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App Development
6 minutes read

Everything You Need to Know About Security Automation 

By Jose Gomez
By Jose Gomez
App Development
6 minutes read

Security automation has the potential to completely transform your organization’s security processes. Companies need to be more vigilant than ever in an ever-evolving digital threat landscape. Unless your security teams monitor your assets around the clock, which is time-consuming and costly, your business will have to automate security processes to achieve full security coverage. 

This post will explain what security automation is, the different types of security automation tools, and the benefits of automating digital security. If digital security is something that your organization takes seriously, you need to know about security automation. 

What Is Security Automation? 

Security automation involves machine-based completion of security tasks without the aid of human intervention. Automated security processes can detect, investigate, respond to, and alleviate security incidents without oversight or human control. 

Less sophisticated security automation tools might require greater levels of human intervention. Still, the point of these security tools is to reduce or remove the need for a security operations professional constantly monitoring digital assets. 

There are several different security automation tools, which we will explore in greater detail later in this post. However, most automated security tools are capable of handling the following digital security tasks:

  • Detecting security threats in your organization’s IT environment
  • Triaging digital threats following the same steps your human security operations team uses
  • Determining the threat level and the appropriate security response to each security incident
  • Taking mitigation actions to address any security incidents that present an active threat to your organization’s IT environment 

Automation is a significant part of modern digital threat intelligence. It is nearly impossible to try and actively keep up with the evolving digital threat landscape without the aid of automation. Automated security tools play a vital role in protecting the digital infrastructure we all rely on every day. 

The Types of Security Automation Tools 

While there are many automated security tools available, they mostly fall into three broad categories:

  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
  • Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR)
  • Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA security tools are capable of automating simple security tasks that do not require analysis or intelligence capabilities. Examples of the tasks RPA tools can handle include running vulnerability scans, running monitoring tools and saving the results, and simple threat mitigation such as blocking malicious IP addresses. 

RPA security tools are incapable of complex reasoning and analysis. These are the most rudimentary type of security automation tools. However, they can still be a valuable asset to your business and security operations when utilized effectively.

Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR)

SOAR security tools are a stack of security solutions that enable businesses to collect threat intelligence and respond to security incidents automatically. SOAR security automation tools are able to manage security operations across several security tools. SOAR stacks are far more sophisticated than RPA tools. 

SOAR stacks automate security operations, generate reports, and can execute security policy independently. SOAR systems are typically used to automate vulnerability management since they can remediate security issues quickly without human intervention. 

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Extended Detection and Response systems are highly sophisticated security tools. XDR systems evolved from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Network Detection and Response (NDR) tools. XDR security systems analyze data from across your organization’s IT environment, from networks and endpoints to cloud systems, to find evasive threats that find vulnerabilities between security layers. 

Not only do XDR systems respond automatically to address security incidents and threats, but they also generate in-depth threat intelligence reports for security analysts so they can take direct action. XDR platforms utilize HiTech advancements like Machine Learning to deliver the most comprehensive and effective automated security tool. In addition, XDR systems can integrate with SOAR stacks and RPA tools to provide your organization with a robust automated security response. 

The Benefits of Security Automation 

There are many good reasons to employ security automation tools. However, there are a few primary benefits of security automation that your organization should consider:

  • Quicker incident response times 
  • Reduced workloads for your security team 
  • Cost savings 

Quicker Incident Response Times 

Cyber attacks can occur at any time. They don’t take holidays, and they don’t wait to strike during business hours between nine and five. Without security automation, your organization could wait hours or even days before identifying and remediating a threat. In that time, irreparable damage could be done to your business and even its customers. 

Automated security processes ensure that threats are addressed in real time as they occur. Digital attacks are getting increasingly more sophisticated every day, and in most cases, they are also employing automation to decrease the amount of time it takes for an attack to achieve its goal. 

To minimize the risk and impact of cyber attacks, your business needs to use automated security tools. Not only can advanced security automation tools identify, investigate, and remediate a potential threat, but they can also learn from previous attacks and update security protocols and policies to ensure fewer threats occur in the future. 

Reduced Workloads for Your Security Team 

Your organization’s security team plays a vital role in the operation of its business. It is important to ensure that security teams are not overworked so that they have the bandwidth to respond to critical security incidents. 

Corporate IT environments are getting more complex and more distributed, which creates larger workloads for security teams. Automated security tools can help reduce the workload placed on your company’s security team and allow them to focus on implementing strong security protocols and policies and addressing critical security incidents. 

There is more ground to cover and protect than ever before, and at the same, cyber attacks are getting more sophisticated and better at eluding security protocols. Security automation tools aid security teams by allowing them to spend more time focusing on innovative digital security and threat mitigation. 

Cost Savings 

Automated security tools can help your organization save money in a few ways. For one, with security automation, your organization doesn’t have to employ security professionals around the clock to monitor its digital assets. 

In addition, a security breach can have devastating financial consequences for your business. Not only could it face stiff financial penalties, but it could also lose customer trust, market share, assets, and business. 

Security incidents can be financially damaging, but with automated security tools, your business can identify and mitigate more threats before they can do financial damage to your organization. 

Final Thoughts 

If your business doesn’t employ automated security tools, it is time to start considering which options are the best for your business. There are several types of tools that can help beef up your organization’s digital security. If you want to learn more about security automation and how it can benefit your business, reach out to an experienced app development partner.

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