Monthly Blog Round-Up – November 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current popularity of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. Succeeding with SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. Also, developing a SIEM is much harder than most people think. BTW, this post has an amazing “staying power” that is hard to explain – I suspect it has to do with people wanting “free stuff” …  [236 pageviews]
2. “New SIEM Whitepaper on Use Cases In-Depth OUT!” (dated 2010) presents a whitepaper on select SIEM use cases described in depth with rules and reports [using now-defunct SIEM product]; also see this SIEM use case in depth and this for a more current list of popular SIEM use cases as well as this new post. Finally, see our new 2015 research on SIEM use cases here! [191 pageviews]
3. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.1 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [128+ pageviews to the main tag]
4. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [113 pageviews ]
5. “SIEM Resourcing or How Much the Friggin’ Thing Would REALLY Cost Me?” is a quick framework for assessing the SIEM project (well, a program, really) costs at an organization (much more details on this here in this paper). [78 pageviews of total 4447 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog: 

Current research on SIEM:

• SIEM Use Case Implementation and Tuning Process
• Fun Challenges with SIEM Use Cases
• SIEM Use Case Discovery
• SIEM Use Cases – And Other Security Monitoring Use Cases Too!

Past research on VA tools and VM practices:

• Our Vulnerability Assessment Vulnerability Management Research Publishes
• Vulnerability Management #1 Problem – After All These Years!

Past maverick research on AI/smart machines risks:

• 2030: Have They Social Engineered Your AI?!
• On Evil AIs and Evil People

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• On Stupidity of Some Privacy Themes
• Five Basic Forgotten Security Alert Truths
• Security: Automate And/Or Die?
• On Space Between Detection and Response
• Your SOC Nuclear Triad
• Threat Intelligence and Operational Agility
• On Tanks vs Tractors
• Enable the Business? Sometimes Security Must Say “NO”…
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.
Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – October 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Monthly Blog Round-Up – October 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current popularity of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. Succeeding with SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. That – and developing a SIEM is much harder than most people think. BTW, this post has an amazing “staying power” that is hard to explain – I suspect it has to do with people wanting “free stuff” …  [261 pageviews]
2. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [112 pageviews ]
3. “New SIEM Whitepaper on Use Cases In-Depth OUT!” (dated 2010) presents a whitepaper on select SIEM use cases described in depth with rules and reports [using now-defunct SIEM product]; also see this SIEM use case in depth and this for a more current list of popular SIEM use cases as well as this new post. [111 pageviews]
4. “SIEM Resourcing or How Much the Friggin’ Thing Would REALLY Cost Me?” is a quick framework for assessing the SIEM project (well, a program, really) costs at an organization (much more details on this here in this paper). [108 pageviews]
5. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.1 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [94+ pageviews to the main tag of total 4584 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog: 

 

Current research on SIEM:

• SIEM Use Cases – And Other Security Monitoring Use Cases Too!

Recent research on VA tools and VM practices:

• Vulnerability Management #1 Problem – After All These Years!
• Revisiting Vulnerability Assessment and Vulnerability Management Research

Recent maverick research on AI/smart machines risks:

• On Evil AIs and Evil People
• 2030: Have They Social Engineered Your AI?!

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• On Stupidity of Some Privacy Themes
• Five Basic Forgotten Security Alert Truths
• Security: Automate And/Or Die?
• On Space Between Detection and Response
• Your SOC Nuclear Triad
• Threat Intelligence and Operational Agility
• On Tanks vs Tractors
• Enable the Business? Sometimes Security Must Say “NO”…
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.

Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – September 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Monthly Blog Round-Up – September 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current popularity of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. Succeeding with SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. That – and developing a SIEM is much harder than most people think. BTW, this post has an amazing “staying power” that is hard to explain – I suspect it has to do with people wanting “free stuff” …  [217 pageviews]
2. “SIEM Resourcing or How Much the Friggin’ Thing Would REALLY Cost Me?” is a quick framework for assessing the SIEM project (well, a program, really) costs at an organization (much more details on this here in this paper). [124 pageviews]
3. “New SIEM Whitepaper on Use Cases In-Depth OUT!” (dated 2010) presents a whitepaper on select SIEM use cases described in depth with rules and reports [using now-defunct SIEM product]; also see this SIEM use case in depth and this for a more current list of popular SIEM use cases. [99 pageviews]
4. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.1 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [98+ pageviews to the main tag]
5. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [95 pageviews of total 4354 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog:

 

Current research on VA tools and VM practices:

• Revisiting Vulnerability Assessment and Vulnerability Management Research

Recent maverick research on AI/smart machines risks:

• On Evil AIs and Evil People

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• Five Basic Forgotten Security Alert Truths
• Security: Automate And/Or Die?
• On Space Between Detection and Response
• Your SOC Nuclear Triad
• Threat Intelligence and Operational Agility
• On Space Between Detection and Response
• On Tanks vs Tractors
• Enable the Business? Sometimes Security Must Say “NO”…
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.

Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – August 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Monthly Blog Round-Up – August 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current popularity of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. Succeeding with SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. That – and developing a SIEM is much harder than most people think  [274 pageviews]
2. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [101 pageviews]
3. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.1 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [95+ pageviews to the main tag]
4. “SIEM Resourcing or How Much the Friggin’ Thing Would REALLY Cost Me?” is a quick framework for assessing the SIEM project (well, a program, really) costs at an organization (much more details on this here in this paper). [94 pageviews]
5. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” came from one of my last projects I did when running my SIEM consulting firm in 2009-2011 (for my recent work on evaluating SIEM, see this document [2015 update]) [74 pageviews out of a total of 4157 views]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog:

Current research on VA tools and VM practices:

• Revisiting Vulnerability Assessment and Vulnerability Management Research

Current maverick research on AI/smart machines risks:

• On Evil AIs and Evil People

Past research on cloud security monitoring:

• My “How to Monitor the Security of Public Cloud Resources” Publishes
• Trouble In The Cloud?!
• Cloud Security Monitoring … Revisited (aka It Is Not 2012 Anymore!)

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• Your SOC Nuclear Triad
• Threat Intelligence and Operational Agility
• On Space Between Detection and Response
• On Tanks vs Tractors
• Enable the Business? Sometimes Security Must Say “NO”…
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.

Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – July 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Your SOC Nuclear Triad [BACKUP FROM DEAD GARTNER BLOG]

 Let’s talk modern SOC tools. The analogy I’d like to use is that of a “Nuclear Triad” – a key cold war concept. The triad consisted of strategic bombers, ICBMs and missile submarines (strictly speaking, submarine missiles – SLBMs) and sought to “significantly reduce the possibility that an enemy could destroy all of a nation’s nuclear forces in a first-strike attack.”

Your SOC should have its own nuclear triad of visibility:

1. SIEM – if I need to explains this, please read something else instead 
2. Network Forensics (NFT) – tools that can capture all network traffic (full packet capture), extract metadata (including application layer, L7 metadata such as HTTP user-agent, DNS query response, FTP username, email subject, etc) and payloads, retain some raw traffic and metadata, enable searching and analysis. There are several commercial tools, and then there are moloch and OpenSOC; Bro sort of fits in as well. [See more details here and in this GTP document]
3. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR, formerly ETDR) – typically agent-based tools to capture execution, local connections, system changes, memory activities, etc. There are a lot (A LOT!) of commercial tools, and then there are GRR, MIG (update: not really MozDef, as I mentioned in the previous version)  as osquery, sort of. [See more details here and in this GTP document]

Similar to the above, your “SOC triad” seeks to significantly reduce the chance that the attacker will operate on your network long enough to accomplish their goals.

Of course, your SOC will make use of other tools and capabilities, such as threat intelligence (TI) data, malware sandboxes and reversing tools [to push the above analogy a tad too far, maybe this is like a suitcase nuke? Very much an auxiliary weapon, but also very cool? :-)] as well as some workflow system to organize all your work [strategic forces undeground command center?]. However, I always think of SIEM + NFT + EDR as “SOC nuclear triad” of visibility!

