On May 27, 2025, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in partnership with the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC) and other international collaborators, unveiled a detailed guidance suite aimed at assisting organizations in the effective deployment of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms. This initiative underscores the critical importance of enhancing threat detection and incident response capabilities through the strategic implementation of these advanced security technologies.
Three-Tiered Guidance Framework
The newly released guidance is structured into three specialized documents, each tailored to address the needs of different organizational levels and technical requirements:
1. Executive Guidance: This document offers strategic insights for decision-makers, outlining the benefits, potential challenges, and high-level recommendations for the adoption of SIEM and SOAR platforms. It serves as a roadmap for executives contemplating the integration of these technologies into their cybersecurity infrastructure.
2. Practitioner Guidance: Aimed at cybersecurity professionals, this guide provides in-depth technical advice on the procurement, establishment, and maintenance of SIEM and SOAR systems. It covers best practices throughout the implementation lifecycle, ensuring that practitioners are equipped with the knowledge to deploy these platforms effectively.
3. Priority Logs for SIEM Ingestion – Practitioner Guidance: This technical document offers specific recommendations on log source prioritization, addressing various components such as Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools, operating systems (Windows/Linux), network devices, and cloud environments. It emphasizes the importance of selecting and managing log data to optimize SIEM performance.
Understanding SIEM and SOAR Platforms
SIEM and SOAR platforms are integral to an organization’s logging and visibility strategy:
– SIEM Systems: These platforms collect, centralize, and analyze log data from diverse sources. By applying correlation rules and filters, SIEM systems detect anomalous network activities, providing a comprehensive view of potential security incidents.
– SOAR Platforms: Building upon the foundation established by SIEM, SOAR platforms automate incident response through predefined playbooks. This automation enables organizations to execute specific actions, such as network isolation or threat containment, promptly when cybersecurity events occur.
Technical Challenges in Implementation
Deploying SIEM and SOAR platforms presents several technical challenges that require skilled personnel and a sustained operational commitment:
– Alert Accuracy: A primary challenge is ensuring that SIEM systems generate accurate alerts. This involves identifying the appropriate types and volumes of log data for ingestion and applying precise rules and filters to prevent alert fatigue. Organizations must develop comprehensive threat models that define events of interest, aligning alerts with their specific threat landscape and operational needs.
– Automated Response Appropriateness: For SOAR platforms, it’s crucial to ensure that automated responses are appropriate and do not interfere with regular network operations or impede human incident responders. This necessitates careful configuration of automated playbooks and continuous testing to maintain effectiveness as network infrastructures and threat landscapes evolve.
Strategic Recommendations
The guidance emphasizes the importance of establishing mature SIEM capabilities before deploying SOAR platforms. Effective automation relies on accurate threat detection and reliable data correlation from properly configured SIEM systems.
Additionally, organizations must consider the cost implications associated with implementing these platforms. SIEM pricing models often depend on data ingestion volumes, with some products capping ingestion based on pre-purchased amounts, while others may incur substantial costs as data volumes increase.
By following the comprehensive guidance provided by CISA and its partners, organizations can enhance their cybersecurity posture, improve incident response times, and better protect their digital assets against evolving threats.
