Security Operations
Maturity Model
Assess and improve the maturity
of your security operations
Contents
Introduction 3
Understanding and Measuring the Capabilities
of a Security Operations Program 4
The LogRhythm Security Operations Maturity Model 5
Maturity Model Levels 6
Next Steps 10
Security Operations Maturity Model 2
01
Introduction
As the threat landscape continues to evolve, your cybersecurity efforts must follow
suit. With your security operations center (SOC) at the core of your defense against
threats, you must ensure that it can handle anything that comes its way. To be
effective, you need to continuously mature your SOC with the focus on stopping
threats early — before damage occurs.
Whether your SOC is a virtual team of two to three or a 24x7 operation, maturing
your security operations capabilities will help you achieve a faster mean time to
detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR) to cyberthreats.
This guide explores LogRhythm’s Security Operations Maturity Model (SOMM),
which explains how to measure the effectiveness of your security operations.
Through the model, you can assess how to improve your security operations
capabilities and resilience to cyberthreats.
In this guide, you will learn how to:
• Measure the current capabilities of your SOC
• Evaluate your organization’s maturity level
• Continuously improve your SOC maturity
Security Operations Maturity Model 3
02
Understanding and Measuring
the Capabilities of a Security
Operations Program
Enterprises should think of security operations as a critical
business operation. It is important to measure the operational
effectiveness of the SOC to identify whether they are realizing
Metrics to measure
KPIs and SLAs. This will help you understand the current state of the effectiveness of
your program and identify any gaps in your security posture, so your SOC:
that you can improve your processes and maturity over time.
• Mean time to detect (MTTD)
As organizations evolve to keep pace with digital transformation,
• Mean time to respond (MTTR)
implementing new processes and technology, or shifting to cloud
or hybrid environments, security operations must align. • Alarm time to triage (TTT)
• Alarm time to qualify (TTQ)
Continually monitoring and measuring primary metrics that
indicate the maturity of a security operations program enables • Threat time to investigate (TTI)
you to invest in the best solutions to move materially closer to • Time to mitigate (TTM)
the goal of reducing your organization’s cyber-incident risk.
• Time to recover (TTV)
• Incident time to detect (TTD)
• Incident time to response (TTR)
Security Operations Maturity Model 4
03
The LogRhythm
Security Operations
Maturity Model
LogRhythm developed the SOMM as a vendor-agnostic tool
to help you assess your current maturity and plan to improve
it over time. As your security operations capabilities grow,
you will realize improved effectiveness, resulting in faster
Score Your
MTTD and MTTR. Material reductions in MTTD/MTTR will Security Maturity
significantly reduce the risk of experiencing high-impact
Take LogRhythm’s free self-assessment
cybersecurity incidents.
quiz to learn where your organization’s
LogRhythm’s model draws from over a decade of capabilities stand.
organizational experience serving enterprise SOCs around the
globe. It features five levels of security operations maturity.
Take the Quiz
Each level builds on the prior, resulting in reduced MTTD/MTTR
by strengthening capabilities through people, processes,
and technology. The following figure provides an illustrative
example of MTTD/MTTR reductions as maturity improves.
Exposed to Threats Resilient to Threats
Months
MTTD & MTTR
Weeks
Days
Hours
Minutes
Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Security Operations Maturity
Security Operations Maturity Model 5
Maturity Model Levels
The following table describes each Security Use this model to evaluate your organization’s
Operations Maturity level in further detail, current security operations maturity and develop
identifying the key technological and workflow a roadmap to achieve the level of maturity that
capabilities that should be realized. The way is appropriate considering available resources,
you align with each capability will vary across budget, and risk tolerance.
your organization. The important thing is that
Keep in mind, reaching Level 4 doesn’t mean
you realize the intent of the capability. For each
your organization’s maturity has peaked. Security
level, LogRhythm has also described typical
maturity is an evolution, and it requires ongoing
associated organizational characteristics and risk
evaluation to refine and continually improve
characteristics. This provides additional context to
your processes.
support security operations maturity assessment
and planning.