There you have it! Enjoy!

Your SOC Nuclear Triad [BACKUP FROM DEAD GARTNER BLOG]

 NOTICE: after Gartner killed ALL blogs in late 2023, I am trying to salvage (via archive.org) some of the most critical blogs I've written while working there, and repost them with backdates here, for posterity. This one reminds the world that I invented the "SOC visibility triad" model back in 2015.

Let’s talk modern SOC tools. The analogy I’d like to use is that of a “Nuclear Triad” – a key cold war concept. The triad consisted of strategic bombers, ICBMs and missile submarines (strictly speaking, submarine missiles – SLBMs) and sought to “significantly reduce the possibility that an enemy could destroy all of a nation’s nuclear forces in a first-strike attack.”

Your SOC should have its own nuclear triad of visibility:

1. SIEM – if I need to explains this, please read something else instead 
2. Network Forensics (NFT) – tools that can capture all network traffic (full packet capture), extract metadata (including application layer, L7 metadata such as HTTP user-agent, DNS query response, FTP username, email subject, etc) and payloads, retain some raw traffic and metadata, enable searching and analysis. There are several commercial tools, and then there are moloch and OpenSOC; Bro sort of fits in as well. [See more details here and in this GTP document]
3. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR, formerly ETDR) – typically agent-based tools to capture execution, local connections, system changes, memory activities, etc. There are a lot (A LOT!) of commercial tools, and then there are GRR, MIG (update: not really MozDef, as I mentioned in the previous version)  as osquery, sort of. [See more details here and in this GTP document]

Similar to the above, your “SOC triad” seeks to significantly reduce the chance that the attacker will operate on your network long enough to accomplish their goals.

Of course, your SOC will make use of other tools and capabilities, such as threat intelligence (TI) data, malware sandboxes and reversing tools [to push the above analogy a tad too far, maybe this is like a suitcase nuke? Very much an auxiliary weapon, but also very cool? :-)] as well as some workflow system to organize all your work [strategic forces underwound command center?]. However, I always think of SIEM + NFT + EDR as “SOC nuclear triad” of visibility!

There you have it! Enjoy!

Monthly Blog Round-Up – July 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current popularity of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. Succeeding with SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. That – and developing a SIEM is much harder than most people think  [291 pageviews]
2. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” came from one of my last projects I did when running my SIEM consulting firm in 2009-2011 (for my recent work on evaluating SIEM, see this document) [133 pageviews]
3. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.0 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [120+ pageviews to the main tag]
4. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [114 pageviews]
5. “New SIEM Whitepaper on Use Cases In-Depth OUT!” (dated 2010) presents a whitepaper on select SIEM use cases described in depth with rules and reports [using now-defunct SIEM product]; also see this SIEM use case in depth and this for a more current list of popular SIEM use cases. [62 pageviews of total 4862 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog:

Current maverick research on AI/smart machines risks:

• On Evil AIs and Evil People

Past research on cloud security monitoring:

• My “How to Monitor the Security of Public Cloud Resources” Publishes
• Trouble In The Cloud?!
• Cloud Security Monitoring … Revisited (aka It Is Not 2012 Anymore!)

Past research on security analytics:

• My “Demystifying Security Analytics: Sources, Methods and Use Cases” Paper Publishes
• On Unknown Operational Effectiveness of Security Analytics Tooling
• Now That We Have All That Data What Do We Do, Revisited
• Who Validates Alerts Validated by Your Alert Validator Software?
• Killed by AI Much? A Rise of Non-deterministic Security!
• SIEM / DLP Add-on Brain
• Those Pesky Users: How To Catch Bad Usage of Good Accounts
• Security Analytics Lessons Learned — and Ignored!
• Security Analytics: Projects vs Boxes (Build vs Buy)?
• Do You Want “Security Analytics” Or Do You Just Hate Your SIEM?
• Security Analytics – Finally Emerging For Real?
• Why No Security Analytics Market?

