The average time an attacker remains undetected in a victim's network is around 150-200 days. Within this period, they can map the entire infrastructure, steal sensitive data, establish persistence and prepare for the final strike. Shorter detection times directly correlate with lower incident costs, and this is where the SOC plays a key role.
A Security Operations Center is a specialised team, or in the case of an outsourced SOC, a specialised company, whose sole function is the continuous monitoring of an organisation's security status, threat detection and coordination of incident response. This article explains what a SOC does, what types exist and how to recognise when it is time to acquire one.
What a Security Operations Center Does
SOC is the centre for monitoring, analysis and response. SOC analysts work in shifts and continuously monitor the flow of security events from all sources within the organisation. Key SOC activities include:
Monitoring and detection
SOC aggregates logs and security events from the entire infrastructure, network devices, servers, endpoints, cloud environments, email systems, applications, into a central PBX. SIEM system (Security Information and Event Management). SIEM correlates events from various sources and identifies suspicious patterns that individual systems would not detect on their own.
Example: An employee logging in via VPN from the Czech Republic at 8 am and then, 20 minutes later, logging into the same account from Russia is suspicious in itself, but each of these logs individually would pass a routine check. SIEM detects this as "impossible travel": physically impossible movement: and a SOC analyst investigates the incident.
Incident classification and analysis
Modern SIEM systems generate thousands of alerts daily. Experienced SOC analysts triage these alerts, distinguishing false positives from genuine threats and escalating the response for actual incidents. A quality SOC can respond to a real incident within minutes of detection, dramatically reducing impact time.
Threat Intelligence
SOC operates using up-to-date information on threats, new vulnerabilities, active threat groups, their tactics and indicators of compromise (IoC). This information is integrated into the SIEM as so-called threat intelligence feeds, which enable detection of attacker infrastructure or malware based on their digital fingerprint before the attack causes damage.
Incident Response
In the event of a confirmed incident, the SOC coordinates the response, isolating affected systems, conducting forensic analysis, and communicating with the IT team and management. In cases involving an outsourced SOC or MDR, the team may directly intervene in the customer's environment to stop the attack in real time. More information on the incident response process can be found in the article Incident Response Plan.
SOC types: internal, outsourced and hybrid
Internal SOC
In-house SOC operated by company employees. Advantages: full control, deep knowledge of the internal environment, no data sharing with third parties. Disadvantages: extremely high costs, establishing a functional 24/7 SOC requires at least 6-10 specialised analysts (to cover shifts), SIEM and other technologies, amounting to tens of millions of Kč annually. Realistically available only for large corporations, banks or critical infrastructure.
Outsourced SOC (SOC as a Service / MDR)
The company outsources SOC functions to an external provider. The provider supplies analysts, technology and processes: the customer pays a monthly fee for the service level (SLA). Advantages: dramatically lower cost than an internal SOC, immediate access to experienced analysts, and access to advanced tools and threat intelligence. Disadvantages: sharing data with a third party requires thorough contractual arrangements, and there is less control over daily operations.
MDR (Managed Detection and Response) It is a more modern variant of an outsourced SOC, placing greater emphasis on active response: not just detection and alerting, but directly stopping attacks within the customer's environment. In 2025, MDR is the fastest-growing category of managed security services for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Hybrid SOC
A combination of an internal team and an external provider. Typically, the internal security team is responsible for strategy, knowledge of the environment, and part of the monitoring, while the external provider ensures 24/7 coverage outside working hours, on weekends and public holidays, or provides specialised capabilities (forensic analysis, threat hunting). For many medium-sized companies, this offers the best price-performance ratio.
MDR vs SOC: what is the difference
The terms SOC and MDR are sometimes used interchangeably, but their original meanings differ. The traditional outsourced SOC focuses on monitoring and detection - generates alerts and notifications but leaves the active response to the customer. MDR goes further: the MDR provider not only detects the threat but intervenes directly: isolating the compromised endpoint, blocking the attacker's IP address, and stopping the suspicious process. This ability to respond actively is crucial for companies without their own IR team.
When does SOC or MDR make sense: and what to look for in a provider
For most medium-sized companies, the need for SOC or MDR arises when:
- The company operates critical systems or processes sensitive data (healthcare, finance, manufacturing, energy).
- The company is subject to NIS2 or other regulations requiring monitoring and the ability for rapid incident detection.
- The internal IT team lacks both the capacity and the specialisation for security monitoring.
- The company has already experienced a security incident and wants to ensure it does not recur unnoticed.
What to ask when selecting a SOC/MDR provider
- What is the guaranteed mean time to detection (MTTD) and response (MTTR)? SOC quality is directly measurable: ask for specific figures, not marketing slogans.
- What environments and technologies does it cover? On-premise, cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP), SaaS applications, OT/ICS environments?
- What is the level of active response? Just a warning, or direct intervention in the environment?
- Where are the analysts and where is the data? Data sovereignty and GDPR compliance are important: especially for regulated sectors.
- What are the SLAs and what happens if they are not met?
- How does onboarding and integration with your environment take place?
If you are considering whether you need SOC or MDR and want to compare options for your company, contact the SecureOn team at secureon.czWe offer managed security services tailored to the needs and budgets of mid-sized companies: from basic monitoring to full-fledged MDR with 24/7 response. Find out more at secureon.cz our services on secureon.cz.