Security Operations

Maturity Model
A Practical Guide to Assessing and Improving
the Maturity of Your Security Operations
Contents
Introduction 3

Understanding and Measuring the Capabilities of a Security Operations Program 4

The LogRhythm Security Operations Maturity Model 5

Maturity Model Levels 6

Conclusion 9

About LogRhythm 10

Security Operations Maturity Model 2

01
Introduction

As the threat landscape continues to evolve, your

cybersecurity efforts must follow suit. With your
security operations center (SOC) at the core of your
offense against threats, you must ensure that it can
handle anything that comes its way. To be effective,
you need to mature your SOC to stop threats In this white paper,
early — before damage occurs.
you will learn:
Whether your SOC is a virtual team of two to • How to understand and measure
three or a 24x7 operation, maturing your security the capabilities of your SOC
operations capabilities will help you achieve a faster
• Details about the LogRhythm
mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to
Security Operations Maturity Model
respond (MTTR) to cyberthreats. This white paper
explores LogRhythm’s Security Operations Maturity • LogRhythm’s five levels of
Model (SOMM), which explains how to measure the security operations maturity
effectiveness of your security operations. Through
• How to evaluate your
the model, you can learn how to mature your
organization’s maturity level
security operations capabilities, improving your
resilience to cyberthreats.

Security Operations Maturity Model 3

02
Understanding and Measuring
the Capabilities of a Security
Operations Program

Enterprises should think of security operations as a critical business operation.

Like any core business operation, organizations should want to measure operational
effectiveness to identify whether they are realizing KPIs and SLAs and to help baseline
and mature the function. That’s why understanding the current status of your security
posture is critical. It not only helps you understand your organization’s security posture,
but it enables you to improve your cybersecurity efforts over the long term.

Through constant monitoring and measuring mean time to detect (MTTD) and the
mean time to respond (MTTR) — the primary metrics that indicate the maturity of
a security operations program — you will be materially closer to your goal to reduce
your organization’s cyber-incident risk.

Enterprises should think of security

operations as a critical business operation.
Like any core business operation, organizations should want to measure
operational effectiveness to identify whether they are realizing KPIs and
SLAs and to help baseline and mature the function.

Security Operations Maturity Model 4

03
The LogRhythm Security
Operations Maturity Model

LogRhythm developed the Security Operations Maturity

Model (SOMM) as a vendor-agnostic tool to help you
assess your current maturity and plan to improve it over
time. As your security operations capabilities grow, you
will realize improved effectiveness, resulting in faster
MTTD and MTTR. Material reductions in MTTD/MTtTR Score Your Security Maturity
will profoundly decrease the risk of experiencing
high-impact cybersecurity incidents. See how the maturity of your security
operations ranks. Take LogRhythm’s
LogRhythm’s model draws on a decade of organizational
experience serving enterprise SOCs across the globe. free self-assessment quiz to learn where
It features five levels of security operations maturity. your organization’s capabilities stand.
Each level builds on the prior, resulting in reduced
MTTD/MTTR by strengthening capabilities through
process and technology improvements. The following Take the quiz
figure provides an illustrative example of MTTD/MTTR
reductions as maturity improves.

Exposed to Threats Resilient to Threats

Months
MTTD & MTTR

Weeks

Days

Hours

Minutes

Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

Security Operations Maturity

Security Operations Maturity Model 5

04
Maturity Model Levels

The following table describes each Security Operations Maturity

level in further detail, identifying the key technological and workflow/
process capabilities that should be realized. The manner in which
you realize each capability will vary across your organization.
The important thing is that you realize the intent of the capability.
For each level, LogRhythm has also described typical associated Reaching Level 4 doesn’t
organizational characteristics and risk characteristics. This is mean your organization’s
to provide additional context to support security operations maturity has peaked. Security
maturity assessment and planning.
maturity is an evolution and it
You should use this model to evaluate your organization’s current requires ongoing monitoring
security operations maturity and develop a roadmap to achieve to refine your processes.
the level of maturity that is appropriate in light of available resources,
budget, and risk tolerance.