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• On Tanks vs Tractors
• Enable the Business? Sometimes Security Must Say “NO”…
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”
• Bye-bye, Compliance Thinking. Welcome, Military Thinking!
• All My Research Published in 2014

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.

Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – June 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Monthly Blog Round-Up – June 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current popularity of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. Succeeding with SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. That – and developing a SIEM is much harder than most people think  [278 pageviews]
2. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” came from one of my last projects I did when running my SIEM consulting firm in 2009-2011 (for my recent work on evaluating SIEM, see this document) [198 pageviews]
3. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [114 pageviews]
4. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.0 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [100+ pageviews to the main tag]
5. “On Choosing SIEM” is about the least wrong way of choosing a SIEM tool – as well as why the right way is so unpopular. [60 pageviews out of a total of 4941 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog:

Current research on cloud security monitoring:

• Trouble In The Cloud?!
• Cloud Security Monitoring … Revisited (aka It Is Not 2012 Anymore!)

Past research on security analytics:

• My “Demystifying Security Analytics: Sources, Methods and Use Cases” Paper Publishes
• On Unknown Operational Effectiveness of Security Analytics Tooling
• Now That We Have All That Data What Do We Do, Revisited
• Who Validates Alerts Validated by Your Alert Validator Software?
• Killed by AI Much? A Rise of Non-deterministic Security!
• SIEM / DLP Add-on Brain
• Those Pesky Users: How To Catch Bad Usage of Good Accounts
• Security Analytics Lessons Learned — and Ignored!
• Security Analytics: Projects vs Boxes (Build vs Buy)?
• Do You Want “Security Analytics” Or Do You Just Hate Your SIEM?
• Security Analytics – Finally Emerging For Real?
• Why No Security Analytics Market?

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• Enable the Business? Sometimes Security Must Say “NO”…
• Once More on Insta-Fail Security Policies – Rant Alert!
• The Future Is Here … And It Is … Network? Endpoint?
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”
• Bye-bye, Compliance Thinking. Welcome, Military Thinking!
• All My Research Published in 2014

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.

Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – May 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Monthly Blog Round-Up – May 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current emergence of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. [179 pageviews]
2. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [136 pageviews]
3. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” came from one of my last projects I did when running my SIEM consulting firm in 2009-2011 (for my recent work on evaluating SIEM, see this document) [94 pageviews]
4. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.0 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [80+ pageviews to the main tag]
5. “New SIEM Whitepaper on Use Cases In-Depth OUT!” (dated 2010) presents a whitepaper on select SIEM use cases described in depth with rules and reports [using now-defunct SIEM product]; also see this SIEM use case in depth and this for a more current list of popular SIEM use cases. [55 pageviews of total 4310 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog:

Current research on cloud security monitoring:

• Cloud Security Monitoring … Revisited (aka It Is Not 2012 Anymore!)

Past research on security analytics:

• My “Demystifying Security Analytics: Sources, Methods and Use Cases” Paper Publishes
• Now That We Have All That Data What Do We Do, Revisited
• Who Validates Alerts Validated by Your Alert Validator Software?
• Killed by AI Much? A Rise of Non-deterministic Security!
• SIEM / DLP Add-on Brain
• Those Pesky Users: How To Catch Bad Usage of Good Accounts
• Security Analytics Lessons Learned — and Ignored!
• Security Analytics: Projects vs Boxes (Build vs Buy)?
• Do You Want “Security Analytics” Or Do You Just Hate Your SIEM?
• Security Analytics – Finally Emerging For Real?
• Why No Security Analytics Market?

