Navigating the Alert Avalanche: 5 Signs Your SOC is Stuck in the Past

Are your security analysts struggling to keep up with the flood of alerts? The traditional alert-centric Security Operations Center (SOC) model can often be more of a hindrance than a help, ultimately slowing your team down. Devo surveyed 200 senior SOC professionals at large enterprises on their current practices and the evolution of security operations. In our latest report, “The Evolution Toward an Alertless SOC: A Smarter Approach to Security Operations,” we explore the current state of security operations and the urgent need for a more proactive approach.

Here are five signs that an alert-centric SOC might be holding back your team’s potential.

1. Duplication of Effort

One telltale sign of an alert-centric SOC holding your team back? If your analysts are frequently investigating alerts related to the same incident. This not only wastes valuable time but also points towards a lack of effective communication and coordination within the team.

Our research found that 84% of analysts within organizations are unknowingly investigating the same incidents several times a month. It happens more often, too: 60% reported discovering duplicated efforts at least once a week.

2. Alert Verification is a Time Sink

Is a significant chunk of your team’s time consumed verifying the accuracy, relevance, and timeliness of alerts? If so, it’s a clear indication that they are not spending enough time on meaningful remediation.

A significant percentage of respondents—83%—report being overwhelmed by alert volume, false positives and a lack of alert context.

3. More Reactive Than Proactive

A disproportionate amount of time spent on reactive discovery versus proactive threat hunting is another sign of an over-reliance on alert-centric operations. Proactive investigations and threat hunting yield the most impactful results. If your team is spending too much time reacting, it is diverting their focus away from high-value efforts.

When it comes to alert management, being more proactive is a top priority for 82% of organizations.

4. Too Much Manual Contextualizing

Alerts without context are like puzzle pieces without a picture to guide their assembly. If your team is spending most of their time manually correlating alerts from different systems, they’re likely stuck in an alert avalanche, struggling to move forward with actionable security measures.

According to our research, 85% of respondents spend a moderate or substantial amount of time gathering and connecting evidence to transform an alert into an actionable security case.

5. Poor Security Outcomes

If your security team is constantly battling the same challenges with no significant improvement in security outcomes, it’s time to reassess. Underperforming case management capabilities and a persistent cycle of poor results suggests that an alert-centered culture might be obstructing your team’s effectiveness.

Case management capabilities are underperforming for 77% of organizations.

Move Forward with an Alertless SOC

As cybersecurity leaders, it’s crucial to adapt and evolve with the ever-changing cyber landscape. An Alertless SOC could be the solution to overcome these challenges, by focusing on proactive threat hunting and effective security measures, rather than being reactive and overwhelmed by alert notifications. For the modern SOC, it’s time to move beyond the alert avalanche and chart a new course towards a more efficient and effective cybersecurity strategy.

Download this report now to uncover the key components of an Alertless SOC and the transformative benefits it can offer to your organization.