SOC (Security Operation Centre) – A Comprehensive Guide For SOC Analysts

A SOC Analyst’s role revolves around rapid threat detection, response, and continuous improvement. Below is an in-depth breakdown of essential phases, tools, and responsibilities for effective SOC operations.

Incident Response Phases

Preparation – Establish policies, playbooks, and communication plans.
Identification – Detect anomalies via SIEM, EDR, or logs.

3. Containment – Isolate affected systems (short-term/long-term).

4. Eradication – Remove malware, patch vulnerabilities.

5. Recovery – Restore systems securely.

Lessons Learned – Document findings for future resilience.

You Should Know: Essential SOC Tools & Commands

Packet Analysis & Network Monitoring

Wireshark:

wireshark -k -i eth0 # Live capture on interface eth0

Tcpdump:

tcpdump -i eth0 'port 80' -w capture.pcap # Capture HTTP traffic

Network Scanning & Enumeration

Nmap:

nmap -sS -A -T4 <target_IP> # Stealth scan + OS detection

Netcat (Swiss Army Knife):

nc -zv <IP> <port> # Port connectivity test

Log Analysis & SIEM Queries

Splunk:

source="*firewall.log" | stats count by src_ip # Top source IPs

ELK Stack (Kibana):

{ "query": { "match": { "event.type": "malware" } } }

Threat Intelligence & Forensics

VirusTotal API:

curl -s https://www.virustotal.com/vtapi/v2/file/report -d "apikey=API_KEY&resource=HASH" | jq .

YARA Rules:

yara -r malware_rules.yar /suspicious_dir

Key SOC Responsibilities

Log Monitoring: Analyze `/var/log/auth.log` (Linux) or Event Viewer (Windows).
Phishing Analysis: Use `urlscan.io` or PhishTool.
SIEM Tuning: Reduce false positives via rule optimization.
Threat Hunting: Proactively search for IOCs using `MITER ATT&CK` frameworks.

What Undercode Say

A SOC Analyst’s efficiency hinges on mastering CLI tools (grep, awk, sed) and automating repetitive tasks. For example:


<h1>Extract failed SSH attempts:</h1>

grep "Failed password" /var/log/auth.log | awk '{print $9}' | sort | uniq -c

Windows equivalents:

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Security'; ID=4625} # Failed logins

Always validate alerts with cross-referencing (e.g., `whois` for suspicious IPs).

### Expected Output

Linux:

journalctl -u ssh --no-pager | grep "Failed" # SSH brute-force alerts

Windows:

Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.CPU -gt 90 } # High CPU processes

References:
MITER ATT&CK Framework
Splunk Query Cheatsheet

(End of Guide)

References:

Reported By: Dharamveer Prasad – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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