Process SOC teams use to sort through security alerts and figure out which ones need immediate attention. Borrowed from emergency medicine where doctors decide who gets treated first. In cybersecurity, analysts do the same thing – separate real threats from system noise so they don’t waste time chasing false positives.
How It Actually Works
Most security operations centers get hit with thousands of alerts every day. SIEM platforms, endpoint tools, and network monitors all scream for attention constantly. Without proper triage, your analysts end up investigating printer connectivity issues while real attackers are moving through your network.
When alerts come in, someone has to make quick decisions about what’s actually dangerous. Junior analysts usually handle this first pass – they check if the alert makes sense, look at the affected systems, and see if it matches any known attack patterns they’ve seen before.
Key Steps:
- Quick Verification - Analysts check system logs and network traffic to see if the alert represents real suspicious activity. Lots of alerts turn out to be software updates or maintenance windows that triggered false positives.
- Priority Assignment - Teams classify incidents as critical, high, medium, or low based on what systems got hit and how sensitive the data is. Domain controller alerts always jump to the front of the line.
- Resource Routing - Critical stuff gets escalated to senior analysts immediately. Everything else waits in queue based on priority level and team availability.
Real Business Value
- Stops Analyst Burnout - Teams can focus their energy on genuine security incidents instead of drowning in false alarms. Reduces turnover and keeps your experienced people from getting frustrated with constant noise.
- Speeds Up Response - Critical breaches get handled within minutes instead of sitting in a queue behind dozens of low-priority alerts. Makes the difference between containing an attack and dealing with a major data breach.
- Better Resource Management - Your best analysts work on the hardest problems while junior staff handles routine alerts. Maximizes team efficiency and helps develop junior talent properly.