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• RSA 2015: Rise of Chaos!!
• The Future Is Here … And It Is … Network? Endpoint?
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”
• Bye-bye, Compliance Thinking. Welcome, Military Thinking!
• All My Research Published in 2014

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.
Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – April 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Monthly Blog Round-Up – April 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current emergence of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. [282 pageviews]
2. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [116 pageviews]
3. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” came from one of my last projects I did when running my SIEM consulting firm in 2009-2011 (for my recent work on evaluating SIEM, see this document) [114 pageviews]
4. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.0 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [100+ pageviews to the main tag]
5. “New SIEM Whitepaper on Use Cases In-Depth OUT!” (dated 2010) presents a whitepaper on select SIEM use cases described in depth with rules and reports [using now-defunct SIEM product]; also see this SIEM use case in depth and this for a more current list of popular SIEM use cases. [92 pageviews of total 5079 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog:

Current research on security analytics:

• Now That We Have All That Data What Do We Do, Revisited
• Who Validates Alerts Validated by Your Alert Validator Software?
• Killed by AI Much? A Rise of Non-deterministic Security!
• SIEM / DLP Add-on Brain
• Those Pesky Users: How To Catch Bad Usage of Good Accounts
• Security Analytics Lessons Learned — and Ignored!
• Security Analytics: Projects vs Boxes (Build vs Buy)?
• Do You Want “Security Analytics” Or Do You Just Hate Your SIEM?
• Security Analytics – Finally Emerging For Real?
• Why No Security Analytics Market?

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• RSA 2015: Rise of Chaos!!
• The Future Is Here … And It Is … Network? Endpoint?
• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”
• Bye-bye, Compliance Thinking. Welcome, Military Thinking!
• All My Research Published in 2014

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.
Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – March 2015
• All posts tagged monthly

Monthly Blog Round-Up – March 2015

Here is my next monthly "Security Warrior" blog round-up of top 5 popular posts/topics this month:

1. “Why No Open Source SIEM, EVER?” contains some of my SIEM thinking from 2009. Is it relevant now? Well, you be the judge.  Current emergence of open source log search tools, BTW, does not break the logic of that post. SIEM requires a lot of work, whether you paid for the software, or not. [326 pageviews]
2. “Simple Log Review Checklist Released!” is often at the top of this list – the checklist is still a very useful tool for many people. “On Free Log Management Tools” is a companion to the checklist (updated version) [126 pageviews]
3. “Top 10 Criteria for a SIEM?” came from one of my last projects I did when running my SIEM consulting firm in 2009-2011 (for my recent work on evaluating SIEM, see this document) [111 pageviews]
4. My classic PCI DSS Log Review series is always popular! The series of 18 posts cover a comprehensive log review approach (OK for PCI DSS 3.0 as well), useful for building log review processes and procedures , whether regulatory or not. It is also described in more detail in our Log Management book and mentioned in our PCI book (just out in its 4th edition!) [100+ pageviews to the main tag]
5. “New SIEM Whitepaper on Use Cases In-Depth OUT!” (dated 2010) presents a whitepaper on select SIEM use cases described in depth with rules and reports [using now-defunct SIEM product]; also see this SIEM use case in depth and this for a more current list of popular SIEM use cases. [82 pageviews of total 4888 pageviews to all blog pages]

In addition, I’d like to draw your attention to a few recent posts from my Gartner blog:

Current research on security analytics:

• Now That We Have All That Data What Do We Do, Revisited
• Who Validates Alerts Validated by Your Alert Validator Software?
• Killed by AI Much? A Rise of Non-deterministic Security!
• SIEM / DLP Add-on Brain
• Those Pesky Users: How To Catch Bad Usage of Good Accounts
• Security Analytics Lessons Learned — and Ignored!
• Security Analytics: Projects vs Boxes (Build vs Buy)?
• Do You Want “Security Analytics” Or Do You Just Hate Your SIEM?
• Security Analytics – Finally Emerging For Real?
• Why No Security Analytics Market?

Miscellaneous fun posts:

• Defeat The Casual Attacker First!!
• On “Defender’s Advantage”
• Bye-bye, Compliance Thinking. Welcome, Military Thinking!
• All My Research Published in 2014

(see all my published Gartner research here)
Also see my past monthly and annual “Top Popular Blog Posts” – 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
Disclaimer: most content at SecurityWarrior blog was written before I joined Gartner on Aug 1, 2011 and is solely my personal view at the time of writing. For my current security blogging, go here.
Previous post in this endless series:

• Monthly Blog Round-Up – February 2015
• All posts tagged monthly