What functionality does Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) provide?

Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) systems play a crucial role in modern cybersecurity strategies by providing real-time threat detection and incident response capabilities. The core functionality of a SIEM involves aggregating logs and data from across an organization’s environment, which enables security teams to analyze and identify patterns indicative of security threats or incidents.

By collecting data from various sources, including network devices, servers, and applications, a SIEM enables organizations to detect anomalies and correlate events in real time. This proactive monitoring facilitates timely responses to potential security incidents before they can escalate into larger breaches. The capability for incident response is a key factor, allowing teams to take informed actions based on the real-time insights provided by the SIEM system.

In contrast, simply auditing security incidents or monitoring user behavior, as suggested by other options, does not encompass the full scope of capabilities offered by SIEM. Auditing provides visibility into what has happened in the past but lacks the proactive nature of real-time detection and response. Monitoring user behavior, while important, is only a subset of the overall functionality needed for comprehensive security management. Additionally, encrypting sensitive data relates more to data protection than to the incident management focus of SIEM.