Three Steps to Build a Robust SecOps Strategy

As cybercrime costs soar to an estimated USD 15.63 trillion by 2029, it is clear that breaches will occur more frequently and with severe outcomes. So, firms that have only taken a reactive approach to cyber security find themselves at even greater risk.

With 53% of firms facing pressure to prioritize a prevention-first cyber security strategy, a robust SecOps approach will help detect, respond, and mitigate security threats to neutralize the security posture and defenses quickly.

In the past, security and IT operations teams have typically worked separately. They focus on different aspects of the same issue without much interaction. This siloed system has led firms to struggle to respond to security incidents rather than reacting as an agile, cross-functional team.

SecOps represents a collaborative approach to managing IT and cyber security. It may sound intuitive, but up until recently, it has been used to identify systemic vulnerabilities and strengthen existing cyber defenses.

With SecOps, firms have increased visibility into the network’s security but experience downtime due to a lack of a robust SecOps strategy.

As per a report by Deep Instinct, “Voice of SecOps 2024,”

Here are three steps to build a robust SecOps strategy.

Assess the Level of Cyber Readiness and the Scope of SecOps

Firms must thoroughly assess their current level of cyber readiness and identify risks or areas that need improvement. Such assessments can serve as a groundwork for the SecOps strategy.

As there is a universal approach to SecOps, firms may implement it in various ways. Therefore, firms must define the scope and objectives of SecOps and determine when they intend to use them.

While forming a SecOps strategy, it is always better to outsource redundant tasks. This way, internal security and operations teams can focus on crucial tasks. But all this depends on the teams and their competencies. If the teams are confident handling a task, it should be assigned to them; other skills can be outsourced.

Also read: Delivering Better Security Outcomes with SecOps

Conduct Training and Define Roles

Deep Instinct’s report states that-

A SecOps team will not immediately boost service reliability. To prepare the teams, firms must conduct training and educate them about the best security practices, policies, and procedures. Training sessions ensure teams are aware of evolving threats and respond efficiently.

The “red-blue” exercise for the SecOps teams can be conducted to make the training interesting. The red team will attempt to compromise the system, while the blue team will work to overcome and reduce the impact.

This has two benefits. First, working together more often will benefit the security and operations teams. Second, the system can also be examined internally for common flaws amidst this exercise.

Furthermore, every SecOps team must be highly skilled in its roles. Communication, event prioritization, incident investigation, and response are among the key duties of SecOps teams.

A SecOps team may have added duties, so it is vital to have dedicated experts for each process to ensure business reliability. When everyone is aware of their roles in advance, it helps eliminate chaos during crises.

Build Dependable Workflows and Automate

Across large and distributed IT environments, SecOps teams might face diverse challenges. To overcome this, a dependable workflow must be followed during an incident. The workflow must outline process-driven approaches to tackle a threat. This means defining security processes throughout the incident’s life cycle.

Automated pipelines can also be used to build repeatable workflows for threats. Some security tasks might be redundant and take up most man hours. This is the right time to shift towards AIOps based analytics platforms for SecOps processes.

As per Deep Instinct’s report-

An AIOps based analytics platform can automate different security tasks. They can help with-

• event correlation
• data cleaning
• pattern discovery
• root cause analysis
• synthetic monitoring

AIOps will help firms implement SecOps processes even with a limited SecOps team.

Conclusion

As per Deep Instinct,

As the digital landscape evolves, the importance of adaptability and continuous improvement in SecOps strategies cannot be overstressed. With the changing nature of threats, firms must remain vigilant and proactively refine their SecOps strategies by determining the scope, defining roles, and building dependable workflows.

By integrating these strategies, firms can improve their ability to detect and respond to threats and foster a culture of security awareness.