Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly prevalent and severe. Internet security professionals must have the right tools and resources to maintain a strong defense against intruders and respond quickly to potential threats. Security information and event management (SIEM) tools can help. This guide can help your cybersecurity team compare products and find the best SIEM tool for your company.
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Leading SIEM Vendors
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Best SIEM Tools and Software
Statistics indicate that cyberattacks happen every 39 seconds. That incredible frequency is enough to make people seriously consider learning more about SIEM tools and purchasing the ones best suited for their organizational needs. Here is our list of leading SIEM tools to help people understand more about what’s available.
LogRhythm NextGen SIEM Platform
The LogRhythm NextGen SIEM Platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to correlate all security events in the environment. Such insights help security teams understand the scope of potential issues, letting them act authoritatively to curb them. The product also enables automating repetitive tasks, which allows cybersecurity professionals to make the most of their workflows.
Users appreciate this tool’s granularity since it allows them to customize alerts and functionality. They also like how LogRhythm continually releases new features and provides excellent customer support.
However, some people say the interface is not user-friendly enough, and there are too many steps required to do relatively simple tasks. LogRhythm provides product training, though, and users who have tried that typically say it’s worthwhile.
AT&T USM Anywhere
AT&T USM Anywhere provides automated threat detection and data collection capabilities, helping busy cybersecurity professionals better prioritize their tasks. It can also collect data from on-premises and cloud-based systems, including apps.
This product is consistently one of the top-ranking SIEM tools. Users like the centralized dashboard and reporting features, and they also praise how smoothly this SIEM product integrates with numerous other products they use. The event filtering and rule setting features operate intuitively, saving people time and getting the desired results.
That said, users report that the product’s initial setup is a bit time-consuming and requires significant tweaking to get the best results. Some users also mention that the customer service is not as good as they expected.
Datadog Cloud SIEM
The Datadog Cloud SIEM tool offers real-time risk detection and more than 500 integrations. The interface also gives plenty of opportunities for creating and customizing threat rules based on needs.
Users say this product stands out among other SIEM tools due to its excellent monitoring. Other reportedly impressive features include the dashboards and alerts.
However, users mention that the product can be more expensive to use than initially expected. Additionally, some individuals note that the wealth of features, while useful, can be overwhelming to new users or those who are new to SIEM tools.
McAfee Enterprise Security Manager
People looking for a SIEM solution associated with a well-known brand should consider the McAfee Enterprise Security Manager. It gives real-time visibility into all of a company’s online and cloud infrastructure. There are also analyses, which guide teams to take certain actions based on what the data indicates.
Users like how the product brings threat detection into a single dashboard and updates automatically as new information becomes available. Reviewers also mention that the platform works well for identifying known dangers and potential vulnerabilities.
However, reviews also mention that the product requires many system resources and has robust hardware requirements — making it potentially less useful for smaller businesses. Users also claim the customer support needs improvement, and they sometimes have difficulty installing the product without help from McAfee representatives.
Splunk Enterprise Security
Splunk Enterprise Security is a cloud-based and analytics-driven option that frequently ranks highly on lists of the best SIEM tools. The risk-based alerting features reduce false alarms and help people gauge which issues are truly worth dealing with immediately. There’s a scoring feature to trigger collective events surpassing specific thresholds, which allows users to see all factors that contributed to the raised alarm. The platform also includes built-in investigative tools to speed cybersecurity teams’ responses.
Reviewers consistently mention how they like the interface and dashboard layouts, and how those areas show easy-to-understand breakdowns of network activity and risks. They also say this SIEM tool offers the flexibility they need to get customizable insights, allowing users to create dashboards as simply or specifically as they prefer.
The price is consistently the main downside users mention, as the overall expense depends on the size of an organization’s indexed logs. Some users recommend ensuring there’s a clear business case for using this product, as it could prove far too costly for some organizations. At the same time, some who use Splunk Enterprise Security say it’s an incredibly powerful tool, so the price is easier to justify.
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What Is SIEM Software?
The security information and event management (SIEM) software market includes products that pull and analyze data from multiple systems to detect possible issues. A SIEM solution could give cybersecurity professionals practical starting points for pinpointing known or suspected breaches.
A SIEM product can provide valuable reporting and forensics data about security incidents, saving internet security teams time and labor. Additionally, it’s a useful resource for alerting organizations to possible vulnerabilities, giving them the time to investigate further before catastrophe strikes.
What Are Features to Look for in a SIEM Tool?
Today’s leading SIEM vendors know the importance of offering user-friendly products designed to help teams thwart cybersecurity threats. However, to get the best results, individuals in the market for this type of software should strongly consider prioritizing the following features.
- Real-time log collection and analysis of a company’s security platforms, business applications, and hardware gives users the best chance of picking up on trends they might otherwise have missed.
- Threat intelligence feeds help users stay abreast of emerging threats and often include third-party information to help users prepare for and fight back against newer cybersecurity issues.
- Advanced alert routing directs data about an unusual event directly to the right person or team, which mitigates miscommunication or other slowdowns that could compromise stopping a cybersecurity threat.
Read more: Best Threat Intelligence Feeds
How to Choose a SIEM Tool
Before making a decision about which SIEM tool to use, companies should think about their must-have features and what they hope to accomplish with SIEM software. Other considerations should include budget, personnel, and executive buy-in. Companies will need to be specific about their cybersecurity goals and how they justify the cost of a SIEM solution.
The first considerations should relate to the organization that may use SIEM tools soon. What are its cybersecurity goals, and how many people specialize in internet security at the company? Is the workforce large enough to allow at least one person to learn how to use a new product and teach others what they know? How much can the organization afford to spend on a SIEM solution?
It may also be necessary to get executive buy-in for SIEM software. Cybersecurity representatives can do that by answering some common questions in easy-to-understand language. What are SIEM tools, and which characteristics make them different from the products a company may already use? Spelling out the specifics is an excellent way to convince a business leader that now is the right time to look into SIEM products.
From there, an organization’s cybersecurity representatives should create a shortlisted group of SIEM vendors and begin engaging with them. It’s best to come to those conversations with clear goals in mind. That way, the software providers are better equipped to answer questions and provide relevant information.
It’s worth remembering that some SIEM tools come with a free trial. Organizations with limited financial resources or small cybersecurity teams may wish to prioritize those during their purchasing research. Using a product for a few weeks without a financial commitment is often a practical way to determine whether it’ll provide the expected benefits for a company.
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