SOC & SIEM

SOC & SIEM Build, Detection Engineering, and Operations

Smartfind helps you move from “collecting logs” to actually catching attacks earlier and responding faster. We design and tune your SIEM, build high-signal detections mapped to attacker behavior, and establish SOC workflows that your team can run every day without drowning in noise.

Best suited for organizations struggling with alert fatigue, blind spots, or compliance pressure
Supports both greenfield SOC builds and modernization of existing SIEM deployments
Built for cloud-first, hybrid, and remote-friendly environments
Aligned to MITRE ATT&CK, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and your own internal policies

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What we deliver

A modern SOC needs more than dashboards and alerts. It needs a reliable telemetry pipeline, detections that match attacker tradecraft, and repeatable workflows that analysts can run at 2 AM without guessing. Smartfind builds or tunes your SIEM (self-hosted or SaaS), reduces noise, and gives your team the tools to investigate and respond with confidence.

SIEM and SOC designed to match your size, risk profile, and technology stack
Detections mapped to MITRE ATT&CK tactics, techniques, and procedures
Tier-1 to Tier-3 workflows that define what “good investigation” looks like
Dashboards that show real security posture, not just log volume

Business outcomes

Meaningful reduction in false positives and wasted analyst time
Improved time-to-detect (MTTD) and time-to-respond (MTTR) for real incidents
Audit-ready evidence and reporting for ISO 27001, SOC 2, and customer reviews
Clear visibility for leadership into how the SOC is performing over time
Confidence that high-impact threats (ransomware, ATO, cloud abuse) are covered

Technical outcomes

Detection-as-code repository with rules, tests, and documentation
Investigation runbooks with decision trees and example scenarios
Analyst workspaces for entity timelines, pivoting, and enrichment
SOAR/automation playbooks for enrichment and containment actions
Run-time guardrails: access models, RBAC, and change management for rules

High-value use cases

Account takeover

Detect and respond when attackers abuse identities instead of malware.

Impossible travel and anomalous geo-velocity
MFA push fatigue and suspicious approval patterns
Token theft, session hijacking, and OAuth abuse
Risk-based auto-containment (step-up auth, disable, revoke sessions)

Ransomware

Catch early indicators before encryption hits critical systems.

Suspicious file encryption patterns and mass rename operations
Shadow copy deletion and backup tampering
Privilege escalation and lateral movement towards servers or domain controllers
Rapid isolation playbooks for endpoints and critical shares

Cloud abuse

Visibility and detections for cloud privileged access and misconfigurations.

Unusual console logins, API calls, and identity federation activity
Key misuse, role escalation, and suspicious use of service principals
Public exposure of storage buckets, databases, and management interfaces
Persistence via roles, access policies, and automation accounts

Reference architecture

Ingest & normalization

We build a predictable pipeline from log sources to normalized events with shared schemas.

Streaming collectors and agents tuned for reliability and cost
Parsing rules with a consistent taxonomy for identity, host, network, and cloud
Enrichment with asset data, user context, and threat intelligence
Validation dashboards to track ingestion health and parsing errors

Storage & tiering

Store the right data in the right place for the right time window.

Hot vs. warm vs. archive tiers aligned to investigation needs
Retention policies mapped to regulatory and contractual obligations
Cost guardrails and forecasting to avoid runaway SIEM bills
Searchable long-term storage for forensics and threat hunting

Access & workspaces

Analysts see what they need, with least-privilege access and clear separation of duties.

Role-based access for SOC tiers, IR teams, and platform admins
Dedicated workspaces for hunting, investigations, and reporting
Temporary elevation processes for sensitive queries or exports
Audit trails for rule changes, query access, and case handling

Automation

We integrate SIEM with SOAR and case management to reduce manual, repetitive work.

Enrichment playbooks: whois, sandbox, asset, user, and threat intel lookups
Containment playbooks: isolate endpoints, disable accounts, revoke tokens or keys
Case creation and updating across your existing ITSM or ticketing tools
Guardrails and approvals so automation improves safety, not risk

Detection engineering

Detection-as-code

Smartfind treats detection rules like software: versioned, tested, and reviewed.

Rules stored in Git with pull requests and peer review
Unit tests and sample events for critical detections
Tagging by tactic, technique, data source, and severity
Release notes and change logs for each tuning or new rule

Tuning & suppression

We tune rules to your environment so analysts see fewer “expected” alerts and more real issues.

Allowlists and exception sets with clear owners and review dates
Maintenance windows and change calendar awareness
Context-aware thresholds per business unit, environment, or asset type
Systematic PIR-driven updates after each incident or major false positive cluster

Threat intel & ML

We blend indicators, behavior-based detections, and anomaly models where they make sense.

IOC management with TTLs and automatic expiry for stale indicators
Entity and user risk scoring based on correlated activity
Behavioral rules for unusual access, configuration, or data movement
Detection strategies that combine static rules, heuristics, and ML outputs

Purple teaming

We validate SOC coverage using controlled adversary simulations.

Scenario design aligned to your top threats and crown-jewel assets
Execution of ATT&CK-mapped techniques against lab or test environments
Gap analysis between activity performed and alerts generated
Improvement backlog for new detections, data sources, and playbooks

Log source coverage

Domain	Examples	Why it matters
Identity	Entra/Okta, AD/LDAP, SSO, IAM	Detect account takeover, risky sign-ins, and privilege escalation before data is touched.
Endpoint	EDR/AV, Sysmon, macOS/Linux audit	Spot malware, persistence, and lateral movement on laptops, servers, and critical hosts.
Network	Firewall, proxy, DNS, NTA	Reveal command-and-control traffic, exfiltration attempts, and internal recon.
Cloud	CloudTrail, Azure Activity, GCP Audit	Track IAM/key abuse, risky API activity, and changes to critical cloud resources.
Apps	WAF, API gateway, auth services	Detect abuse of business logic, brute-force attempts, and application-level attacks.

