Recently, I have been accepted to a cybersecurity internship position that pivots around SOC(Security Operation Center). SOC is considered one of the main components of a company's security operation. In this post, I will walk you through the Job description of a SOC analyst and the leading roles and responsibilities assigned to them along with the main career progression.
What Is SOC?
SOC stands for security operation center which is a centralized unit for security operation in a company. Most companies have SOC teams aiming to monitor, analyze, and protect the company's assets from any security threats such as cyber-attacks, malware viruses, etc. Different SOC teams have different roles and responsibilities depending on which layer of protection they are in.
Who is a SOC Analyst?
A SOC analyst is a professional who works on a team to monitor, analyze, and respond to security issues. The main goal of SOC analysts is to prevent attacks on a network. They monitor the network for signs of an attack. Once an attack has been detected, they investigate it with other team members. They also write a report if the threat requires escalation so that the stakeholders can take necessary measures to ensure the security of the sensitive information and data of the company from hackers and malicious activities.
SOC Analyst Roles and Responsibilities
A SOC Analyst has certain duties to perform that are essential for the daily operations of a company. The following are the tasks that a SOC Analyst has to perform:
Regularly monitors the Networks and servers of the company.
Identify, assess, and mitigate security threats in real-time
Analyzes the type of security threat that has attacked the company's security operations
Effectively respond to the immediate threats to the security of the company.
Builds temporary fixes to eliminate security threats and restore the company's data and information security.
Collaborate with other departments and team members to implement security procedures, methods, and best practices.
Stay updated about the latest security threats.
SOC Analyst Career Levels
SOC analyst career progression includes mainly three levels which are :
Tier 1 SOC Analyst: Triage Specialist
A tier 1 SOC analyst is responsible for triaging incidents and making sure that they are handled appropriately. They will be tasked with deciding which incident needs further investigation and which can be closed or resolved quickly.
Tier 2 SOC Analyst: Incident Responders
A tier 2 SOC analyst is responsible for responding to an incident by performing investigation and mitigation activities. They will also work with other stakeholders (e.g., security engineers) to resolve issues with the system under attack.
Tier 3 SOC Analyst: Threat Hunters
A tier 3 SOC analyst is responsible for hunting down threats within an organization’s network or infrastructure. They will use their knowledge of threat intelligence information to find out where these threats may have originated from, whether they pose any real danger to the organization, and how they can be stopped before causing any damage.
Conclusion
To sum up, We have discussed what SOC and SOC Analyst is with the main roles and responsibilities assigned to them. we have also discussed their importance in a company to monitor, manage, and protect the company's network. Finally, we have seen the three levels of SOC analyst career progression. See you in the next article.