SIEM/SOAR · SOC Analyst

Difference between SIEM and SOAR — when do you use each?

SIEM (Security Information + Event Management) — log collection, correlation, alerting. Examples: Splunk Enterprise Security, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar, Elastic Security. Output: alerts requiring human investigation. SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, Response) — playbook automation across tools. Examples: Splunk SOAR (formerly Phantom), Palo Alto XSOAR, IBM Resilient. Output: automated response actions (block IP, disable user, create ticket). Use together: SIEM detects → SOAR auto-triages low-severity alerts → escalates high-severity to humans. SOAR adoption growing fast in 2026 — saves 30-40% L1 analyst time at mature SOCs.

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