Understanding Sumo Logic SIEM: Pros/Cons and Quick Tutorial 

What Is Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM? 

Sumo Logic SIEM is a cloud-native security information and event management system for modern enterprises. It manages security data by automating data ingestion, analysis, and visualization processes. This platform serves as a centralized hub for real-time monitoring, providing threat detection capabilities while ensuring simplified incident management workflows. 

It integrates with a variety of data sources, offering a comprehensive view of security-related events and improving overall security posture. With its scalable architecture, Sumo Logic SIEM caters to the dynamic needs of organizations, supporting large amounts of data and numerous users. It is built on a foundation of analytics, ensuring actionable insights are delivered promptly. 

The platform can detect threats and aids in compliance reporting and audit trails. Its user interface and customizable features aim to improve the productivity of security operations teams.

Key Features of Sumo Logic SIEM 

Cloud-Native Architecture

By leveraging cloud infrastructure it eliminates the need for an on-premises infrastructure with it maintenance requirements and supports faster deployment.

The cloud-native design also allows Sumo Logic SIEM to integrate with various cloud services and platforms, such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. This allows the platform to monitor and analyze data across multiple environments. Additionally, the architecture supports continuous updates, delivering security features with minimal disruption.

Analytics for Threat Detection

The platform claims to utilize machine learning algorithms and behavioral analytics to identify anomalies and potential threats. By correlating data from various sources, it detects patterns indicative of malicious activity, enabling proactive threat management and reducing the risk of data breaches.

The platform’s analytical capabilities extend to real-time monitoring, providing instant alerts and insights into potential threats. This immediate response mechanism augments the role of security teams, allowing them to address threats promptly. The SIEM’s analytics can be also customized to align with business needs, producing relevant and actionable insights.

User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA)

User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) focuses on the behaviors of users and entities within an organization, identifying deviations from established patterns that may indicate security threats. By monitoring these behaviors, the platform can detect insider threats or compromised accounts that traditional security measures might overlook.

UEBA in Sumo Logic SIEM uses algorithms to analyze data, looking for indicators of abnormal activity. This analysis helps in catching threats and understanding their context and potential impact. 

Automated Incident Response and Playbooks

The platform integrates playbooks—predefined response strategies—into its operations, allowing for incident management. When a threat is identified, the system automatically initiates the relevant playbook, reducing response times and mitigating damage.

The automation of incident response through playbooks helps eliminate human error. It also frees up security teams to focus on more complex tasks by handling routine incidents automatically. 

Entity Relationship Graph Visualization

The SIEM provides entity relationship graph visualization, offering a consolidated view of interactions within an organization’s network. This feature maps out connections between users, devices, and applications, revealing patterns that might indicate security risks. Such visualizations help security teams understand the scope and impact of potential threats.

The graph visualization tool highlights relationships and interactions and aids in identifying compromised entities or behaviors that deviate from the norm. Security teams should be able to pinpoint the source of a threat in order to take action. By providing an understanding of entity relationships, Sumo Logic SIEM intends to support the decision-making process.

Integration with MITRE ATT&CK Framework

Integration with the MITRE ATT&CK framework aligns the platform’s security insights with a widely used industry standard, allowing organizations to better understand and assess threats. By mapping detected activities to MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques, it intends to provide a framework for analyzing adversarial behavior when other ways are inconclusive.

This integration aids in developing countermeasures by highlighting potential attack vectors and so security teams can prioritize remediation efforts. It also serves as a tool for training and educating security personnel to understand the threat landscape. 

Multi-Cloud Protection Capabilities

Supporting integrations with cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, it enables the monitoring and management of security data from those platforms. This capability is for organizations wanting to understand their security posture and compliance across one or more cloud platforms.

The platform’s multi-cloud focus also it indented to simplify the process of data collection and analysis regardless of cloud location in order to identify and respond to threats more efficiently. 

Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM Limitations 

Users have noted some limitations in Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM. Here are some of the key areas for improvement, as noted by users on the G2 platform:

• Endpoint agent support: Unlike some platforms, Sumo Logic does not offer a dedicated endpoint agent for log collection on individual devices such as desktops and laptops, which could improve data collection for certain environments.
• Limited SOAR functionality in non-enterprise plans: Advanced security orchestration and automation (SOAR) workflows are restricted to the enterprise version, potentially limiting automation capabilities in the regular SIEM platform.
• Performance with large data sets: Queries across extensive date ranges and large datasets can be slow, with some long queries timing out before completion.
• Reporting and exporting options: There is no built-in report generation or export functionality to PDF, JSON, or JPEG, which could limit flexibility in sharing and documenting findings.
• Data aggregation and filtering: The platform lacks some data aggregation and filtering options available in other SIEM tools like ELK, which can impact data management efficiency.
• Geolocation and mapping limitations: Geolocation maps do not support direct log drill-downs by clicking on map icons, limiting the depth of interaction within visual data representations.
• API customization for unique SaaS applications: Some users find a need for custom API queries for SaaS applications with limited logging capabilities, requiring additional customization.
• Graphical search limitations: Certain search results cannot be displayed in graphical formats, potentially restricting data visualization options for complex queries.
• Log ingestion challenges: Ingesting logs from some unsupported sources can be challenging, requiring additional configuration efforts to integrate with the SIEM.

Quick Tutorial: Getting Started with Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM 

Here are the basic steps involved in using Sumo Logic SIEM. These instructions are adapted from the official documentation.

