Security, Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) tools are software that automate security workflows or provide instructions (playbooks) for repeatable security operations tasks to ensure they remain consistent with policy, and are executed with minimal error. In achieving this, they include or ingest information from SIEM, security operations analytics tools, and security forensic tools for post-incident analysis and process improvement. Their functionality overlap with Incident ...
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Security, Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) tools are software that automate security workflows or provide instructions (playbooks) for repeatable security operations tasks. These playbooks ensure that response operations remain consistent with policy and are executed with minimal error. In achieving this, SOAR tools include or ingest information from SIEM, security operations analytics tools, and security forensic tools for post-incident analysis and process improvement. Their functionality overlap with Incident Response Platforms, which also provide playbooks for security operations, but with an emphasis on particular rare but damaging cases (i.e. incidents) rather than recurring operations.
SOAR tools have two core functions. The orchestration process takes security data inputs and determines what operations should be activated in response to the data. The actions that the SOAR tool can take are determined by the security systems it’s connected to and how robust an operations playbook the organization/SOC team has provided the system. The automation functionality ensures the appropriate actions taken based on this playbook without requiring SOC team intervention.
Security, orchestration, automation and response tools are most heavily used by large organizations and enterprises. These scaled businesses tend to have a large number of security systems and recurring security actions that need to be taken. SOAR tools centralize the repeatable actions that need to be taken across these disparate systems that would otherwise require manual activities.
SOAR tools provide a range of benefits. The two primary benefits are scalability and analyst productivity. By automating repeatable security actions, a high volume of tasks are taken off SOC teams’ workloads. This reduces human error in remediation efforts and improves Mean-Time-To-Respond (MTTR). SOAR products also improve analyst productivity by allowing analysts to focus on more specialized tasks and value-add activities.
SOAR and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are closely related but distinct products at their cores. SIEM systems focus on intaking security data, most commonly in the form of logs, and aggregates or normalizes that data into events. SOAR tools would then take that data and use it to determine what operations, if any, are necessary in response to a given event. The tools serve different functions, but are each necessary for a comprehensive, automated security posture.
Since SOAR relies so heavily on SIEM for usable data, an organization’s SIEM and SOAR should be closely integrated. Some Next-Gen SIEMs also include SOAR capabilities natively, consolidating multiple steps in the security process into a single system. There are also plenty of standalone SOAR tools for organizations looking for a point solution.
When comparing different SOAR tools, consider these factors:
