Automate SEM Monitoring & Reporting

Security Information and Event Management, or SIEM, combines Security Information Management (SIM) with Security Event Management (SEM) to protect your network from security breaches and other threats. However, the term SIEM is often used interchangeably with SEM.

Put simply, SIEM monitoring involves collecting, normalizing, and aggregating SIEM logs, so you can analyze and correlate the data they contain. This helps you quickly pinpoint security breaches, investigate alerts, and combat security threats. Manually performing these activities is time-consuming and impractical, so most IT professionals use security monitoring tools with advanced reporting, event correlation, and automated alerting features.

By engaging in SEM log monitoring and management, you can gain invaluable context into the events occurring within your network, enabling you to diagnose, prioritize, and act on security events without being lost in a sea of non-critical data and alerts. In short, you’ll be able to act quickly when needed to ensure network security and demonstrate compliance when you use SIEM software.

At the very least, SIEM monitoring tools should have basic defenses such as antivirus software, up-to-date patches, firewalls, daily backups, and mail protection. But if you want to stay ahead of potential threats and keep your IT environment safe from node-to-node, you need an SIEM monitor that goes beyond the basics.

When looking for an SEM monitoring tool that goes above and beyond, make sure it offers the following: 

• Contextual Data: Your SIEM should offer you context about your IT infrastructure and security events, so you can make informed decisions.
• Automation: To reduce manual intervention, find an SIEM tool that automatically collects, normalizes, and aggregates event logs in one location, analyzes them, and alerts you to any abnormalities.
• Log Search Capabilities: Pinpointing a specific event or series of events should be easy, user-friendly, and quick, so you respond confidently and effectively during a cybersecurity attack.
• External Threat Intelligence Feeds: An SEM monitoring tool should do more than just flag threats—it should prevent them through real-time SIEM analytics that help IT teams proactively address anomalies.
• Anomaly-Based Intrusion Detection: These systems alert you when network activity deviates from your baseline, so you can investigate the root cause.
  
  

Having the right people on the job also matters. You’ll need staff members to follow up on any security alerts, determine if any issues were false alarms, and resolve those that weren’t. Plus, your staff members will be able to reevaluate and improve your system’s rules, enabling you to optimize your SIEM solution and ensure its automation processes are working as intended.

SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) is built to simplify and accelerate the process of managing and monitoring your SIEM logs. SEM collects and aggregates logs from across your IT in a centralized location, enabling you to make sense of your logs, quickly detect security threats, and automate your threat responses.

Monitoring and capturing all your domain events start with installing the SEM agent on your domain controllers. Once in place, if the agent notices any suspicious events, such as unauthorized failed logon attempts, account lockouts, access to administrative accounts, or changes made to users or groups, it will report events to your SEM Manager, enabling you to take action against potential security risks quickly.

To install an SEM agent on a Windows domain controller:

1. Head to the SolarWinds Customer Portal and download the SEM agent installer for Windows.
2. Then, extract the downloaded ZIP file contents to your local or network directory, run Setup.exe, click Next, and accept the End User License Agreement when prompted.
3. Enter your SEM Manager’s hostname in the Manager Name field and click Next.
4. Leave the default port values as they are and confirm your Manager Communication settings before clicking Next.
5. If you’d like to install the optional USB Defender, check the appropriate box.
6. Then, review the pre-Installation summary, confirm your settings, and click Install.
7. After installation, you can click Next to start the SEM agent service, check your agent log for any errors, and exit the installer by clicking Done. If you have old and legacy Windows operating systems, you’ll need to create a connector profile for each system.
   
   

You can monitor your firewalls for unauthorized port scans, network attacks, data packets, and any unusual traffic patterns with SolarWinds SEM by configuring your firewalls to log to SEM and setting up a new connector in the SEM Manager. To do this:

1. Find the connector you want to configure under Manage Connectors in the SEM Console.
2. Click Add connector and fill out the configuration form.
3. Then, click Add, select your connector from a list of configured connectors, and click Start. You can then view traffic and firewall events from a specific computer by creating a filter.

