OPTIMIZING SIEM

WITH LOG MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

03 Introduction

03 Navigating the Threat Landscape

06 The State of SIEM

08 IT Bandwidth

10 How Graylog Helps

12 Conclusion | About Graylog

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 2

INTRODUCTION
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions have typically been focused
on alerting organizations of issues that applications and network hardware identify. When
those alerts go unheeded or don’t deliver next steps on how to mitigate threats, SIEM can
become an expensive
and ineffective tool.

In this eBook, we’ll explore how to make the most of SIEM with log management tools that
enhance capabilities and strengthen security.

NAVIGATING THE THREAT LANDSCAPE

Today’s cyberattacks are complex and
$14.5 2018
effective. In the most sophisticated nation BILLION
state cyber attack, IP hopping Nobelium
used spear-phishing to prompt user actions
on multiple hidden layers of executions, 2021

ultimately deploying DLLs that allowed $18.7

action-on objectives. BILLION
MONEY SPENT BY THE
Tmobile’s data breach began with an unprotected router U.S. GOVERNMENT TO
as the entry point that was used to hack servers and steal COMBAT CYBERATTACKS

nearly 100 million customers’ sensitive data. Though these Source: Security Forward

attackers targeted large organizations, their methods

$223.8B
leave businesses of any size at risk.

Data breaches occur by various means, so predicting how

attackers will exploit vulnerabilities to gain system access
EXPECTED GLOBAL
proves difficult. For example, circumvention of Crypto.com’s
SPENDING ON
2FA authenication allowed hackers to access 500 wallets,
CYBERSECURITY
Source: Canalys
stealing $18M.

And Ronin learned to never compromise security standards when they rolled back protocols
to allow servers the ability to handle their growing gamership, resulting in the theft of $600M

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 3

in cryptocurrencies. Even Business Email Compromise (BEC), a simple

22%
attack involving a threat actor posing as a business contact requesting
money and/or sensitive data, is as effective as it is common.

Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) can enhance

companies’ security posture by providing outsourced security
monitoring and management for devices and systems including Network intrusions
and data breaches
SIEMs. Available around the clock, MSSP services can lessen the need
from compromised
for hiring security experts, simultaneously lowering costs and
user credentials
increasing security.
Source: IBM

Logs, the messages almost every computing device generates, show details
on how and when the device was used, as well as attempted and successful
logins. Also known as event logs, audit travels, or audit records, logs are
typically text-based and may be stored on local or remote servers. A proper
log analysis can reveal the nature of threats, from where the attacker targets
to methods used in attempting to breach security.

But, whether via MSSP or not, the traditional approach of using SIEM
to bridge systems and logs and monitor their data in one place
doesn’t fully identify an entire threat or provide remediation tactics.
More widespread visibility is needed to act on the information SIEMs
do provide.

To this end, organizations and MSSPs are now rounding out their
SIEM approach with log management products that collect, process,

70
analyze, and visualize data surrounding a suspected threat.
%
Organizations using only SIEM could be missing some valuable
information, since SIEM-only vendors often adhere to a pricing
model that restricts the level of log detail that an organization can
collect. Working with this constraint is not only expensive, but also Rise in Data
extends vulnerability as threat investigators must wait longer to Breaches Globally in
correlate and search. late 2022
Source: Infosecurity
Magazine

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 4

CYBERATTACK FACTS

69 %
MALWARE DELIVERED
BY EMAIL
Source: HP Wolf Security Report

15
INCREASE IN
% CYBERATTACKS
IN 2022
$9.4M
DATA BREACH
Source: Forbes

COST FOR THE

AVERAGE
COMPANY
Source: IBM
AMOUNT OF

43% ATTACKS AIMED

AT SMALL

316K
BUSINESSES
Source: Fobes

NEW MALWARE
SAMPLES
PRODUCED
EACH DAY THE WORLD
Source: Atlas VPN
WILL NEED TO
CYBER PROTECT
GLOBAL
CYBERCRIME
200
DAMAGE
ZETTABYTES
OF DATA BY 2025.
PREDICTED TO HIT Source: CyberSecurityVentures.com

$10.5T
ANNUALLY BY 2025.
Source: CyberSecurityVentures.com

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 5

ABOUT LOGS
Log management solutions allow organizations to conduct
further incident investigation and deeper analysis on SIEM In the end,
alert details. By capturing all types of log and event data in organizations
one central location, these solutions provide granular search may find
capabilities and actionable remediation steps.
themselves
susceptible to
THE STATE OF SIEM threats while
The typical SIEM approach hasn’t allowed for deep analysis of paying for a
identified issues. though modern SIEMs typically include.
solution they
• Real-time monitoring don’t
• Correlation of events effectively use.
• Parsing and log normalization
• Anomaly detection
• Long-term log storage
• Reporting
• SOAR integration

With a growing focus on providing products and services as a

closed ecosystem, SIEM solutions are becoming more
complex and time-consuming to manage. Users may become
overwhelmed by receiving too many notifications and
reviewing false positives, ultimately leading to ignored alerts.

In the end, organizations may find themselves susceptible to

threats while paying for a solution they don’t effectively use.
Organizations that want to avoid this situation need to choose
a scalable log management tool that fits their needs in price
and performance to complement their SIEM product.

