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Measuring Security Maturity As Per Splunk’s S2M2 Security Assessment

splunk security maturity methodology

Security maturity assessment is important for organizations because it helps them 

  • Understand their current level of security,
  • Identify areas where they may be vulnerable to threats,
  • Prioritize their security efforts and allocate resources more effectively,
  • Develop robust strategies to mitigate security risks, and
  • Protect them and their assets from potential security breaches.

That’s where the Splunk Security Maturity Methodology (S2M2) comes in. This article will take you through what S2M2 is, the Maturity levels their model includes, areas covered in the process, the process itself, and the benefits of taking the S2M2 assessment.

What is Splunk Security Maturity Methodology (S2M2)?

Splunk Security Maturity Methodology (S2M2) is a security assessment model used to determine the maturity level of a Security Operations Program using metrics related to the various disciplines needed to deliver a security service. Using that information, one can offer advice on how to mature their operations in accordance with business priorities.

It covers the customer’s technology as well as the procedures for utilizing such technologies to provide security services. The S2M2 result offers a security roadmap that the user can use to advance the maturity of their security program.

The maturity model in the roadmap employs a multi-level approach, denoted by “Maturity Indicator Levels (MIL)”, to evaluate the state of things now and pinpoint the areas that require attention.

Maturity Indicator Levels (MIL)

As was already said, MIL is used to assess the current situation and identify the aspects that need attention and improvement.

Splunk’s model consists of four levels of maturity rankings:

  • MIL 1 – Search & Investigate
  • MIL 2 – Proactive Monitoring and Alerting
  • MIL 3 – Security Situational Awareness
  • MIL 4 – Real-time Risk Insight & Automation

To advance up the maturity ladder and demonstrate the importance of security to the entire organization, it is helpful to know where a security operations program stands on the Maturity Indicator Level.

The significance of MIL

This methodology offers a means for iteratively and cumulatively rating the security maturity of consumers.

Every maturity level represents the development the customer has made in each domain. The objective is to move the client from a situation in which everything is largely manual with little automation or process in place to one in which procedures are fully automated, repeatable, and well-documented where appropriate.

The Splunk S2M2 report, which is produced as a result of the S2M2 process, is a roadmap that depicts the customer’s journey through the maturity indicator levels and lists all the associated accomplishments necessary for them to advance from level to level.

Areas covered in the S2M2 process

S2M2 is used to assist clients in scaling their security operations. Customers are increasingly turning to Splunk for advice on enhancing their security posture and coordinating with their strategic vision and commercial objectives.

Using the expertise of Splunk Security specialists who are qualified to offer professional security advice, S2M2 offers a prescriptive road ahead.

This method looks into three crucial aspects: People, Processes, and Technology.

People

Users need to receive the necessary training in order to get the most out of any security platform. With the right training, analysts will be able to use their time wisely, which will ultimately shorten response and triage times.

Continually offering analysts training opportunities can also help with employee retention.

In order to improve customer expertise in those areas, Splunk will evaluate analyst skill sets as they relate to incident management processes across Splunk technologies.

Process

Processes for incident response, workflow/case management, content lifetime, etc. are necessary for an effective security program.

Utilizing Splunk’s Security suite of technologies, Splunk will evaluate current procedures and offer suggestions for the many operational components of your SOC (Security Operations Center) to reach the desired state.

Technology

The market-leading technology suite from Splunk is ideally suited to assist clients in achieving their objectives as a Security Operations Team. These consist of tools like Victor Ops, Splunk Enterprise Security (ES), Splunk SOAR, User Behavior Analytics (UBA), and similar ones.

S2M2 adopts an all-encompassing perspective on your security operations and will offer technical recommendations to help you mature to the level you want.

The S2M2 process

There is a typical three-step process that is followed during the security assessment.

Step 1 – Review of Business & Compliance, Threat Landscape, IT Landscape

Customers can begin their security assessment with the Security Prescriptive Value Path (PVP) offering as an optional prelude to the S2M2, which will examine current technology capabilities and enable Splunk to ascertain the security maturity stage.

After that, Splunk will give the customer a personalized security roadmap that outlines the steps needed to advance up the maturity scale.

Three aspects will be reviewed at the beginning of the PVP:

  • Business and Compliance 

Review the strategic business goals as they have been specified by the appropriate parties, and make sure they are in line with the short- and long-term security organization strategies.

  • Threat Landscape

Discuss potential vulnerabilities to cyber security from both internal and external sources, including bad actors or human error. The procedures for response and security analytics are then looked at. 

Splunk achieves this by combining market research, industry expertise, and experience from working with clients worldwide in every industry.

  • IT Landscape

This will establish the data sources and auxiliary equipment/services that can be used to support the security program’s efforts. 

Additionally, this will support the different security monitoring rules and detection systems that would be necessary to meet client expectations.

Step 2 – Deeper understanding of how customers can progress

In order to help the customer move up the maturity scale to their targeted operational state and further integrate them with their preferred security and/or detection framework, the S2M2 then advances this process by offering a deeper understanding of how to do so.

Splunk’s Customer Success Manager (CSM) can assist current users in this process.

Step 3 – Customized security roadmap

The sales team or the CSM will offer a personalized security roadmap that precisely outlines the tasks associated with each security maturity level, usually taking between two and four hours to complete in partnership with the customer.

Then, using Splunk PS resources (On-Demand, Assigned Expert, and the like), they can choose how to effectively level up.

Benefits of S2M2 Security Assessment

The goal of the S2M2 methodology is to give the customer a seamless path to a higher security maturity when they start their security journey with Splunk, from their initial interactions with the company to the product’s operationalization.

The customer can plainly see the route to take to:

  • Demonstrate reduced business risk.
  • Contextualize security notifications with high accuracy.
  • Find true positives more quickly.
  • Find any gaps in SOC operations and remediate them.
  • Proactively hunt down, look into, and combat threat actors.
  • Build automation that reduces teamwork and response time.
  • Obtain conformity both within and outside.

How bitsIO helps

bitsIO is a team of dedicated Splunk professionals that take care of all your Splunk needs, from initial consultation to full adoption. Our Spunk MSP services include security monitoring & alerting, on-demand services, data on-boarding, and education & training.

As a certified Splunk partner, our team will guide you through every step of the S2M2 assessment process, with complete insights into what your organization needs to do to create a robust and secure IT environment.

Contact us to learn more about bitsIO can help you!