In the early days of cyber security, technological innovation centered around the development of preventive tools that could stop cyber attacks as they happened. Tools such as host-based or network-based intrusion detection systems, firewalls, and anti-virus software are built to secure the network against attacks, but what happens when these systems fail?

Today’s cyber attacks are often so sophisticated that without the proper tools, IT organisations may not even realise that an attack has taken place. This reality is why an increasing number of IT organisations are relying on their log files as a means of monitoring activity on the IT infrastructure and maintaining awareness of possible security threats.

A security information event management (SIEM) solution is like a radar system that pilots and air traffic controllers use. Without one, enterprise IT is flying blind. Although security appliances and system software are good at catching and logging isolated attacks and anomalous behaviour, today’s most serious threats are distributed, acting in concert across multiple systems and using advanced evasion techniques to avoid detection. Without a SIEM, attacks are allowed to germinate and grow into catastrophic incidents.
The importance of a SIEM solution to today’s businesses is magnified by the growing sophistication of attacks and the use of cloud services which only increase the surface of vulnerability.