About this profile
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The Security Operations Center (SOC) profile is an excellent entry point for freshers in the cybersecurity domain, offering ample job opportunities across various companies. This role is engaging, involving the monitoring and defense of an organization against cyber threats. Both commercial entities and governments require SOC professionals, reflecting its importance. Starting salaries range from Rs. 3 lakhs to Rs. 10 lakhs.
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SOC professionals help organizations monitor cybersecurity events, identifying malicious activities within a flood of alerts. The role starts at Level 1 (L1), involving the use of SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools, reading alerts, managing ticketing systems, and extensive coordination and communication. As one progresses to Level 2 (L2) and Level 3 (L3), responsibilities expand to designing SOC architecture, enhancing logs quality, creating alert rules, integrating devices into SIEM, and assisting in security investigations.
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Key success factors
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Success in this profession requires a solid understanding of networking, the OSI model, protocols, port numbers, basic cybersecurity attacks (such as OWASP Top 10), and SIEM tools. Good email writing, coordination, and communication skills are essential for L1 SOC roles. For higher levels, knowledge of device logging, parser writing, SIEM architecture, and rule fine-tuning is necessary.
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A technical mindset and a background in BTech, BSc, BCA, or any other computer-related field provide a strong foundation for a career in SOC.