Table of Contents:

• Overview of SIEM and SOAR Technologies
• Strategic Value Highlighted in New Guidance
• Technical Challenges Addressed
• Practical Implementation Recommendations
• Organizational Considerations
• Alignment With Incident Response Frameworks
• Conclusion
• FAQ

SIEM or SOAR: Mastering Modern Cybersecurity

Is your business prepared for the ever-increasing sophistication of cyber attacks? The recent rise in digital threats has highlighted how important it is to have robust cybersecurity protections, particularly those based on Security Information plus Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation, as well as Response (SOAR) platforms. In 2025, respected groups, for instance, government departments alongside international cybersecurity organizations, gave new advice to help businesses use SIEM besides SOAR tools effectively. It is to optimize threat detection, incident response, including meeting compliance rules while handling the complex technical nature of these technologies.

Overview of SIEM and SOAR Technologies

SIEM platforms collect security data from different places. For example, they gather it from endpoint detection systems (EDR), operating system records, network tools, furthermore cloud settings. They then investigate this data to spot abnormalities that might mean potential security problems. SOAR platforms work with SIEM by automating response methods with playbooks. They are set sequences of actions prompted by certain warnings, next to managing communication between different security tools for a combined defense.

• SIEM gives a wide view of a business’s security situation.
• SOAR improves how well it functions by automating routine jobs like sorting alerts or limiting damage.

Together, they allow for quick finding of dangers matched by quick reactions, even when there aren’t many staff available.

Strategic Value Highlighted in New Guidance

Latest publications from national cybersecurity authorities point out that adopting combined SIEM-SOAR tools isn’t just a choice anymore, it is a need for modern businesses facing advanced attackers. Executives are told that these tools not only make incident detection better, reducing the average time to respond (MTTR), thus limiting the amount of damage. Also, the advice focuses that, more than just using the technology, it’s important to have a plan. Aligning SIEM-SOAR abilities with business risk management goals helps make sure that investments give noticeable upgrades in how well the business resists cyberattacks. Meeting compliance rules is another important advantage – automated records inside case management areas helps with audit readiness across regulatory systems.

Technical Challenges Addressed

Despite the gains, using SIEM or SOAR systems has big challenges, which the new advice explains:

• Alert Fatigue – Badly tuned correlation rules may make too many false positives, which overwhelms experts. The suggested method involves carefully tweaking rule sets paired with exception handling ways to reduce unwanted signals without missing real threats.
• Log Source Prioritization – Not all log sources help in the same way for effective monitoring. Professionals ought to put high-value inputs first, such as EDR data, OS event logs from crucial things, network device logs including firewalls/routers, along with cloud infrastructure events where needed.
• Integration Complexity – Effective orchestration depends on smooth working together among existing tools – firewalls, endpoint agents, threat intelligence feeds – and protocols like Syslog or Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Setting it up requires good planning to make sure data gets taken in reliably with no gaps or doubling.
• Data Quality – Automated actions depend on correct real-time data streams from both SIEM aggregation areas and outside intelligence sources feeding into SOAR playbooks. Bad quality either slow information risks causing wrong actions, hurting trust in automated ways.

Practical Implementation Recommendations

The recently released guides provide actionable best practices that can be implemented easily. Below are two key examples:

1. Log Collection Setup Using Syslog on Linux Servers

To forward logs to a central SIEM server, follow this Syslog configuration:

✅ Purpose: This setup ensures that all important events are forwarded in real-time to your SIEM solution for continuous monitoring and analysis.

2. SOAR Playbook Pseudocode for Malware Detection

A sample automation playbook (written in pseudocode) for a Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) system might look like this:

⚙️ Purpose: This automated response flow:

• Quickly isolates the infected endpoint

• Blocks the source IP of the malware

• Notifies the security analyst with alert details

By automating initial containment actions, this approach reduces response time while keeping human oversight in the loop for decision-making.

Organizational Considerations

Besides technical details, advice from leaders focuses on governance forms that help successful putting into practice:

• Set up clear roles that show who is responsible between IT actions teams taking care of framework versus dedicated cybersecurity units checking on incident response ways.
• Put enough money into training programs that allow staff know how to use tool interfaces but also know about analytics that make warnings happen.
• Make metrics that fit with business goals that measure how well it works, like less false positives after changes or average time saved for each automated process.

These organizational enablers make sure that using technology leads to real upgrades in security position rather than becoming tools that aren’t used, making alert noise without helpful information.

Alignment With Incident Response Frameworks

The updated National Institute of Standards plus Technology (NIST) Incident Response Guide released earlier this year goes with this new putting into practice advice by strengthening structured stages – Preparation – Detection & Analysis – Containment Eradication & Recovery – Post-Incident Activity – that go well onto abilities given by combined SIEM-SOAR deployments. For instance,

• Preparation phase benefits from always watching enabled through well-set log collection feeding into starting behavior models.
• Detection & Analysis uses correlation engines finding suspicious patterns marked inside dashboards.
• Containment actions become easier with automated playbooks isolating affected endpoints right when proven.

Post-Incident checks use case management features recording timelines helping learning sessions improving future defenses always.

Conclusion

Newest advice says that putting combined SIEM-SOAR tools in place well needs full focus covering plan lining up at leader levels down through careful technical joining efforts at action layers. Important points include putting high-value log sources first – carefully changing alert rules reducing expert tiredness – making sure tools work together smoothly using standard rules – keeping high-quality input data that supports reliable automation results – as well as helping organization readiness through role clear training investment. By following these tips said together by national departments around the world – including those co-published recently involving partners like Australia’s Signals Directorate – the way toward security architectures that stand strong that hunter threats proactively and fast automated reaction becomes easy to get even between changing threat situations.

FAQ

What is SIEM?

SIEM stands for Security Information besides Event Management. It is a technology that collects and analyzes security data from various sources across an organization’s IT infrastructure to detect and respond to potential security threats.

What is SOAR?

SOAR stands for Security Orchestration, Automation, as well as Response. It is a technology that automates and orchestrates security incident response processes, allowing security teams to respond to threats more quickly and effectively.

How do SIEM or SOAR work together?

SIEM plus SOAR are complementary technologies. SIEM provides the visibility and threat detection capabilities, while SOAR automates the response to those threats. Together, they provide a comprehensive security solution.

What are the benefits of using SIEM besides SOAR?

The benefits of using SIEM or SOAR include improved threat detection, faster incident response, reduced alert fatigue, next to increased efficiency for security teams.

Are SIEM plus SOAR difficult to implement?

Implementing SIEM besides SOAR can be complex, requiring careful planning and execution. The new guidance aims to address these challenges and provide organizations with the information they need to implement these technologies effectively.

Resources & References:

1. https://gbhackers.com/government-calls-on-organizations-to-adopt-siem-and-soar-solutions/
2. https://nukib.gov.cz/en/infoservis-en/news/2261-the-national-cyber-and-information-security-agency-of-the-czech-republic-co-seals-publications-on-siem-and-soar-platforms-with-the-australian-signals-directorate-and-international-partners
3. https://www.cyber.gov.au/resources-business-and-government/maintaining-devices-and-systems/system-hardening-and-administration/system-monitoring/implementing-siem-and-soar-platforms/implementing-siem-and-soar-platforms-practitioner-guidance
4. https://www.cyber.gov.au/resources-business-and-government/maintaining-devices-and-systems/system-hardening-and-administration/system-monitoring/implementing-siem-and-soar-platforms/implementing-siem-and-soar-platforms-executive-guidance
5. https://drata.com/blog/nist-incident-response-guide