Yesterday, my leader suddenly asked me to explore what VLS and SOC Scorecard are. I had never heard of these two things before, so I immediately started searching for relevant information online.
After spending a whole afternoon looking up information, I finally understood what these two things are. VLS, or Vulnerability Management, is actually a security management system. SOC Scorecard is a tool that helps assess and score the effectiveness of a Security Operations Center.
So, how do we use these two things? I continued to search for information, and I found that using VLS involves continuously monitoring an organization’s IT infrastructure for security vulnerabilities and then fixing them. As for the SOC Scorecard, it requires regular evaluations of the SOC’s performance based on various indicators, such as threat detection capabilities, incident response speed, and so on.
After understanding the basics, I started trying to apply these concepts in practice. Here is what I did:
Implementation
- Assess the Current Situation: First, I took stock of our company’s current security measures. This included looking at our existing systems, how we were currently managing vulnerabilities, and what kind of security operations we had in place.
- Identify Gaps: Based on what I found, I listed out areas where we were falling short. It turned out we were not doing great with regular vulnerability scanning and our SOC’s response times were not up to par.
- Plan for VLS Implementation: I drafted a basic plan to implement a more robust vulnerability management system. This involved selecting appropriate tools for scanning and prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their severity.
- Set Metrics for SOC Scorecard: I decided on some key metrics to start evaluating our SOC’s performance. These included things like how quickly we detected threats, how fast we responded to incidents, and the number of incidents handled per month.
- Develop a Reporting System: To keep track of these metrics, I set up a simple reporting system. Nothing too fancy, just a regular update to our team on these key performance indicators.
- Regular Reviews and Adjustments: Finally, I made sure to schedule regular reviews of both our vulnerability management processes and our SOC’s performance. This is important because things are always changing, and we need to adapt.
I found that doing these things is not easy. There are many details and factors to consider. For example, when choosing a vulnerability scanning tool, you need to consider whether it fits your company’s IT environment, whether it can integrate with other security tools, and so on. Evaluating the SOC also requires a lot of data and analysis.
Although I haven’t fully implemented a complete VLS and SOC Scorecard, through this exploration, I learned a lot of knowledge that I didn’t know before. I also realized that security work is very complex and important, and it requires continuous learning and improvement.
The initial implementation was just the start. In the future, I plan to get more into the nitty-gritty of setting up automated scanning, improving our incident response procedures, and really getting the SOC Scorecard to be a useful tool for continuous improvement.
Anyway, this experience has made me realize how much I still have to learn about cybersecurity. And it’s pretty clear that in today’s world, where cyber threats are always evolving, staying on top of this stuff is not just important—it’s crucial. I think I am going to keep diving deeper into this area. I hope my sharing can help everyone. I also hope that everyone will take security work seriously, after all, it’s really very important!
