Top SIEM tools for 2022, based on their capabilities and prices.

Within Information Technology, SIEM tools are the leading software for helping businesses fulfill their security requirements. Yet, as you likely know, they are usually expensive for SMBs, preventing them from securing their IT environment. So, to help SMBs too, we include an excellent cost-effective Next-Gen SIEM A platform featured in the best SIEM tools list.

Before we look at the best SIEM tools in 2022, let's outline a few basic concepts.

What is SIEM?

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a cybersecurity program that merges Security Information Management (SIM) and Security Event Management (SEM) approaches.

• A SIM examines event log data in real time, offering threat monitoring, event correlation, and incident response via Threat Modelling.
• Conversely, SEM gathers, examines, and reports on log data from multiple sources throughout the network to enhance log management.

Which benefits come from using the best SIEM tools?

1. Refreshes and centralizes organizations' cybersecurity landscape on a single platform.
2. Detects unusual user behavior that may signal hacker threats or internal security risks.
3. Triggers a rapid incident response.
4. Uses Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS) to monitor the network around the clock and detect any suspicious activity through network traffic analysis.
5. Stops security breaches and potential cyber threats.
6. Notifies cybersecurity experts of any incident by sending real-time alerts.
7. Helps organizations meet regulatory standards compliance.
8. Enables forensic analysis and accelerates recovery after incidents.

Which features are standard in the best SIEM tools?

Usually, SIEM tool vendors emphasize specific features and functions in their offerings. Nevertheless, you need to grasp SIEM fundamentals to select the right solution for your requirements. Whether you choose a free, paid, or open-source SIEM product, it should provide the features listed below.

Customized Dashboard

For organizations searching for a SIEM, visualization is an essential feature to consider. Typically, today's SIEM tools offer extensive customizable dashboard management that lets you present data with various charts. These capabilities help you examine particular data within a given time frame.

Customized Compliance Reporting

Currently, organizations seek SIEM solutions that enable management and tailored compliance reporting. As you likely know, security standards are guidelines that help protect any environment, identifying system configuration deviations, unauthorized data access, intrusion attempts, and so on. Thus, your SIEM must support customized compliance reports that satisfy your security requirements.

Threat Intelligence

When a SIEM includes threat intelligence, the product is more capable. Threat intelligence supplies additional details about IP addresses, domains, websites, or logical entities currently linked to malicious behavior. So, choose a SIEM that supports any threat intelligence feed rather than a specific one.

Compatibility and Integration

Your SIEM needs to work with various devices and security products, such as Endpoint Protection, to monitor and prevent vulnerabilities from any direction. It should also gather and integrate security-related data from across your organization's IT infrastructure so they can be correlated and analyzed. This lets the SIEM uncover real-time activity patterns that could point to an intrusion attempt.

Forensics Capabilities

A sophisticated SIEM can collect extra details about security events to identify attacks, gather evidence, and investigate incidents. The cyber forensic investigation enables discovery of who violated security protocols and policies so disciplinary or legal measures can be taken.

List of the best SIEM tools in 2022

This section presents the best SIEM tools in 2022, comparing them by the enterprise size that can adopt them, the OSs where they can run, deployments, free trials, and pricing. Please note that every one of these products includes all the features mentioned above.

1. Unified Security Stack
2. Splunk
3. McAfee
4. LogRhythm
5. Securonix

Unified Security Stack

Unified Security Stack is a Next-Gen SIEM and compliance platform that delivers essential cybersecurity services such as Dark Web MonitoringVulnerability Assessment, Penetration Testing, and SOC. The free version of the Unified Security Stack provides all capabilities enabled in the enterprise on-premise edition, making it a solid choice for SMBs. Its main goal is to simplify cybersecurity management and compliance in a cost-effective way across any hybrid, on-premise, and cloud infrastructure.

Particular features of Unified Security Stack:

1. Affordable solution for small and mid-sized businesses.
2. Simplifies the learning process.
3. Helps organizations meet HIPAA, GDPR, ISO, CMMC, SOC, and GLBA regulatory requirements.
4. Offers capabilities like Unified Threat Management (UTM), vulnerability management, asset management, dark web monitoring, identity management, incident response, and more.
5. Brings every cybersecurity tool together inside an event correlation engine backed by AI technology that optimizes threat detection and incident response.
6. SOAR, or Security Orchestration Automation and Response.
7. Deploying on the cloud as SIEM-as-a-Service (SaaS).
8. The free version provides only 30 days of log retention and offers support through forums and documentation.

Splunk SIEM

Splunk Enterprise is a comprehensive SIEM tool for organizations of varying sizes, and its free version offers many of the same features. Splunk's data platform supports unified security, full-stack observability, and unlimited custom applications. However, the free version disables some features, such as alerting/monitoring, deployment management capabilities, index pooling, and user roles. As a result, smaller businesses that find the free version valuable may not have all their organization's security needs covered.

Particular features of Splunk:

1. Splunk is able to handle any machine data, whether from the cloud or on-premises.
2. Real-time monitoring.
3. Automated workflows and actions enable rapid, precise responses.
4. An event sequence is used by the platform.
5. Provides comprehensive reports on performance KP.
6. High-cost solution.

McAfee

McAfee Enterprise ranks among the top SIEM tools for detecting and managing threats. Its advanced correlation engine correlates events and call logs to uncover patterns and vulnerabilities. In addition, the platform gives organizations audit trails and historical data for thorough analysis and compliance support.

Particular features of McAfee:

1. Priced out of reach for many SMEs.
2. Sophisticated analytics and rich context help detect and prioritize threats.
3. Presents data dynamically.
4. Monitors and analyzes data from a wide, heterogeneous security infrastructure.
5. Includes open interfaces that enable two-way integration.
6. Offers SSL security.
7. No behavioral analytics.
8. No password management

LogRhythm

LogRhythm NextGen SIEM is a centralized platform that delivers full visibility through ongoing collection, normalization, and analysis. It combines solutions for endpoint monitoring, vulnerability assessment, forensic analysis, incident response, encryption key management, and more. With LogRhythm, you can detect suspicious cloud usage and receive alerts about it.

Notable LogRhythm features:

1. Priced out of reach for many SMEs.
2. Tracks changes to access and group policies.
3. Works with more than 800 data sources.
4. Event correlation across sources.
5. Documentation on query-building is limited.
6. Provides insufficient training.

   Securonix

Securonix gathers enormous volumes of data in real time and detects advanced threats using innovative machine learning algorithms. Although Securonix is one of the best SIEM tools, it does not offer a free trial and can apply additional taxes or fees.

Notable Securonix features:

1. A fully cloud-native SIEM.
2. Provides an analytics-driven SIEM, UEBA, and XDR as a fully cloud-based solution.
3. SOAR, or Security Orchestration Automation and Response.
4. Security monitoring in a hybrid environment.
5. High-level behavioral, user, and data monitoring.