SIEM reporting emphasizes analyzing and presenting data aggregated from multiple sources within an IT environment. With an SEM reporting tool, several types of reports can be generated on-demand or scheduled at regular intervals, including:

• Incident Reports: These reports detail specific security incidents, providing information about what happened, when it occurred, and how it was resolved.
• Compliance Reports: These focus on how well an SIEM system is abiding by regulatory standards by demonstrating how benchmarks are being met.
• Trend Analysis Reports: For internal monitoring and recordkeeping, SEM reports can be used to show patterns of security events over time to help identify recurring threats and vulnerabilities.
• Custom Reports: With a comprehensive SEM reporting tool, organizations can create a report designed to pull and analyze certain sets of data according to predefined settings.
  
  

SEM reports are handy for auditing periods, cutting down preparation time and providing the most up-to-date snapshot of your organization’s security posture.

SIEM reports in SolarWinds SEM convert recorded data into actionable insights with a range of features and predefined queries available to help you generate detailed and valuable reports.

With SolarWinds SEM, you can access SEM reports from the “Historical Events and Reports” tab in the toolbar. From here, define the criteria and parameters for the report you want to generate, using time frame, event categories, and any other custom search queries. SEM provides an extensive set of predefined queries under the “Queries” tab in the “Historical Events and Reports” section, including categories like:

• All Event Data Last 10 Minutes
• All Event Data Last Week
• Failed Logon Event Data Last Week
• Virus Event Data Last Week
• Rule Activity Last Week
  
  

Additionally, you can specify the format of the report you want to generate, with options to save it in CSV, PDF or HTML format. Should you want to generate reports on a regular basis, SolarWinds SEM lets you set your SEM report generation schedule, the recipients you want it sent to, and delivery preferences.

How you use any SIEM monitoring and reporting tool is just as important as the type of SEM solution you choose. To effectively leverage all the features an SEM tool has to offer, consider these best practices:

• Define Objectives and Use Cases: Start by understanding what you want to achieve, such as threat detection, incident response, compliance, or network optimization.
• Collect Comprehensive Data: Ensure your SIEM system collects data from a wide range of sources, including firewalls, IDS/IPS, servers, endpoints, applications, and network devices. This enables a more holistic view of your IT landscape.
• Incident Response Plans: Develop and document incident response plans that outline procedures to follow when a security incident is detected. Ensure that your SIEM system integrates seamlessly with your incident response processes.
• Regularly Update Signatures and Rules: Keep threat detection signatures and correlation rules up-to-date to effectively detect new and evolving threats. Regularly review and update these rules based on threat intelligence.
• Data Retention and Archiving: Establish data retention policies to comply with regulatory requirements and store logs securely for historical analysis.
• Regularly Review and Analyze Data: Review SIEM reports and alerts regularly. Analyze trends and patterns to identify potential security issues and opportunities for improvement.
• Automated Responses: Implement automated response mechanisms within your SIEM system to take predefined actions in response to certain security events. This can help contain and mitigate threats faster.
• Training and Skill Development: Invest in training and skill development for your security team to ensure they can effectively use the SIEM system, interpret reports, and respond to incidents.
• Regular Testing and Tuning: Periodically test and tune your SIEM system to ensure it performs optimally. Assess its effectiveness in detecting and responding to threats, and make necessary adjustments.
• Vendor Support and Updates: Stay informed about updates, patches, and security advisories from your SIEM vendor. Apply patches and updates in a timely manner to address security vulnerabilities.
• Collaboration and Communication: Foster collaboration and communication between IT, security, and compliance teams. Ensure that relevant stakeholders are aware of and involved in SIEM monitoring and reporting efforts.

Other SolarWinds tools to help detect security risk:

• SolarWinds Security Observability
• SolarWinds Access Right Manager
• SolarWinds Patch Manager
• SolarWinds Identity Monitor

Related features:

• Security Log Management
• File Integrity Monitoring
• IT Security Threat Management
• Firewall Security Management
• Centralized Log Management
• Security Orchestration and Automation