Computer security is one of the major challenges of modern society. As more people, businesses, and institutions rely on computer systems, the need to protect them from theft, damage, or disruption has also greatly increased.
Security information and event management (SIEM) is a field under computer security. SIEM tools are not a new addition to the computer or IT security market. The technology existed for more than 10 years starting with simple collection and storage of log messages and audit trails. In the past, most users were large organizations and public companies who used an on-premise SIEM solution primarily for the purpose of IT compliance to regulations such as HIPAA and SOX rather than data security.
What are SIEM tools and software?
Computer security vendors offer SIEM technology as software, hardware, service, or a combination of all. SIEM software and tools come in various configurations and capabilities. Typical features include log management, long-term storage of log messages, analysis and reporting of log data, real-time monitoring, event correlation, notifications, and incident response. The best SIEM tools are able to do two important functions: to provide reports on security-related incidents and events, and send alerts if its analysis indicates the presence of a potential security issue.
SIEM solution trends
Security consulting firms estimate that the impact of different security breaches worldwide range in the tens to hundreds of billion dollars, and this is only from publicly reported data. Today, demand for greater IT security is driving companies and organizations of all sizes to put in place a SIEM solution. This is now more critical with distributed teams and remote work. Although on-premise solutions are preferred by large enterprises due to the sensitivity of data, hybrid deployment and as-a-service models are also increasing because of the benefits of running analytics on the cloud as well as flexible pricing for SMBs.
Best SIEM tools & software
Today’s SIEM software vendors are offering newer capabilities in their products. Aside from data aggregation, retention, correlation, and alerting, the best SIEM tools also offer dashboards to help users see patterns or anomalies, as well as forensic analysis to cross-search from different nodes and time periods. Some are also introducing threat intelligence, machine learning, advanced statistical analysis, AI, and deep learning capabilities. Below is a list of SIEM tools and software that we have compiled in no particular order. We’ve based it on reviews from multiple sites, features, support, and company ranking.
SolarWinds
Security Event Manager from SolarWinds is a lightweight and affordable SIEM tool that improves security and demonstrate compliance. It has centralized log collection and normalization, automated threat detection and response, integrated compliance reporting tools, intuitive dashboard and UI, and built-in file integrity monitoring. The software can also be deployed in virtual appliances, with pricing based on log sources and not log volume.
ManageEngine
ManageEngine offers several IT security management solutions including EventLog Analyzer for IT compliance and log management, as well as Log360 for SIEM and network threat mitigation. EventLog Analyzer is a cost-effective log management software for SIEM purposes. It automates the management of machine-generated logs. The SIEM tool collects, analyzes, searches, reports, and archives terabytes of data from a central location. Log360 is a more comprehensive solution for the entire enterprise network. It can monitor AD environments, audit Windows servers, and aid in internal and external threat mitigation.
ArcSight
ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager from Micro Focus provides real-time threat detection and response with an open and intelligent SIEM solution. It allows you to connect to all security event devices and detect threats with a real-time distributed correlation tool. It includes out-of-the-box automated responses and workflow processing as well as ability to integrate with existing security solutions in a layered analytics approach.
Sumo Logic
Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM Enterprise provides enhanced visibility to monitor on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud infrastructures. Your security analysts are able to understand the impact and context of an attack. It combines analytics and automation to perform security analyst workflows and automatically triage alerts. The cloud-native solution provides secure, multi-tenant platform that is scalable and flexible.
Trustwave
Trustwave is a company that offers managed security services instead of software. Its Managed SIEM solution makes SIEM ownership easier. It offers managed log monitoring, threat correlation, and fully managed or co-managed options. By offloading your IT security team from the activities of log monitoring and threat correlation, they are free to focus more on escalations and to investigate and pursue more strategic concerns.
Splunk
Splunk Security Operations Suite offers a combined solution that help strengthens cybersecurity defenses across on-premise and multi-cloud environments. Users can better understand risk and remediate issues, reduce investigation time, automate reporting, and simplify compliance. The combined SIEM solution includes features for real-time security monitoring, advanced threat detection, security data collection from any endpoint, incident investigation and forensics, incident response, automated orchestration, and fraud detection.
Elastic Security
Elastic Security is a product that offers unified protection built on the Elastic Stack. It delivers SIEM as well as endpoint security, threat hunting, cloud monitoring, and more. Users can collect different types of data to improve visibility and eliminate blind spots. The SIEM tool has prebuilt anomaly detection jobs and publicly available detection rules. It also has a powerful investigation UI and embedded case management. Other features include fast search results, petabyte processing and retention, and malware protection.
McAfee SIEM
McAfee Enterprise Security Manager is the foundation of its SIEM software solution. It delivers actionable intelligence and provides integrations so IT security teams can easily prioritize, investigate, and respond to threats. The SIEM tool has embedded compliance framework and built-in security content packs to simplify operations. Security remediation is achieved through continuous visibility, actionable analysis, and orchestration. It offers an integrated approach with partners, standardized data sources, and industry threat intelligence.
IBM QRadar
IBM’s QRadar SIEM solution accurately detects and prioritize threats across the enterprise. It provides intelligent insights so teams can respond quickly to reduce the impact of incidents. It can correlate log events and flow of data from numerous devices, endpoints, and applications throughout the network. The software then aggregates related events into single alerts to help security teams analyze and remedy possible threats. QRadar SIEM can be deployed on premises and in a cloud environment.
AT&T Cybersecurity
In 2018, AT&T Communications acquired AlienVault, a developer of computer security platform and services, which has been renamed AT&T Cybersecurity. The wholly owned subsidiary provides different products and services including OSSIM, an open source downloadable SIEM tool. It provides core SIEM functionality, including event collection, normalization, and correlation. The company also offers USM Anywhere, which is a cloud-hosted service on cloud platforms, cloud apps, and on-premises physical and virtual environments. It has additional features such as log management, cloud apps security monitoring, and security orchestration and automation.