Heads Up Display

When you first access Cloud SIEM, the Heads Up display provides a central view of the security landscape:

1. In the middle, you’ll see a radar showing Insights surrounded by Signals and Records, which contribute to these insights. 
2. The left panel displays summary information, while the right panel logs recent activities. 
3. Use the Heads Up Display to monitor high-priority events, with Insights acting as the primary focus for immediate investigation.

Navigating Cloud SIEM Features

In Cloud SIEM, use the Top Menu and Sidebar Menu to access various features:

• Insights: View clusters of security events needing investigation, generated when suspicious activity levels exceed thresholds for entities.
• Signals: Examine individual events flagged by rules as significant. Signals are intended to identify unusual activity that might indicate a threat.
• Entities: Track unique actors in your system, such as users, IPs, or hosts. Each entity’s activity score reflects potential risk based on aggregated Signals.
• Records: View collections of parsed data that form the basis for security analysis.
• Content: Create and manage rules, match lists, and custom insights to refine your security monitoring and response capabilities.
• Configuration: Adjust settings for data ingestion, rule management, enrichment, and other system configurations.

Getting Your Data into Cloud SIEM

Cloud SIEM automatically organizes and enriches data from multiple sources, transforming it into actionable security insights. The data ingestion process begins with logs from various sources collected through either an installed or hosted collector. These logs are then parsed into messages, normalized, and enriched with additional information to create Records that serve as the foundational units for further analysis.

Data Pipeline and Collection

In the data pipeline, raw logs undergo several stages to become actionable data. Each message is parsed into key-value pairs, mapped to a consistent schema, and enriched with external threat intelligence.

To leverage Cloud SIEM effectively, ensure that the organization collects sufficient data. Typically, over 50GB of daily data ingestion helps generate valuable insights. It’s also essential to monitor the quality of data sources, as high-value sources such as CloudTrail, Windows event logs, and AWS logs can significantly improve detection accuracy.

Record Creation and Signal Generation

Once data is ingested, Cloud SIEM processes messages to create Records, which are then compared against predefined and custom rules. When a rule’s conditions are met, a Signal is generated, capturing critical event information such as entity, severity, and the tactic in the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Signals are then correlated based on entity activity scores, with high-scoring entities triggering Insights—clusters of Signals that demand attention.

Investigating Threats

Threat investigation in Cloud SIEM is primarily a reactive process, launched in response to specific alerts and insights. Cloud SIEM’s Insights feature compiles clusters of related Signals around entities with unusual activity, simplifying the task of examining potential security incidents. Each insight offers detailed information, enabling security analysts to answer investigative questions about the event.

To analyze an Insight:

1. Start by reviewing the timeline and entities involved, which may reveal the source, scope, and sequence of the activity. 
2. Investigators can drill down into the underlying Signals, examining details like IP addresses, geolocations, and other metadata relevant to each event. This process allows the team to build a hypothesis about the incident and revise it as more information becomes available.

Context Actions and Incident Response

Cloud SIEM supports various context actions directly from Insights, enabling analysts to search related events in the Sumo Logic platform, run queries, or link to external systems. 

Additionally, analysts can add comments, update Insight status, and perform other tasks that help maintain a record of the investigation’s progress. Incident response actions can also include executing automated workflows, alerting team members, or initiating follow-up tasks such as creating Jira tickets or sending messages via Slack.

Refining the Investigation and Response Workflow

As insights are generated and resolved, users mark them as “closed” or “in progress”. Cloud SIEM’s algorithms help improve detection precision by learning from previous incident resolutions. By assigning accurate statuses to closed insights, organizations can reduce false positives and fine-tune the investigation process. 

Exabeam: Ultimate Sumo Logic Alternative

Exabeam is a leading provider of security information and event management (SIEM) solutions, combining UEBA, SIEM, SOAR, and TDIR to accelerate security operations. Its Security Operations platforms enables security teams to quickly detect, investigate, and respond to threats while enhancing operational efficiency.

Key Features:

• Scalable log collection and management: The open platform accelerates log onboarding by 70%, eliminating the need for advanced engineering skills while ensuring seamless log aggregation across hybrid environments.
• Behavioral analytics: Uses advanced analytics to baseline normal vs. abnormal behavior, detecting insider threats, lateral movement, and advanced attacks missed by signature-based systems. Customers report that Exabeam helps detect and respond to 90% of attacks before other vendors can catch them.
• Automated threat response: Simplifies security operations by automating incident timelines, reducing manual effort by 30%, and accelerating investigation times by 80%.
• Contextual incident investigation: Since Exabeam automates timeline creation and reduces time spent on menial tasks, it cuts the time to detect and respond to threats by over 50%. Pre-built correlation rules, anomaly detection models, and vendor integrations reduce alerts by 60%, minimizing false positives.
• SaaS and cloud-native options: Flexible deployment options provide scalability for cloud-first and hybrid environments, ensuring rapid time to value for customers. For organizations who can’t, or won’t move their SIEM to the cloud, Exabeam provides a market-leading, full featured, and self-hosted SIEM.
• Network visibility with NetMon: Delivers deep insight beyond firewalls and IDS/IPS, detecting threats like data theft and botnet activity while making investigation easier with flexible searching. Deep Packet Analytics (DPA) also builds on the NetMon Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) engine to interpret key indicators of compromise (IOCs).

Exabeam customers consistently highlight how its real-time visibility, automation, and productivity tools powered by AI, uplevel security talent, transforming overwhelmed analysts into proactive defenders while reducing costs and maintaining industry-leading support.

Get a demo and see Exabeam in action