Introduction

Security Operations Centers (SOCs) are at the heart of cyber defense in many organisations. But SOCs are complex entities, bringing together business objectives, people, processes, technologies and services. As cyber risks continue to increase, so does the need for mature and effective security operations.

Understanding SOC maturity, however, is not straightforward. What makes a SOC mature? What maturity level is appropriate for our organisation? Which capabilities should be in place? How well should they be implemented? And, most importantly, where should an organisation focus its efforts to improve?

SOC-CMM provides a structured framework for answering these questions. SOC-CMM was launched in 2016 as the very first open standard for measuring and improving Security Operations Center maturity. Originating from a master's thesis, SOC-CMM has a strong scientific foundation that has since been continuously augmented with industry best practices and practical experience from SOCs worldwide.

Since its introduction, SOC-CMM has evolved from a methodology for SOC capability maturity assessment into a broader reference framework supporting multiple use cases:

• SOC design: designing and establishing effective security operations capabilities
• SOC maturity: assessing current maturity and identifying opportunities for improvement
• SOC target operating modelling: defining how a SOC should operate and which capabilities it requires
• SOC performance enhancement: systematically improving the effectiveness of existing capabilities
• SOC benchmarking: comparison against industry peers
• SOC certification: independently demonstrating SOC maturity and capability

The other sections explain the model, maturity and capability levels, and the methodology. Other resources, such as an extensive metrics suite, an annual SOC maturity report, and a library of best practices can also be found on the website.

SOC-CMM - Improving security operations globally