4
3
2
1
0
Combine People, Full Visibility and
Benchmarks and Achieve Compliance
Gain Visibility Process, and Technology Defense Against Even
Sets Goals and Reporting
for Effective Security Most Extreme Threats
Security Operations Maturity Model 6
Security Operations Capabilities Organizational Characteristics Risk Characteristics
• Prevention-oriented (e.g., • Non-compliance
firewalls and antivirus in place)
• Unaware of insider threats
• Isolated logging based on
• Unaware of external threats
technology and functional silos;
no central logging visibility • Unaware of advanced persistent
threats (APTs)
Level 0
• Indicators of threat and
• None
compromise exist, they are not • Potentially stolen IP (if of
visible and threat hunting is not interest to nation-states
occurring to surface them or cybercriminals)
• No formal incident response
process; any response is depen-
dent on individual heroic efforts
• Mandated log data and security • Compliance-driven invest- • Reduced compliance risk
event centralization ment or have identified a (depending on depth of audit)
specific area of environment
• Mandated compliance-centric • Unaware of most insider threats
requiring protection
server forensics, such as file
• Unaware of most
integrity monitoring and • Compliance risks identified
external threats
endpoint detection response via report review; process to
(EDR) manage violations may or may • Unaware of APTs
Level 1
not exist • Potentially stolen IP (if of
• Minimal compliance-mandated
monitoring and response • Improved visibility into threats interest to nation-states
targeting the protected domain, or cybercriminals)
but lacks people and process
for effective threat evaluation
and prioritization
• No formal incident response
process; any response is depen-
dent on individual heroic efforts
• Targeted log data and security • Moved beyond minimal • Effective compliance posture
event centralization “check box” compliance,
• Good visibility to insider
seeking efficiencies and
• Targeted server and threats, with some blind spots
improved assurance
endpoint forensics
• Good visibility to external
• Recognizes the organization
• Targeted environmental threats, with some blind spots
may be at risk of high-impact
risk characterization
threats, and is striving towards • Mostly unaware of APTs, but
• Reactive and manual vulnera- improvements with detection more likely to detect indicators
bility intelligence workflow and evidence of APTs
Level 2
and response
• Reactive and manual threat • Have established formal • More resilient to cybercrimi-
intelligence workflow processes and assigned nals, except those leveraging
responsibilities for monitoring APT-type attacks or targeting
• Basic machine analytics
and high-risk alarms blind spots
for correlation and
alarm prioritization • Have established basic, • Highly vulnerable
yet formal process for to nation-states
• Basic monitoring and response
processes established incident response
Security Operations Maturity Model 7
Security Operations Capabilities Organizational Characteristics Risk Characteristics
• Holistic log data and security • Recognizes the organiza- • Highly effective
event centralization tion may be a target for compliance posture
high-impact threats
• Holistic server and • Great visibility into, and quickly
endpoint forensics • Have invested in the organiza- responding to insider threats
tional processes and headcount
• Targeted network forensics • Great visibility into, and quickly
to significantly improve ability
responding to external threats
• IOC-based threat intelligence to detect and respond to all
integrated into analytics classes of threats • Good visibility to APTs, but have
and workflow blind spots
• Have invested in and estab-
• Holistic vulnerability integration lished a formal security • Very resilient to cybercrimi-
with basic correlation and operations and incident nals, except those leveraging
workflow integration response center (SOC) that APT-type attacks that target
is running effectively with blind spots
• Advanced machine analytics
for IOC- and TTP-based trained staff • Still vulnerable to nation-states,
scenario analytics for known • Are effectively monitoring but much more likely to detect
Level 3
threat detection alarms and have progressed early and respond quickly
• Targeted machine analytics into proactive threat hunting
for anomaly detection (e.g., via • Are leveraging automation
behavioral analytics) to improve the efficiency
• Formal and mature monitoring and speed of threat inves-
