SIEMs and their role in breach detection

More than one-third of responding health institutions reported at least one ransomware attack in the preceding year, according to a 2021 report by the World Health Organization (WHO), "and a third among them reported paying a ransom."

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems enable organizations to identify and resolve potential security threats and vulnerabilities before they can impact business operations. SIEM solutions assist security teams in detecting unusual user behavior and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automate numerous manual tasks involved in threat detection and incident response.

How SIEMs work

SIEMs centralize and analyze security data across an organization's entire digital infrastructure, like network monitoring systems and Intrusion Detection and Preventions systems. SIEM platforms provide real-time threat detection and response capabilities by collecting, correlating, and monitoring logs and events in real time.

The importance of breach detection

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), effective breach detection leads to:

1. Prevention and mitigation: Effective detection and response programs give organizations the time to counter, prevent, or mitigate an attack before its worst consequences are realized, such as data corruption, deletion, manipulation, or exfiltration.
2. Minimizing consumer harm: By detecting breaches early, organizations can prevent and minimize harm to consumers, protecting them against cyberattacks, potential financial harm, and loss of personal information.
3. Informing security strategies: Breach detection provides valuable information about attack surfaces that attackers target. This information helps security leaders determine the most impactful investments in information technology and can also be shared with entities like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to prevent other breaches.
4. Enabling remedial actions: Early detection allows for the removal of attackers and the implementation of post-breach remedial measures, such as notifying businesses and individual customers who can then take their own protective actions.
5. Meeting legal obligations: Timely, accurate, and actionable security disclosures are essential for fulfilling legal obligations and enabling affected parties to mitigate harm resulting from the breach. Failure to disclose can lead to violations of laws such as the HIPAA Privacy Rule and result in significant consequences for organizations.

The role of SIEMs in breach detection

A research paper titled Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): Analysis, Trends, and Usage in Critical Infrastructures discusses how SIEMs help administrators detect and respond to potential breaches by:

1. Providing real-time analysis of security events generated across network devices and applications
2. Collecting and correlating data from multiple sources to identify potential security incidents
3. Employing advanced techniques like correlation rules, machine learning, and User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) – which is the "identification of abnormal and potentially dangerous user and device behavior" – to detect anomalies and suspicious activities that might indicate a security breach

Modern SIEM solutions go beyond simple event logging, offering capabilities such as forensic analysis, which can include capturing network session packets, converting data into recognizable files, and providing detailed investigative insights. They create interactive dashboards and generate reports that help security teams quickly visualize and understand potential security threats. These systems analyze the behaviors of employees, contractors, and system users, using algorithms to detect potential misbehavior or unauthorized activities.

FAQs

Do SIEMs integrate with other security tools?

SIEMs integrate with other security tools by collecting, analyzing, and correlating data from multiple sources, including firewalls, IDS/IPS, endpoint security solutions, and threat intelligence platforms, to enhance overall security.

Do SIEMs help with HIPAA compliance?

SIEMs automate the collection and analysis of logs from various systems, ensuring that all activities are monitored and reviewed in real time. This meets HIPAA requirements for regular review of information system activity.

Should healthcare organizations use an SIEM system?

SIEM systems can help protect sensitive patient data, detect and mitigate ransomware attacks, ensure regulatory compliance, and improve overall cybersecurity posture.