3 4
2
1
0
Minimally Securely
Initial Vigilant Resilient
Compliant Compliant
Benchmark and Gain Visibility Achieve Compliance Combine People, Full Visibility and Defense
Set Goals and Reporting Process, and Technology Against Even Most
for Effective Security Extreme Threats

Security Operations Maturity Model 6

 Security Operations Organizational
Risk Characteristics
Capabilities Characteristics

• None • Prevention-oriented (e.g., • Non-compliance

firewalls, antivirus, etc. in place)
• Unaware of insider threats
• Isolated logging based on
• Unaware of external threats
technology and functional silos;
LEVEL no central logging visibility • Unaware of advanced

0
persistent threats (APTs)
• Indicators of threat and
compromise exist, they are not • Potentially stolen IP (if of
visible and threat hunting is not interest to nation-states
Initial
occurring to surface them or cybercriminals)

• No formal incident response

process; response due to
individual heroic efforts

• Mandated log data and security • Compliance-driven investment • Significantly reduced

event centralization or have identified a specific compliance risk (depending
area of environment on depth of audit)
• Mandated compliance-centric server
requiring protection
forensics, such as file integrity monitoring • Unaware of most insider threats
and endpoint detection response (EDR) • Compliance risks identified
• Unaware of most
LEVEL • Minimal compliance-mandated
via report review; process
external threats
to manage violations may

1
monitoring and response
or may not exist • Unaware of APTs

• Improved visibility into threats • Potentially stolen IP (if of

Minimally targeting the protected domain, interest to nation-states
Compliant but lacks people and process or cybercriminals)
for effective threat evaluation
and prioritization

• No formal incident response

process; response due to
individual heroic efforts

• Targeted log data and security
event centralization
• Targeted server and endpoint forensics
• Targeted environmental risk characterization
• Reactive and manual vulnerability
intelligence workflow
LEVEL • Reactive and manual threat
• Moving beyond minimal, • Extremely resilient and highly
“check box” compliance, effective compliance posture
seeking efficiencies and
• Good visibility to insider threats,
improved assurance
with some blind spots
• Have recognized organization
• Good visibility to external
is effectively unaware of most
threats, with some blind spots
threats; striving toward a
• Mostly unaware of APTs, but
material improvement that
works to detect and respond more likely to detect indicators

2
intelligence workflow
to potential high-impact threats, and evidence of APTs
• Basic machine analytics for correlation focused on areas of highest risk • More resilient to cybercriminals,
and alarm prioritization
Securely • Have established formal except those leveraging
• Basic monitoring and response processes and assigned APT-type attacks or
Compliant
processes established responsibilities for monitoring targeting blind spots
and high-risk alarms • Highly vulnerable to
• Have established basic, nation-states
yet formal process for
incident response

Security Operations Maturity Model 7

 Organizational
Security Operations Capabilities Risk Characteristics
Characteristics

• Holistic log data and security event centralization
• Holistic server and endpoint forensics
• Targeted network forensics
• IOC-based threat intelligence integrated
into analytics and workflow
• Holistic vulnerability integration with basic
correlation and workflow integration
LEVEL • Advanced machine analytics for IOC- and TTP-based
• Have recognized organization is
unaware of many high-impact threats
• Have invested in the organizational
processes and headcount to
significantly improve ability to detect
and respond to all classes of threats
• Have invested in and established
a formal security operations and
incident response center (SOC)
that is running effectively with
• Extremely resilient
and highly effective
compliance posture
• Great visibility into, and
quickly responding to
insider threats
• Great visibility into, and
quickly responding to
external threats

