What is Cyber Fusion?
Cyber fusion is the unification of all security and related functions—such as orchestration/automation, data analysis, incident response and threat intelligence—into one operational group in order to better integrate threat detection, management, and response processes, and facilitate security collaboration between people, teams, and devices.
What is a Cyber Fusion Center?
A cyber fusion center is a next-generation security operations center (SOC) specifically designed to enhance and improve enterprise security. In a cyber fusion center, standard cybersecurity services, such as threat detection and response, are combined with advanced security features and tools, including threat intelligence, data analytics, security information and event management (SIEM) technologies, and user and entity behavior analytics. A cyber security fusion center also incorporates previously disparate but related teams, such as security operations (SecOps) and IT operations, to better integrate security activities and reduce risks and costs.
What is the Purpose of a Cyber Fusion Center?
Cyber fusion centers are designed to facilitate collaboration and communication between teams engaging in related functions—such as cybersecurity and IT operations—in order to reduce risk and improve the organization’s overall security posture.
Why Are Cyber Fusion Centers Important?
Cyber fusion centers bridge the gap between critical safety and operational functions, like cybersecurity and IT, to facilitate collaboration, communication, and operational effectiveness, reduce risks, and improve response to threats.
Historically, operations related to IT, application/product development, and security were siloed among several different groups. However, in the last decade, businesses have undergone a massive digital transformation, with these groups and the platforms, networks, and devices they use becoming more integrated. In turn, this has increased corporate risk due to the sheer volume of endpoints, larger attack surfaces, increased vulnerabilities, and expanded governance and compliance requirements.
Cyber fusion centers are both collaborative and intelligence-driven, with threat detection, analytics, and automation/orchestration tools fully integrated. They are structured to encourage related teams to work better together when it comes to sharing information, alerting each other to potential problems and vulnerabilities, and improving response times.
How Do Cyber Fusion Centers Function?
Cyber fusion centers act as a single collection point for data to enable teams to track and analyze metrics and make critical security decisions based on this information, as well as provide operational and strategic services. Groups working together in a cyber fusion center operate under the same goals and direction in real-time and coordinate their response to threats in both a strategic and tactical manner.
What is a Cyber Fusion Center Framework?
The Cyber Fusion Center Framework is a dynamic approach to cybersecurity that blends various layers like integrated security functions, orchestration layers, data analytics engines, and communication protocols. This integration allows for a cohesive handling of cyber threats. The orchestration layer ensures seamless coordination across different security tools, while the data analytics engine, often augmented with artificial intelligence, processes information to detect anomalies and potential threats.
The framework emphasizes the human element, promotes collaboration among teams, and streamlines response strategies. Given the ever-evolving nature of cyber threats, the framework's adaptability is key. It can be continuously updated or modified to address new and emerging challenges, ensuring that organizations are always equipped to handle the latest cybersecurity risks. This blend of technology and human expertise makes the Cyber Fusion Center Framework a versatile and essential tool in intelligence fusion cyber security.
How do Security Operations Centers work?
SOCs play a crucial role in cybersecurity and encompass functions like continuous monitoring, threat detection, incident response, and mitigation. SOC teams like ours at GuidePoint Security use advanced tools like Security Information and Event Management systems to analyze and manage security data. Key personnel include analysts, who monitor networks for suspicious activity, incident responders, who manage and neutralize threats, and threat hunters, who proactively search for undiscovered vulnerabilities. However, handling modern cybersecurity threats poses challenges due to the evolving nature of attack methods and the increasing volume of data to analyze, requiring SOCs to continuously adapt and update their strategies and tools.
Responsibilities of a Cyber Fusion Center
Cyber fusion centers integrate multiple activities into one functional area. Key components of a cyber fusion center include:
- Threat Intelligence — Tactical, operational, and strategic intelligence, including indicators of compromise (IoC), endpoint and user data, vulnerabilities, threat intelligence platforms (TIPs), etc.
- Analytics — Analyzing operational and threat data, including user and entity behavior analytics.
- Threat Detection — Identifying threats through alerts and security tools, such as SIEM, firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS), endpoint detection and response (EDR), etc.
- Incident Response — Responding as quickly as possible to identified threats, breaches, and attacks.
- Governance & Compliance — Ensuring all IT and security activities align with regulations and compliance concerns.
- Threat Hunting — Locating and remediating threats not detected through alerts
Cyber fusion centers also provide services around the design and implementation of security roadmaps and blueprints, assessment of security processes and stature, and staff augmentation and operational support.
What is the Difference Between a Cyber Fusion Center and a SOC?
Cyber fusion centers provide a more unified and proactive approach to threat management by integrating different but related teams through collaboration and knowledge sharing. While a SOC’s role is typically focused on detecting, identifying, investigating, and responding to security incidents, a cyber fusion center takes this one step further by enhancing an organization’s overall security profile and capabilities. By integrating functions, intelligence, and teams using real-time information and operating under shared goals, cyber fusion centers can operate more effectively in today’s threat landscape.
Next Steps
Cyber fusion centers are a way for organizations to streamline their systems and assimilate information into actionable cybersecurity strategies and tactics. As the number and types of threats and vulnerabilities increase, cyber fusion centers can strengthen an organization’s threat detection and protection capabilities while improving productivity and reducing costs. Schedule a customized security consultation with one of the GuidePoint Security experts to help you evaluate your cyber fusion center options.