What to Look for in a Security Process Mining Tool

New security methods raise new questions, and using process mining for security is no different. We answered the question ‘what is process mining’ in this article. Now it’s time to dig into what makes a security process mining tool the right one for your organization.

The right security process mining tool will turn events into actionable insights.

Process mining removes uncorrelated events ("noise") and offers a clear view of the information related to the tracked processes. Using a tool for this process allows users to move from aggregating data to bringing it to life with a contextualized and visual representation of actions.

Characteristics of an ideal security process mining tool

When looking for a security process mining tool, the devil is in the details. You wouldn’t go to your family care physician for heart surgery, and the same holds true when it comes to something as critical as your security workflows.

Look for a solution that is built to identify the unique risks and inefficiencies at play. Security best practices must be embedded in the tool for it to be able to find these risks. For example, the tool should be able to identify cases where missed or delayed steps create security risk for the organization.

At minimum, the right security-focused process mining tool has these five characteristics:

• Broad Library of Integrations for Security and Non-Security Tools. Security processes often incorporate both security tools, such as vulnerability scanners, and non-security tools, such as ticketing systems. For process mining to be effective, it must have a wide range of integrations not only with security tools, but also non-security tools. In some cases direct integration with a system is not possible, so there should also be an automatable API and file upload capability to get event data ingested.
• Automatic Risk and Efficiency Analysis. Security processes have different goals and impacts than non-security processes. Unresolved vulnerabilities in your software, for instance, can result in compromises and data breaches. In contrast, not following the right steps in customer support may lead to dissatisfied customers. Despite both processes being important to an organization, they require different kinds of understanding and analysis.
• Low Friction Implementation. To show the full end-to-end process, a process mining tool needs to integrate with multiple tools and systems. It is essential that a process mining tool has low friction implementation and maintenance. It should be a resource for security organizations, rather than a burden on them. When a process mining tool is introduced into your security processes, deployment should be as simple as adding a credential.
• Library of Security Benchmarks and Standards for Comparison. Industry guidance such as NIST special publications, CIS benchmarks, SOC2, PCI, and HIPAA compliance standards provide organizations with standards and best practices. To compare internal processes against these industry standards, process mining tools must have a library of security benchmarks and provide the ability to compare your actual processes to them.
• Continuous Data Ingestion. In order to stay ahead of rapid changes in environments and user activity, a process mining tool should support continuous data ingestion. Continuously ingesting data enables near-real-time insights into your processes, so you can improve efficiency and take action quickly. For example, continuous data ingestion allows you to recognize when an automated process has failed or a manual process has deviated from its standard operating procedure, alerting you to take action or investigate the issue.

More Resources

Using more tools in the security industry doesn't guarantee better security. It's actually the processes that connect them that have the biggest impact on positive security results.

Register now to receive an on-demand link to watch “How to Level Up Your Security Governance with Process Mining.“ During the webcast, Gutsy's Director of Product Management, Aqsa Taylor, discusses how organizations can achieve their security goals more easily with existing resources.