3
scenario analytics for known threat detection • Good visibility to APTs,
trained staff
but have blind spots
• Targeted machine analytics for anomaly
• Are effectively monitoring
detection (e.g., via behavioral analytics) • Very resilient to
Vigilant alarms and have progressed
cybercriminals, except
• Formal and mature monitoring and response process into proactive threat hunting
those leveraging
with standard playbooks for most common threats
• Are leveraging automation APT-type attacks that
• Functional physical or virtual SOC to improve the efficiency and target blind spots
speed of threat investigation
• Case management for threat investigation workflow • Still vulnerable to
and incident response processes
nation-states, but much
• Targeted automation of investigation
more likely to detect early
and mitigation workflow
and respond quickly
• Basic MTTD/MTTR operational metrics

• Holistic log data and security event centralization • Are a high-value target for
nation-states, cyber terrorists,
• Holistic server and endpoint forensics
and organized crime
• Holistic network forensics
• Are continuously being attacked
• Industry specific IOC- and TTP-based threat across all potential vectors:
intelligence integrated into analytics and workflows physical, logical, social
• Holistic vulnerability intelligence with advanced • A disruption of service or
correlation and automation workflow integration breach is intolerable and
represents organizational
• Advanced IOC- and TTP-based scenario machine
failure at the highest level
analytics for known threat detection
• Takes a proactive stance toward
• Advanced machine analytics for holistic
LEVEL anomaly detection (e.g., via multi-vector
threat management and security
in general
• Extremely resilient
and highly efficient
compliance posture
• Seeing and quickly
responding to all
classes of threats
• Seeing evidence of APTs
early in the Cyberattack
Lifecycle and can strategically
manage their activities
• Extremely resilient to all
class of cybercriminals

4
AI/ML-based behavioral analytics) • Can withstand and defend
• Invests in best-in-class people, against the most extreme
• Established, documented, and mature
technology, and processes nation-state-level adversary
response processes with standard
Resilient playbooks for advanced threats (e.g., APTs) • Have 24/7 alarm monitoring with
organizational and operational
• Established, functional 24/7 physical or virtual SOC
redundancies in place
• Cross-organizational case management
• Have extensive proactive
collaboration and automation
capabilities for threat prediction
• Extensive automation of investigation and threat hunting
and mitigation workflow
• Have automated threat qualification,
• Fully autonomous automation, from qualification investigation, and response
to mitigation, for common threats processes wherever possible
• Advanced MTTD/MTTR operational
metrics and historical trending

Security Operations Maturity Model 8

05
Conclusion

Knowing your organization’s current maturity will help

you grow and prove the value of your security program.
Threats will continue to target data, and threat actors will be persistent
and creative in their efforts. To improve your security posture, you need
to understand your SOC’s strengths and weaknesses. Being able to monitor,
measure, and communicate the state of your security capabilities is powerful.
Measuring metrics such as MTTD and MTTR plays a pivotal role in maturing
your SOC. Not only will you understand where growth opportunities exist,
but you’ll be more effective and will further reduce your risk to threats.

LogRhythm’s Security Operations Maturity Model gives you a roadmap

to achieve success. With this insight, you can present hard evidence that
you’re improving your organization’s security stance and garner additional
support from your board. Whether you partner with LogRhythm, or go
a different route, this model will enable you to plan for the future and
realize continuous improvement of your security operations maturity.

Expert tip:
Determine your organization’s current level of security operations maturity. Complete
the self-assessment and learn how to build a use case for a stronger investment.

Security Operations Maturity Model 9

About LogRhythm
LogRhythm helps busy and lean security operations teams save the
day — day after day. There’s a lot riding on the shoulders of security
professionals — the reputation and success of their company, the safety
of citizens and organizations across the globe, the security of critical
resources — the weight of protecting the world.

LogRhythm helps lighten this load. The company is on the frontlines

defending against many of the world’s most significant cyberattacks
and empowers security teams to navigate an ever-changing threat
landscape with confidence. As allies in the fight, LogRhythm combines
a comprehensive and flexible security operations platform, technology
partnerships, and advisory services to help SOC teams close the gaps.

Together, we are ready to defend.

Learn more at logrhythm.com.
www.logrhythm.com // info@logrhythm.com

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