Cisco Cyber Security Practice Exam

What is a key function of a SIEM system?

1. Identify internal and external threats

2. Data backup and recovery

3. Application whitelisting

4. Access control management

The correct answer is: Identify internal and external threats

A Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system primarily functions to aggregate and analyze security data from across an organization’s IT infrastructure. One of its key capabilities is to identify both internal and external threats. It achieves this through real-time monitoring and analysis of security events and alerts, which allows organizations to detect suspicious activities that may indicate an ongoing attack or breach. By collecting logs and event data from across various sources—such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and servers—a SIEM system correlates this data to identify patterns that could signify a potential threat. This proactive approach enables security teams to respond to incidents more swiftly and effectively, thereby enhancing the overall security posture of the organization. In contrast, the other options do not align with the primary functions of a SIEM. Data backup and recovery focus on preserving and restoring data, application whitelisting pertains to controlling the use of applications, and access control management involves specifying user permissions. While all these activities play a role in an organization's security framework, they fall outside the primary scope of SIEM capabilities.