlier you detect threats or security leaks in this way, the faster you can reduce risks to your business processes and protect company data**. SIEM therefore offers a significant increase in efficiency when it comes to compliance and real-time protection against threats such as ransomware, malware or data theft.
How does SIEM work?
The term ‘SIEM’ was introduced in 2005 by Amrit Williams and Mark Nicolett of Gartner. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s official definition, SIEM is an application that gathers security data from the various elements of an information system and displays it on a central dashboard in an organised and action-oriented manner. This already encapsulates the functionality, because unlike a firewall, which defends against acute cyber threats, SIEM relies on sustainable, proactive data collection and analysis that can also reveal hidden attacks or threat trends.
A SIEM system can be implemented on premises, as a cloud solution or as a hybrid variant with local and cloud-enabled components. The process from data collection to security alerts consists of the following four stages:
Stage 1: Collect data from multiple sources in the system
The SIEM solution records and collects data from various levels, layers and components of your IT infrastructure. This includes servers, routers, firewalls, virus programs, switches, IPs and IDS as well as end devices integrated with endpoint security or XDR (Extended Detection and Response). Connected logging, reporting and security systems are used for this purpose.
Stage 2: Aggregate collected data
Collected data is summarised in a clear and transparent manner on the central user interface. By collecting and organising through a dashboard, it eliminates the need for time-intensive analysis of different logs and reports from individual applications.
Stage 3: Analyse and correlate aggregated data
The application analyses the data that has been collected and summarised for known virus and malware signatures, suspicious incidents such as logins from VPN networks or incorrect login details. It also highlights abnormal usage, questionable attachments, or other conspicuous activities that have something to do with security. By linking, organising, correlating, and classifying data, the application facilitates the rapid tracking and isolation of infiltration paths, enabling treats to be mitigated or even neutralised. Furthermore, by assigning security levels, it swiftly addresses both overt and concealed attacks, while ruling out benign anomalies.
Stage 4: Detect threats, vulnerabilities or security breaches
If a threat is detected, automated alerts enable faster response times and immediate threat neutralisation. Rather than extensively searching for the source of danger or anomalies, you can quickly pinpoint them through the alert and, if necessary, isolate them in quarantine. Moreover, it is possible to reconstruct previous threats so security procedures can be refined.
In conjunction with an XDR solution with integrated AI, defense mechanisms such as quarantine or the blocking of end devices or IPs can be implemented particularly quickly using predefined, automated workflows. Real-time threat feeds, which constantly feed in updated signatures and security data, also allow you to detect new types of attacks and threats in their early stages.
An overview of the most important SIEM elements
Various coordinated components are used to ensure complete data collection and analysis as part of a SIEM solution. These include:
| Component | Features |
|---|---|
| Central dashboard | Presents all collected data in an action-oriented way Provides data visualisations, real-time activity monitoring, threat analysis and options for action Individually definable threat indicators, correlation rules and notifications |
| Logging services and reporting | Capture and log event data from the entire network as well as the endpoint and server level Real-time compliance reporting for standards such as PCI-DSS, HIPPA, SOX or GDPR to meet compliance and data protection rules Real-time monitoring and logging of user activity including internal and external access, privileged access to databases, servers and databases, and data exfiltration |
| Correlation and analysis of threat data and security incidents | Event correlation and security data analysis can be used to link incidents from different levels, identify known, complex or new forms of attack and reduce detection and response times Forensic investigations of security incidents |
The benefits of Security Information & Event Management (SIEM)
Due to the increasing cyber risks for companies, simple firewalls or virus programs are usually no longer sufficient to protect networks and systems. Particularly when it comes to hybrid structures with multiclouds and hybrid clouds, sophisticated solutions such as EDR, XDR and SIEM or, ideally, a combination of two or more services are required. This is the only way to securely use end devices and cloud services and detect threats at an early stage.
- Cost-effective vCPUs and powerful dedicated cores
- Flexibility with no minimum contract
- 24/7 expert support included
The benefits that SIEM can offer you include:
Real-time threat detection
Thanks to the holistic approach in the form of system-wide data collection and evaluation, threats can be quickly identified and prevented. Due to the reduced mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR), sensitive data and business-critical processes can be reliably protected.
Adherence to compliance and data protection requirements
SIEM systems ensure a compliance-aligned IT infrastructure through detailed logging and threat analysis. This infrastructure meets all essential security and reporting standards required for storing data securely and processing it in an audit-compliant manner.
Time and cost-saving security concept
By displaying, visualising, analysing and interpreting all security-relevant data centrally and clearly in a user interface, SIEM increases the efficiency of your IT security. This reduces the time and costs otherwise associated with conventional manual security measures. Specifically, the use of automated and, in some systems, AI-enhanced data analysis and correlation speeds up the prevention of threats. High costs associated with repairing infected systems or removing malware can also be avoided with preventive SIEM solutions.
The option of using SIEM as SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) or via Managed Security Services also enables smaller companies with limited resources or without their own IT security to be able to reliably protect their company network.
Automation with artificial intelligence and machine learning
SIEM systems enable an even higher level of automation and intelligent threat prevention through artificial intelligence and machine learning. For example, you can also use SIEM solutions in SOAR systems (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) or in conjunction with an existing endpoint security or XDR solution.
