Cloud-based security operations center vs traditional security operations center

As businesses move more of their operations to the cloud, they must also consider how to secure their cloud-based infrastructure. One option is to use a cloud-based security operations center (SOC) instead of a traditional SOC. In this blog post, we will provide a factual and unbiased comparison of the two approaches and provide some numbers when possible.

Traditional SOC

A traditional SOC is an on-premises facility that monitors a company's IT infrastructure and detects and responds to security incidents. The SOC team is responsible for maintaining, updating, and testing security controls regularly. The traditional SOC model has been the go-to solution for many years.

However, traditional SOCs have their limitations. For example:

• Limited scalability: The component of a traditional SOC, including hardware and software, is limited in terms of scalability.
• Limited Availability: Traditional SOCs can be limited by site power or network outages.
• High Cost: Building, operating, and maintaining an on-premises SOC can be a costly affair.

Cloud-based SOC

A cloud-based SOC, on the other hand, leverages cloud architecture to deliver security services remotely. Security teams can manage a cloud-based SOC from anywhere in the world, giving them more flexibility and mobility.

Cloud-based SOCs offer several benefits that traditional SOCs do not, including:

• Strong Scalability: To accommodate a growing organization, cloud-based SOCs can expand and contract the number of resources used at any given time.

• High Availability: Cloud-based SOCs leverage cloud architecture to provide a significant advantage in both availability and disaster recovery. The cloud architecture enables geo-redundancy and more rapid recovery, which is impossible to achieve with the traditional SOC approach.

• Cost savings: A cloud-based SOC eliminates the need for a company to purchase and maintain hardware and software on-premises.

• Deep Machine Learning: Modern cloud-based SOCs incorporate AI and machine learning algorithms to enhance threat detection capabilities, providing faster, more efficient incident response.

The Comparison: Traditional SOC vs. Cloud-based SOC

Here is a comparison of the two approaches based on significant factors:

As seen from the comparison table, cloud-based SOC provides more advanced capabilities compared to the traditional SOC.

References

[1] SANS Institute. (2021). Key considerations for cloud-based security operations center. Retrieved from https://www.sans.org/white-papers/39662/