[Cyber Security Terms](/glossary) Security Operations Center (SOC) [Blog](/blog)[Breaches](/breaches)[Resources](/resources)[News](/news) [Cyber Security Terms](/glossary) # Security Operations Center (SOC) ##### [Catherine Chipeta](/team/catherine-chipeta) updated Dec 06, 2021 ###### Contents ## What is a Security Operations Center (SOC)? A [security operations center (SOC)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/security-operations-center) is a hub staffed by security personnel who [continuously monitor ](https://www.upguard.com/blog/continuous-security-monitoring)an organization’s entire IT infrastructure. A SOC collects security event data from applications, security devices, data centers, cloud resources, and other systems via a [Security Information Event Management (SIEM) system](https://www.upguard.com/blog/siem). ## How a SOC Works SOCs usually operate through a hub-and-spoke model, where the SIEM gathers data from a range of specialised security technologies. Such security tools include: * Firewall * [Intrusion Detection System (IDS) / Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/ids-vs-ips) * Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) Tool * Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Tool * Log Management System (LMS) * [Penetration Testing](https://www.upguard.com/blog/penetration-testing) * Application Security Tool * Asset Discovery Tool * Data Monitoring Tool * Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) Tool * User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) * Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP) ‍ ## Types of SOCs  There are 7 broad categories of SOCs: * Dedicated (Self-managed) SOC * Distributed (Co-managed) SOC * Managed SOC * Command (Global) SOC * Multifunction SOC (SOC/NOC) * Virtual SOC * SOCaaS (SOC-as-a-service) ## Key takeaways * SOCs provide visibility over an organizations entire attack surface. * SIEMs feed SOCs with correlated and aggregated data to streamline incident responses. * Additional security tools provide threat detection, protection, and analysis capabilities to the SOC. * * ###### Reviewed by No items found. ###### Author ##### [Catherine Chipeta](/team/catherine-chipeta) ###### Reviewed by ##### [Kaushik Sen](/team/kaushik-sen) ###### Join 27,000+ cybersecurity newsletter subscribers ## Read more about Security Operations Centers (SOCs) Learn more about Security Operations Center (SOC) and the latest issues in cybersecurity. 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