and response process with tigation and incident
standard playbooks for most response processes
common threats
• Functional physical or
virtual SOC
• Case management for threat
investigation workflow
• Targeted automation of investi-
gation and mitigation workflow
• Basic MTTD/MTTR
operational metrics
Security Operations Maturity Model 8
Security Operations Capabilities Organizational Characteristics Risk Characteristics
• Holistic log data and security • Are a high-value target for • Highly effective
event centralization nation-states, cyber terrorists, compliance posture
and organized crime
• Holistic server and • Seeing and quickly responding
endpoint forensics • Are continuously being attacked to all classes of threats
across all potential vectors:
• Holistic network forensics • Seeing evidence of APTs early
physical, logical, social
in the Cyberattack Lifecycle
• Industry specific IOC- and
• A disruption of service or and can strategically manage
TTP-based threat intelligence
breach is intolerable and their activities
integrated into analytics
represents organizational
and workflows • Extremely resilient to all classes
failure at the highest level
of cybercriminals
• Holistic vulnerability intel-
• Takes a proactive stance toward
ligence with advanced • Can withstand and defend
threat management and
correlation and automation against the most extreme
security in general
workflow integration nation-state-level adversary
• Invests in best-in-class people,
• Advanced IOC- and TTP-based
technology, and processes
scenario machine analytics for
known threat detection • Have 24/7 alarm monitoring
with organizational and opera-
• Advanced machine analytics for
tional redundancies in place
holistic anomaly detection (e.g.,
Level 4
via multi-vector AI/ML-based • Have extensive proactive
behavioral analytics) capabilities for threat prediction
and threat hunting
• Established, documented, and
mature response processes • Have automated threat
with standard playbooks for qualification, investigation,
advanced threats (e.g., APTs) and response processes
wherever possible
• Established, functional 24/7
physical or virtual SOC
• Cross-organizational case
management collaboration
and automation
• Extensive automation of investi-
gation and mitigation workflow
• Full automation, from qual-
ification to mitigation, for
common threats
• Advanced MTTD/MTTR
operational metrics and
historical trending
Security Operations Maturity Model 9
04
Next Steps
Security operations are critical business operations. Understanding your current maturity will provide a
baseline for how to mature your posture, and help you demonstrate the value of your security program to
business stakeholders.
Threats continue to target data, and threat actors are persistent and creative in their efforts. To improve
your security posture, you need to understand your SOC’s strengths and weaknesses. Being able to monitor,
measure, and communicate the state of your security capabilities is powerful. Measuring metrics such as
MTTD and MTTR plays a pivotal role in maturing your SOC. Not only will you understand where growth
opportunities exist, but you’ll be more effective and will further reduce your risk to threats.
LogRhythm’s SOMM gives you a roadmap to achieve success. With this insight, you can present hard evidence
that you’re improving your organization’s security stance and garner additional support from your board.
Contact Us
If you have assessed your security operations maturity and
you’re ready to take the next steps in your security journey,
contact LogRhythm to learn how we can help you reduce risk.
Security Operations Maturity Model 10
About LogRhythm
LogRhythm helps security teams stop breaches by turning disconnected
data and signals into trustworthy insights. From connecting the dots
across diverse log and threat intelligence sources to using sophisticated
machine learning that spots suspicious anomalies in network traffic
and user behavior, LogRhythm accurately pinpoints cyberthreats and
empowers professionals to respond with speed and efficiency.
With cloud-native and self-hosted deployment flexibility, out-of-the-box
integrations, and advisory services, LogRhythm makes it easy to realize
value quickly and adapt to an ever-evolving threat landscape. Together,
LogRhythm and our customers confidently monitor, detect, investigate,
and respond to cyberattacks.
Learn more at logrhythm.com.
www.logrhythm.com //
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