IBM Builds 'SOC on Wheels' to Drive Cybersecurity Training
A tractor trailer housing a Cyber Tactical Operation Center will travel throughout the US and Europe for incident response training, security support, and education.
IBM Security is taking incident response training on the road with the IBM X-Force Command Cyber Tactical Operation Center (C-TOC), a tractor trailer housing a fully functional security operations center.
The company opened its commercial cyber range, X-Force Command, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in Nov. 2016. Its mission was to simulate actual cyberattacks so corporate security experts, C-suite execs, and other business teams could gauge their preparedness (or lack thereof) to respond to an actual breach. In two years, about 2,000 people have tested their response skills in the cyber range, which has a waiting list of eight months.
Now, IBM is putting the same concept on wheels.
IBM X-Force's C-TOC accommodates 24 operators, analysts, and incident command center staff. The 23-ton trailer, modeled after military and first responders' command centers, can expand to the width of three Humvees and packs 20 workstations, 20,000 feet of networking cable, and two satellite dishes. An onboard data center is built on a 100TB solid-state disk array, cooled with 10+ tons of cooling capacity, and the full unit runs on 47kW of self-generating power.
"We built the IT environment of a Fortune 500 company and put it on a truck," said Caleb Barlow, vice president of threat intelligence at IBM Security, in a tour of the space
The C-TOC serves three purposes, he explained. First and foremost is response training: companies can use the center to train employees on how they should respond to attacks by simulating real-life scenarios. Rather than limit education to technical response, businesses can bring in executives, HR, comms teams – anyone who has a role in responding to a breach.
Companies with the ability to respond to incidents within 30 days can save more than $1 million after a data breach, according to data in IBM's 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study. But less than 25% companies surveyed report having a coordinated incident response plan.
"This is built on the fundamental thesis that learning how to make a decision in a crisis matters," Barlow said. Generally, he added, when teams are put into a simulation and forced to make decisions, any underlying problems that could derail incident response quickly surface.
Chris Crummey, executive director of IBM X-Force Command, said one of the key lessons learned among companies who test their response skills is they need to be more proactive in threat hunting while investigating an incident. "Customers want to put out fires, but in reality, you have to figure out if the fires are related," he explained. Another common weakness is neglecting to look for places where security problems commonly begin.
"The most mature customers, they go hunting for their blind spots," Crummey added
Response capabilities aside, IBM also intends for the C-TOC to be an on-demand mobile operations center at sporting events or other large-scale gatherings where extra security resources may be needed, Barlow noted.
When it isn't being used for incident response training or supplemental security support, IBM plans to use the C-TOC to drive education and awareness. The center will travel to universities and industry events to teach the incoming generation of workers about security careers.
"We want to provide the educational opportunity, and inspirational opportunity, to get more people in this field," he said.
The C-TOC will be traveling the United States for the next month, visiting client sites, government facilities, and schools. Then it's onward to Europe, where it will work with clients and stop by events in countries across the EU throughout 2019.
Source darkreading
Industry: Cyber Security News
Latest Jobs
-
- Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK
- England
- N/A
-
Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK UK | Remote / Hybrid A cyber security provider is seeking a Public Sector Sales professional to drive growth across UK government and public sector organisations. Must have current Cyber Security sales experience. Responsibilities Generate new business selling cyber security solutions into UK public sector Build relationships with CIO, CISO and senior technology stakeholders Manage the full sales cycle from opportunity to contract close Develop pipeline across central government, local government and public sector bodies Support bids, tenders and framework opportunities Experience Proven cyber security sales experience in the UK Track record selling into public sector organisations Familiarity with CCS, G Cloud or other government frameworks Strong stakeholder engagement and deal management skills Location UK based Security Requirements Eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance
-
- Security Architect | MoD - Security Cleared. OUTSIDE IR35 | Hampshire
- N/A
- Outside IR35
-
Security Architect | MOD | Security Cleared | Outside IR35 | Hampshire Commutable The successful candidate must be willing to undergo DV Clearance, ideally already holding active clearance. You will produce high and low level security architecture documentation, guiding and validating designs for systems deployed within sensitive environments. The role requires providing specialist security input into solution design, service transition and change initiatives, working closely with engineering, operations, client and third party stakeholders. You must have current hands on architectural experience, including VMware secure platform design and virtualisation architecture, alongside AWS expertise. This is an outside IR35 contract- 6 month rolling. Part of a longer term MoD project
-
- Active Directory | RBA engineer | UK Remote | SC Clearable
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Technical Active Directory (AD) and RBA specialist needed to play a key part in complex, enterprise scale Active Directory and access transformation programmes. You will work alongside senior team, helping reshape access models, modernise legacy directory structures and strengthen security posture across secure environments. This is hands on delivery within high impact projects where your work directly improves access control, compliance and operational resilience. Active UK Security Clearance required. This is a remote role with client travel. Implementation of Role Based Access Control across large AD estates Restructuring complex permission models, security groups and delegated access Supporting domain controller upgrades and core directory improvements Applying security hardening standards and remediating audit findings Enhancing authentication, policy and access governance frameworks Troubleshooting and resolving technical AD challenges within live environments Producing robust technical documentation and identifying project risks You must have the following technical experience Enterprise Active Directory administration Role Based Access and permission remediation OU design and governance Group Policy management Security group delegation models DNS and DHCP services Kerberos authentication / NTLM PowerShell scripting and automation Azure AD | Entra ID Hybrid identity environments Identity Governance PAM