SOAR for CIOs: How to avoid technical debt when automating cyber defense in Ukraine

The increasing volume and sophistication of cyberattacks in Ukraine make manual cyber incident response unsustainable. Security teams are overwhelmed, and the time to detect and mitigate threats is growing, leading to significant financial and reputational losses. In such conditions, automating and orchestrating response processes is critically important.

Why SOAR is becoming a necessity for Ukrainian businesses

Traditional, manual cybersecurity approaches cannot effectively counter the dynamic threat landscape. Analysts face an enormous number of alerts, leading to "alert fatigue" and the risk of missing genuine threats. SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) platforms address this by automating routine tasks, coordinating actions across various security systems, and accelerating incident response. This allows security teams to focus on complex, strategic tasks that require human analysis.

SOAR has the potential to reduce the Mean Time To Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time To Respond (MTTR) to incidents ¹. Rapid response minimizes potential damages, maintains business continuity, and protects reputation. SOAR also promotes the standardization of response processes, ensuring consistency and compliance with internal policies.

Key capabilities of SOAR platforms: Orchestration, automation, and response

SOAR integrates three core components to enhance cybersecurity effectiveness ²:

Orchestration: Coordinating actions of various security tools and IT systems into a single, cohesive process. SOAR automatically collects data, applies policies, and executes actions via integrated APIs, eliminating the need to manually switch between SIEM, EDR, and firewalls.
Automation: Automating routine tasks such as threat intelligence gathering, vulnerability scanning, blocking malicious IP addresses, and isolating infected devices. This reduces human error and frees up analyst time.
Response: Managing incidents through workflow visualization (playbooks), tracking progress, preserving evidence, and generating reports. Playbooks are predefined sequences of actions automatically executed in response to specific incident types. For example, a phishing attack playbook might automatically analyze an email, check URLs, and block the sender.

Integrating SOAR with existing tools like SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), and Threat Intelligence platforms is fundamental ³. This enables SOAR to receive contextual incident data and trigger automated actions.

Challenges of SOAR implementation: How to avoid technical debt

Implementing SOAR presents its own challenges. Initial investments can be significant (licenses, integration, training). The complexity of integrating with diverse security systems requires substantial resources. Developing and maintaining effective playbooks demands skilled professionals and continuous updates.

A key risk is SOAR becoming "technical debt" when playbooks become overly complex or outdated. To avoid this, an iterative approach to implementation is necessary, starting with automating the simplest incidents and gradually expanding functionality. It is crucial to provide staff training and establish clear processes for developing, testing, and updating playbooks.

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Kateryna Levchuk

Digital Workplace Expert

Implementing SOAR platforms in Ukrainian businesses is a strategic move to enhance cyber resilience. However, to prevent SOAR from becoming a source of ‘maintenance debt,’ it is crucial to focus on the quality and relevance of playbooks. Instead of automating everything at once, start with the most common and straightforward incidents that have clear, consistent response steps. For example, automate the blocking of known malicious IP addresses or the verification of phishing links. A key success criterion is the regular review and testing of these playbooks. Verify that each playbook addresses current threats and that integrations with other security systems (SIEM, EDR) function flawlessly. This ensures your SOAR platform remains an effective tool, rather than an additional burden on the security team.

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Pros and cons of SOAR

Pros: Accelerated incident response, automation of routine tasks, reduced risk of human error, process standardization, minimized damages, enhanced cyber resilience.
Cons: Significant initial investment, integration complexity, need for skilled professionals, risk of creating ineffective playbooks, potential for technical debt.

Practical checklist for evaluating SOAR platforms

Choosing a SOAR platform is a strategic decision. This checklist will help CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and IT infrastructure leaders make an informed choice. Rate each platform on a scale of 1 to 5 for each criterion:

Evaluation criterion	Description and evaluation questions	Your rating (1-5)
Integration capabilities	Are there ready-made connectors and APIs for your SIEM, EDR, TI, NGFW, Cloud Security systems?
Flexibility and ease of playbook configuration	How easy is it to create, modify, and scale playbooks (visual builder, script support)?
Availability of pre-built playbooks and templates	Does the platform offer ready-made solutions for common incidents to accelerate implementation?
AI/ML integration capabilities	How does the platform use artificial intelligence to improve anomaly detection and threat prediction?
Solution scalability	Can the platform grow with your business and support a distributed infrastructure?
Quality of technical support	What are user reviews of vendor support and its availability in your region?
Total cost of ownership (TCO)	Comprehensive analysis of licenses, implementation, support, and training.
User interface and visualization	How intuitive is the interface for analysts, and how effective is data visualization?
Reporting and analytics capabilities	Does the platform provide clear metrics to assess response effectiveness and ROI?
Compliance with regulatory requirements	Does the SOAR solution help adhere to industry standards and regulatory requirements?

The platform with the highest total score is the best candidate, but consider critical criteria that hold the most weight for you.

Best practices for developing and maintaining effective SOAR playbooks

To maximize the benefits of a SOAR platform, pay attention to playbook development and maintenance:

Iterative approach: Start with simple playbooks for the most common incidents, gradually expanding functionality.
Thorough testing: Every playbook must be tested in a controlled environment before deployment.
Regular updates: Playbooks should be regularly reviewed and updated in line with evolving cyber threats.
Modularity and reusability: Design playbooks with modularity in mind for component reuse across different scenarios.
Documentation: Document each playbook in detail: purpose, logic, integrated tools, expected outcomes.
Staff training: Ensure adequate training for security teams on working with SOAR and developing playbooks.

The future of SOAR: Integration with AI/ML and proactive security

The future of SOAR is closely linked to the integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML). AI/ML can enhance SOAR capabilities by enabling automatic anomaly detection, threat prediction, and informed decision-making. For example, AI can analyze vast amounts of data to uncover hidden attack patterns.

SOAR will also play a key role in proactive cybersecurity strategies, such as Zero Trust. Automation ensures continuous monitoring and rapid policy enforcement. The evolution of SOAR towards XDR (Extended Detection and Response) combines detection and response capabilities across various layers, creating a holistic protection system.

Softline IT assists in planning and implementing cybersecurity solutions: from auditing the current state to a coordinated change plan.

Softline IT helps teams plan and implement cybersecurity, from an assessment of the current environment to an agreed change plan.