A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a centralized command center where security professionals monitor, analyze, and respond to cybersecurity incidents. The primary function of a SOC is to provide a dedicated space and team for continuous monitoring of an organization's security posture, including network traffic and events, to detect and respond to threats. This aligns directly with the organization's need for a central location for security administrators to perform these specific tasks.

A. Emergency response team (ERT): An ERT is a group of people designated to respond to various emergencies (e.g., medical, fire), not a centralized facility for continuous cybersecurity monitoring.

C. Disaster response team (DRT): A DRT is a team focused on recovery operations after a major disaster has occurred, which is distinct from the day-to-day security monitoring and threat response function.

D. Network operations center (NOC): A NOC's primary focus is on network performance, availability, and uptime, not on security. While a NOC monitors traffic, its goal is to prevent outages, whereas a SOC's goal is to prevent security breaches.

1. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Glossary of Key Information Security Terms

NISTIR 7298 Rev. 3. (May 2018). Page 168. The document defines a Security Operations Center as: "A centralized function within an organization employing people

processes

and technology to continuously monitor and improve an organization's security posture while preventing

detecting

analyzing

and responding to cybersecurity incidents."

2. Carnegie Mellon University

Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Al-Shaer

E.

et al. Ten Strategies of a World-Class Cybersecurity Operations Center. (December 2014). Section 1.1

Page 2. This publication states

"A cybersecurity operations center (CSOC) is the organizational unit...responsible for coordinating the defense of an enterprise’s information assets."

3. Microsoft Azure Documentation. Security Operations Center (SOC). (Accessed 2023). The documentation clarifies the distinction between a SOC and a NOC: "A NOC team is focused on maintaining network uptime... A SOC team is focused on protecting the organization from cyberattacks."

4. AWS Well-Architected Framework. Security Pillar. (July 2023). Page 53. The framework describes a SOC as a "team of security professionals that monitors an organization’s IT infrastructure to detect cybersecurity events and to prevent and resolve security incidents."