Information Technology Specialist (ITS) Cybersecurity Practice Exam

What is a common feature of Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) tools?

1. Capture network packets

2. Automate incident investigations

3. Encrypt file systems

4. Store log files

The correct answer is: Automate incident investigations

Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) tools are designed to streamline and enhance the security operations of an organization by integrating various security systems and automating processes. A key feature of SOAR tools is their ability to automate incident investigations. This involves automatically collecting and analyzing data from multiple sources in response to security incidents, which helps security teams to quickly understand the nature of a threat, prioritize responses, and execute mitigation tasks. By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, SOAR tools enable cybersecurity professionals to focus on more complex problems and strategic initiatives. This capability improves efficiency, reduces the time taken to respond to incidents, and allows organizations to handle large volumes of alerts without being overwhelmed. Automated incident investigations can include gathering contextual information about threats, facilitating communication among response teams, and generating reports. In contrast, capturing network packets, encrypting file systems, and storing log files fall into other categories of security operation functionalities. Capturing network packets is usually accomplished by network monitoring tools, while encryption is a preventative measure related to data security. Storing log files pertains more to log management systems that track activities for compliance and forensic analysis, rather than enabling an automated response to incidents. Thus, the core functionality of SOAR tools centers around automating incident investigations