Robust protection and cost savings with SOC as a Service from Safetech Innovations

Robust protection and cost savings with SOC as a Service from Safetech Innovations

Globally – and Romania is no exception – the cyber threat landscape is evolving rapidly, becoming increasingly complex and aggressive. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, the average number of weekly attacks per organization increased by 47%, reaching 1,925, compared to the same period in 2024. According to reports from Safetech’s technology partners, the growth was dramatic: +126% in ransomware attacks (Check Point Research), and +198% in DDoS attacks (Cloudflare DDoS Threat Report).

The same trend is confirmed at national level. At the Bucharest Cybersecurity Conference 2024, experts highlighted that between 25,000 and 50,000 cyber attacks are recorded daily in Romania, and according to DNSC, the average damage generated by a security incident exceeds 150,000 Euro.

In this context, cybersecurity is no longer an option, but a strategic obligation. For public and private organizations in critical sectors – such as energy, IT&C, food, health, transport, drinking water, agriculture, financial-banking or manufacturing – a high-performance Security Operations Center (SOC) has become indispensable. The SOC as a Service (SOCaaS) model is increasingly emerging as the optimal solution, offering advanced detection, response and resilience capabilities in the face of current cyber threats.

What are the differentiators of a professional SOC?

An enterprise-grade Security Operations Center (SOC) is a centralized cybersecurity incident monitoring and response unit, operated either internally or through strategic partnerships with specialized vendors. It is composed of security analysts and engineers with advanced expertise, capable of managing a wide spectrum of cyber threats, in real time.
The primary mission of the SOC is the continuous monitoring, early detection, analysis and mitigation of security incidents, as well as their post-event investigation. To achieve these goals, SOC uses advanced technologies – such as SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response), EDR/XDR (Endpoint/Extended Detection and Response) – in combination with standardized operational procedures and automated response playbooks.
The SOC holistically protects the organization’s digital ecosystem, covering endpoints, networks, servers, critical applications, and cloud infrastructures. Thus, it ensures a 24/7 cyber defense operational capacity, essentially contributing to organizational resilience.

A high-performance SOC provides continuous protection by:

1. 24/7 real-time monitoring, detection and rapid response to incidents using advanced toolkits. The SOC integrates advanced tools such as SIEM or EDR, which allow them to continuously scan and monitor networks, systems, and applications for proactive detection of threats, anomalies, and incidents. Advanced solutions such as XDR, SOAR, IDS/IPS, and machine learning-based analytics ensure rapid detection and response to threats, reduce the volume of false alerts, and help prioritize critical incidents.
2. Inventory of IT assets and infrastructure, inventory and management of IT risks. The comprehensive view of IT and security architecture enables the SOC team to understand the interconnections between systems, prioritize risks, and protect critical assets. For example, the security operations center integrates asset management solutions to identify and classify all types of the organization’s assets according to the level of risk, discovers associated vulnerabilities, and triggers remediation procedures.
3. The expertise of qualified cybersecurity specialists, including analysts, engineers, and SOC managers, essential for effective response to security incidents.
4. Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) capabilities. CTI enables a SOC to use global and industry-specific threat data streams in which the organization operates to proactively protect it against emerging threats. By collecting, processing, and analyzing data, CTI helps to understand the motivations, techniques, and tactics used by cyberattackers.
5. Well-defined processes and procedures for each stage of incident management – from detection and investigation, to isolation, remediation, and recovery. They are documented, regularly tested and aligned with international standards, ensuring a quick and consistent response, regardless of the nature of the attack.
6. Implementing appropriate technical and organizational measures and continuously improving them– prevention and reaction by optimizing the configuration of security systems, improving detection methods, processes and tools to reduce false positive and negative alerts. Constant refinement of response procedures and means increases the speed and efficiency of incident responses.
7. Compliance with regulations such as NIS, DORA, GDPR or ISO/IEC 27001, through advanced monitoring, recording and reporting capabilities. Centralized log management, action traceability, and documented procedures make it easier to prepare for audits and generate reports. Thus, the SOC reduces the risk of sanctions by ensuring continuous alignment with legal requirements and best practices.

