As firms increasingly prioritise cybersecurity in an ever-changing digital landscape, a security operations centre (or SOC) becomes essential for monitoring and analysing the efficacy of a company's security systems. Before you decide whether or not a SOC Analyst is the right addition to your team, read the following article for a deeper dive into this in-demand cybersecurity job function,.
What is a SOC Analyst ?
A crucial part of blue team cybersecurity, a SOC Analyst takes charge of identifying, responding, and analysing security incidents, as a central unit to monitor and maintain a company's security systems. With a crucial role of identifying and mitigating potential security threats and ensuring that a firm's infrastructure is secure, the role of a SOC analyst is becoming more and more in-demand as organisations face increasing threats to their security.
Understanding the Role
This role requires the analyst to have an innate understanding of threat landscapes, cyber risks, as well as experience and knowledge of incidence response.
Their responsibilities include some of the following activities:
Monitor security access and infrastructure
Maintain and improve the organisation's security posture
Conduct security assessments and scan vulnerabilities
Be the first point of contact to detect and respond accordingly to potential threats
Create business plans with regards to threat recovery
Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, policies, and laws
Advise on and formulate new security policies
How SOC Analysts can secure an organisation
Dedicated to being the first detector, evaluator, and responder to cyber threats, SOC analysts play an important, robust role in a cyber team. Not only are they the main point of contact to monitor your security posture, they are also in charge of doing so in accordance with the company's business objectives and regulatory requirements. Whether a SOC analyst discovers and identifies new vulnerabilities through fighting against threats, conducting security assessments, and keeping up to date with emerging cyber trends, they are also experts at relaying important information to the correct people in the organisation. Not only do they strengthen the firm's security on a technical level, their communication and teamwork skills make their inputs to business recommendations crucial for the company, especially when it comes to situations such as announcing a public cyber breach in the accurate manner, or formulating a new security policy. Thus, this demonstrates that SOC analysts are all-rounders not only possessing extensive technical experience, but also strong teamwork, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
All-in-all, SOC analysts ensure that an organisation is well-equipped to identify, respond, and react to potential security incidents, which aids in protecting sensitive data and infrastructure, with the firm's best interests at the core of what they do.
How Red Alpha can help build your security operations capacity
Here at Red Alpha, we have developed our SOC Analysts to have the right core expertise to manage a firm's security infrastructure:
Robust Skillsets: From operating systems to penetration testing, our intensive 6-month curriculum reflects industry needs, ensuring graduates are proficient in the latest relevant tools and technologies.
Industry Certified with Strong Foundations: Our comprehensive end-to-end training also sponsors all our graduates with notable globally-recognised certifications, including the OffSec Penetration Testing with Kali Linux (PEN-200), and the GIAC Certified Incident Handler (SANS SEC504).
Additionally, some of our trainees have took the opportunity and initiative to upskill themselves by taking relevant blue team certifications, including the CompTIA Security+.
Proven Performance: Previous cohorts of Red Alpha's cybersecurity professionals have a committed track record of being valuable additions to our partners' cyber teams, ready to hit-the-ground running and deliver impact to various SMEs, MNCs, and government organisations.
Passion and Aptitude: Beyond technical skills, our graduates are all-rounders with strong motivation, crucial soft-skills, and high aptitude in their work ethic. They come to the workforce eager to learn, contribute, and make a difference to your company and beyond.
At Red Alpha, we take pride in our graduates and believe they represent the future of a reinvented cybersecurity industry. If you have any questions or you'd like to learn more about our impact, please don't hesitate to reach out to us by clicking this link here, or drop us an email at partnership@redalphacyber.com
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