SOC workflows & runbooks

Triage

Tier-1 analysts get clear checklists and context to quickly decide if an alert is actionable.

Automatic enrichment with asset, user, and threat intel data
Severity classification rules aligned with business impact
Escalation thresholds and handoff criteria for Tier-2
Standard case notes so handovers are smooth and traceable

Investigation

Tier-2/Tier-3 analysts follow structured paths instead of ad-hoc queries.

Entity-centric timelines for users, hosts, and IPs
Correlation of related alerts into a single case
Guided pivot queries and saved hunts for common scenarios
Evidence collection steps that support later forensics or IR

Containment

Decisions are documented and controlled, even when executed quickly.

Pre-approved actions (isolate host, disable user, revoke tokens)
Approval workflows for high-impact changes
Playbook-driven integration with EDR, IAM, and cloud controls
Rollback plans and communication steps when containment is complete

Lessons

Every major case feeds back into detections, processes, and training.

Post-incident reviews (PIRs) with clear owners and due dates
Rule and runbook updates tracked as formal changes
Knowledge base entries with anonymized case studies
Metrics that show whether changes actually reduced risk or noise

Metrics & SLOs

Detection quality

True-positive rate, false-positive rate, and alert discard rate
Rule coverage by MITRE ATT&CK tactic and critical asset group
Average time from incident review to rule or playbook update
Volume of alerts per analyst vs. actionable cases per shift

Operational speed

Mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR)
Investigation cycle time by severity level
Automation coverage and success rates for enrichment and containment
Case backlog trends and SLA adherence for priority incidents

Methodology

1) Kickoff & design

Requirements, current tooling, data sources, retention, access model, and automation goals. We prioritize use cases and define what “success” looks like for your SOC.
2) Build & ingest

Connect sources, normalize events, enrich with context, and validate parsing and volume. We ensure dashboards and basic searches already support investigations.
3) Detections & workflows

Design and implement high-value rules, triage flows, investigation playbooks, and case templates. SOC analysts are trained on how to use them in real scenarios.
4) Operate & tune

Shadow operations, tuning sprints, and performance reviews. We continuously refine rules, automations, and workflows based on real alerts and incidents.
5) Handover

Formal handover of playbooks, documentation, and detection-as-code repositories. We align on a future roadmap and optional co-managed or advisory engagement.

Deliverables

SIEM reference architecture & configuration guidelines
Detection-as-code repository (rules, tests, docs)
Dashboards and analyst investigation workspaces
SOAR playbooks & case management templates
Runbooks for triage, investigation, containment, and PIRs
Performance report with baseline metrics and SLO proposals

Sample runbook excerpt

Step	Action
Enrich	Fetch asset, user risk, and threat intel context
Decide	Apply severity rules and choose escalation path
Contain	Isolate host, disable user, revoke tokens with approvals
Document	Record timeline, evidence, and findings for PIR

Typical timeline

Phase	Duration	Activities
Design	1–2 weeks	Requirements, architecture, data plan, prioritized use cases.
Build	2–4 weeks	Ingest, normalization, enrichment, dashboards, and access model.
Detections	2–3 weeks	Rules, tests, runbooks, automation hooks, and initial training.
Operate & tune	2–6 weeks	Shadow ops, tuning sprints, metrics, and PIR-driven improvements.

Pricing / Engagement model

Foundation

SIEM baseline architecture and configuration
Up to 10 core detection rules with tests
Dashboards and 3 key runbooks
Performance summary and recommended roadmap

Growth

Priority use cases (e.g., ATO, ransomware, cloud abuse)
SOAR playbooks for enrichment and containment
Weekly tuning sprints and rule improvement cycles
Analyst training sessions and tabletop walkthroughs

Operate

Co-managed SOC model with agreed SLAs
Continuous detection improvements and rule maintenance
Quarterly PIRs, metrics review, and roadmap updates
Option to gradually transition to your fully in-house SOC

FAQs

Can you work with our existing SIEM?

Yes. Smartfind is vendor-agnostic—we prefer to improve what you already have where possible. We assess your current deployment, architecture, and rules, then recommend a phased plan: quick wins, structural changes, and long-term improvements.

How do you avoid alert fatigue?

We combine detection-as-code, environment-specific tuning, and PIR-driven updates. False positives aren’t just muted—they feed into a proper tuning backlog with owners, changes, and verification steps. Over time, the SOC sees fewer, higher-quality alerts.

Do you support cloud & SaaS?

Absolutely. Identity, cloud audit logs, and SaaS admin telemetry are first-class citizens in our designs. We prioritize visibility into the platforms where your users work every day: collaboration tools, CRM, IAM, cloud consoles, and more.

Can you train our analysts?

Yes. We provide playbook walkthroughs, case studies based on real incidents, tabletop exercises, and guided hunts. The goal is to make your analysts comfortable with the tools, confident in their decisions, and aligned on what “good” investigations look like.

Ready to modernize your SOC?

Email info@smartfind.systems or reach out via our contact form. Our team will help you design the right SOC & SIEM strategy for your environment.