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 6

 THE PATH TO SIEM SUCCESS

01 02 03 04
Collect logs from Enrich logs with Global Threat Human Resource/Internet
standard security sources supplemental data Intelligence (Black Lists) Download Management

08 07 06 05
INCORPORATE DOCUMENT INVESTIGATE CORRELATE
Build white lists, Standard Operating Procedures, Follow up and fix Finding the proverbial
new content Service Level Agreements, needles in
Trouble Tickets the log haystacks

Source: Accuvant

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 7

IT BANDWIDTH
IT teams tend to be staffed rather lean for the
large realm of responsibility they have. They
must implement tools to help them log and TYPICAL TARGET
monitor their network and oversee these FEEDS:
processes alone.
• IPs and firewalls

IT teams need to be trained in using SIEM solutions to get the • Endpoints

most out of them, yet these teams are often so small that only
one member becomes the SIEM expert, leading to a single • Active directory

point of failure when a threat looms.

• Operating systems

To further complicate the IT issue, because of cost constraints

and problems with operating at scale, SIEMs tend to be
licensed to capture only a subset of data to be monitored.
When SIEM data is limited, you don’t get a complete picture
of threats and vulnerabilities. This is especially problematic
now that SIEMs typically include Anomaly Detection ML/AI,
which needsa complete picture to determine what is “typical”
behavior and what is anomalous.

This need for a wide scope applies to threat intelligence feeds

also. These feeds help organizations learn from others’ past
security incidents via third-party streams of threat patterns
and artifacts that are automatically updated when new
threats emerge. The streams target intelligence feeds to get
their data. A target feed scope should be wide enough to let
SIEM deliver meaningful insights. If the feed scope is too
narrow, the SIEM doesn’t see enough to recognize if your
systems are truly at risk. Yet even a wide target feed scope
doesn’t provide the complete threat picture either, as IT teams
still lack next steps for remediation.

An uneven ratio of IT tasks to workers plus SIEMs that aren’t

pulling their weight equals an unclear vision of system
vulnerabilities and potential threats. With a shortage of

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 8

security resources, MSSPs have become popular solutions. MSSPs overseeing SIEM could
ease burdens for IT teams, but SIEM customers would still receive alerts with no remediation
plans.

Though helpful, MSSPs don’t address the lack of specif ic and detailed information
necessary to investigate and remediate threats that SIEMs typically don’t provide.

TARGET FEEDS TO SIEM

Malicious activity from Domains, Hashes, and IPs

DNS Logs

Firewall Logs

SIEM

Security Alerts

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 9

HOW GRAYLOG HELPS
For security and compliance purposes,
organizations tend to store logs with the intent
When SIEM
of reviewing them later as they prepare for or
and log
react to a security incident.
management
Although logs can help identify security weaknesses, when are combined,
massive amounts of logs are generated daily, there is simply too you gain more
much information to review, letting threats slip by. This scenario
information for
is when adding a log management solution to SIEM becomes
vital.
SIEM to
monitor.
Log management alone doesn’t provide real-time insights on
your network security, but when SIEM and log management are
combined, you gain more information for SIEM to monitor.

With their combined capabilities, you can do even more:

• Begin threat investigation with complete data

• Analyze deeper to learn threat origin and path

• Inform remediation tactics

• Fortify network security against future threats

• Meet a longer list of compliance requirements with a

single tool

• Quickly respond to audit requests

Powerful granular search capabilities provide the exact

combination of data necessary to examine threats. The unified
Graylog Security interface immediately gives users relevant
views of their data so that any analyst can aggregate data from
multiple sources, initiate a search across multiple parameters,
analyze the data, visualize the data, and report on and save that
search, with no system administrators or tool-specific training all

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 10

from one screen. Eliminating the need to jump from screen
to screen is significantly more efficient, saving considerable
time and ending frustration.

Graylog Security is built for a new wave of data explorers and

threat hunters with a focus on providing our users the best
analyst experience available today. Users are generally not
sure of the extent or breadth of an issue prior to the
investigation, but Graylog allows users to explore data without
having a complete plan prior to engaging in the search. The
power of Graylog Security’s search lies in its ability to expand
and reveal more information. It delves deeper into search
results, exploring data further to find the right answers.

In addition to providing industry-leading threat hunting and

incident investigation capabilities, Graylog Security provides
in-app access to a number of helpful tools like Sigma Rules
and threat intelligence feeds. The Sigma Rules open source
repository contains over 2500 alert rules for near-instant
improvement to your security monitoring, while threat
intelligence feeds make it easy to see if you are dealing with a
known bad-actor from a simple
right click on a key data point.

OPTIMIZING SIEM WITH LOG MANAGEMENT 11

CONCLUSION
A SIEM’s goal is to alert users to potential threats but can be
ineffective without remediation suggestions or intrusive
notifications. Paired with the right log management tool, a
SIEM can help you understand where and how a threat
began, the path it took, what it impacted, and how to fix it. A
combination of log management and SIEM can also relieve
burdens for IT, as technology enables real-time security
analysis, removing the need to learn numerous security
products. The sooner IT groups implement these solutions, the
better, so organizations get maximum protection with
minimum risk.

GET STARTED TODAY

See Graylog Security in action!

ABOUT GRAYLOG
Graylog is a game-changing log management and cybersecurity solution
that offers robust, cost-effective ways to protect your organization against
cyber threats. Using AI/ML, security analytics, advanced log management,
and intelligent alerting, Graylog enables you to stay ahead of threats. Unlike
traditional SIEM solutions that are complex and expensive, Graylog is easy to use and
affordable, giving you a superior cybersecurity experience.

Graylog also addresses the needs of IT Ops and DevOps teams by offering centralized log
management, making it easy to collect, index, and analyze log data from any source. This
ensures IT teams can quickly detect and respond to issues, allowing them to deliver better
performance and reliability to their users. Whether you’re looking for a comprehensive
cybersecurity solution or a way to streamline your IT operations, Graylog has the tools you
need to succeed.

www.graylog.org
[email protected]
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