Building and operating an internal SOC – a difficult and expensive undertaking

An internal SOC is the choice of organizations that want direct control over their security operations and practices, but it comes with a number of considerable challenges and risks:

• Creating an in-house SOC involves high upfront costs (equipment, applications, and specialized human resources) and a long implementation time, which can affect the IT budget of a business of any size, and makes the investment difficult to justify economically.
• Continuous, 24/7 monitoring is essential for rapid detection and response to threats, but ensuring this level of coverage involves additional costs and operational complexity, due to the need to manage shift teams.
• The lack of specialists is a major obstacle: attracting and retaining cybersecurity experts is increasingly difficult on the local market, the deficit being estimated at several thousand people.
• The scalability of the SOC is essential to dynamically respond to the requirements of the organization and the evolution of the IT infrastructure. Problems arise when systems/applications reach maximum parameters, requiring replacement with more efficient solutions, or when the team can no longer cope with the workload, requiring the recruitment and training of new specialists.
• Operational overhead occurs if organizations frequently implement numerous security tools, but without effective integration, they lead to compatibility issues and inefficient SOC operations. The result: additional operational costs.
• As the suite of threat detection tools becomes more complex, the number of alerts increases significantly. This can lead to an avalanche of notifications, many of which are false positives, which consumes valuable time and resources.
• At the procedural level, organizations may also struggle to define clear incident response processes, create an efficient workflow for analyzing and escalating alerts, and manage the valuable time of qualified personnel. Implementing automated solutions can help streamline processes, but it requires considerable investment.

The economic and security benefits of working with Safetech Innovations

In 2022, the majority of CEOs globally (81%) chose to collaborate with external vendors to ensure the cybersecurity of their organizations, either fully or partially, according to the Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey. The situation has not changed, and in 2025, outsourcing a SOC is no longer just a wise decision, but a normal practice for companies in Romania, as it provides superior protection without the complexity, challenges and costs associated with an internal SOC.

Safetech Innovations SOCaaS offers the same capabilities as an in-house SOC, but without the need for investments in technical infrastructure and specialized personnel.

An analysis carried out by Safetech Innovations on the personnel costs for an internal SOC within a large company in Romania (with an IT network comprising 10,000 devices) showed that the SOC outsourcing services provided by Safetech reduce these costs by 45%. Also, Safetech SOCaaS provide a transparent and predictable cost structure.

Simultaneously with the almost halving of personnel expenses, the SOC outsourcing services provided by Safetech have a number of technical characteristics that are difficult for an in-house SOC team to fulfill:

• High level of expertise. We provide organizations with a large team of SOC specialists (currently over 30), certified cybersecurity personnel with 24/7/365 availability and a continuous training program.
• Together with the SOC team, Safetech provides access to distinct teams for cybersecurity systems integration asigură accesul la echipe distincte de integrare de sisteme, security testing, de security consulting, security auditing, as well as security software development, including artificial intelligence development in cybersecurity.
• Know-how about cybersecurity threats from a broad customer base operating in multiple economic sectors. Safetech’s services currently contribute to securing more than 80,000 employees.
• Clear and documented workflows, up-to-date work instructions, ensuring efficiency and predictability of services.
• SOC outsourcing services with SLA (service-level agreement), that guarantees speed of response and contributes to the predictability of services.
• Providing internationally competitive SOC outsourcing services (serving clients in the EU, UK and the Middle East).
• Know-how about optimizing the configuration of the platforms used. It allows you to improve detection accuracy, update detection and response to new threats, integrations and automations to simplify and streamline your work.
• Organizations have the opportunity to transfer the risk of staff turnover to Safetech, benefiting from quick access to expert-level human resources.