In today’s fast-paced cybersecurity landscape, Security Operations Centers (SOCs) have become the foundation for organizations defending against cyber threats. As a critical component of Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), SOCs help detect, respond to, and mitigate attacks. However, with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and automation, the SOC of tomorrow is set to transform. LegitBytes and Erthling Security, through their strategic alliance, are at the forefront of this evolution, redefining how organizations manage security operations.

AI and Automation: The Building Blocks of Future SOCs

AI and automation are reshaping every aspect of cybersecurity, enabling organizations to handle threats with greater speed and efficiency. Experts predict that the SOC of the future will rely heavily on AI-driven tools that can automatically detect, analyze, and respond to potential threats in real time, minimizing the need for manual intervention.

The partnership between LegitBytes and Erthling Security aligns perfectly with this vision. Together, they are developing AI-powered systems capable of automating up to 90% of routine security tasks. This includes monitoring network activity, processing alerts, generating reports, and even initiating immediate responses to known threats.

By leveraging AI to handle repetitive tasks, the alliance is shifting from the traditional SOC model to one that focuses human efforts on more complex, strategic issues. This approach significantly reduces human error and improves response times, making SOC operations more efficient and scalable.

Balancing Automation with Human Expertise

While AI and automation hold tremendous promise, experts agree that human involvement will remain essential for effective cybersecurity. Fred Langston, Chief Product Officer at Critical Insight, emphasizes that human expertise is critical for fine-tuning AI models, preventing bias, and ensuring that automated systems perform as expected. This balance between AI and human input is central to the approach taken by LegitBytes and Erthling Security.

Their concept of “augmented SOC teams” aims to combine the efficiency of AI with the strategic insight of human analysts. In this model, AI handles the bulk of the work, allowing security teams to focus on higher-level decision-making, threat analysis, and complex scenarios that require human judgment. This integrated approach is expected to lead to faster and more accurate threat detection, enhancing the overall effectiveness of SOC operations.

Integrating XDR and SOAR for Holistic Threat Management

The SOC of the future must have the capability to respond to threats across all stages of the attack chain — from endpoints and networks to email systems and cloud environments. To achieve this, experts point to the need for advanced tools like Extended Detection and Response (XDR) and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) technologies.

LegitBytes and Erthling Security are well aware of this need. Their strategic alliance focuses on offering comprehensive solutions that combine the strengths of XDR and SOAR platforms, enabling organizations to detect and respond to threats more effectively. By integrating multiple security tools into one cohesive system, they can provide holistic threat management for a variety of organizations, from small businesses to large enterprises.

Their systems will also be built with open-architecture designs, ensuring that clients can seamlessly integrate these technologies with their existing security infrastructures. This flexibility allows organizations to stay ahead of emerging threats while making the most of their current tools and resources.

Adapting to the Changing Cyber Threat Landscape

As cyber threats continue to evolve, SOCs must adapt to stay ahead. Trevor Smith from Brite argues that the future SOC will require new methods for securing workloads, protecting attack surfaces, and implementing true zero-trust architectures. This vision of the future also involves AI-driven self-healing systems that can automatically patch vulnerabilities, remediate issues, and prevent configuration errors.

LegitBytes and Erthling Security are already working on implementing these concepts. Their approach focuses on building proactive defenses that can predict and prevent threats before they occur, reducing the reliance on reactive measures. By automating the most common and time-consuming tasks, they can ensure that security teams have the resources and bandwidth to focus on the most critical threats.

Human Insight: The Final Layer of Defense

While AI and automation are key to the SOC of the future, human analysts will still play a crucial role in evaluating and responding to complex, high-risk scenarios. AI tools may be able to detect and respond to threats quickly, but human expertise is needed to interpret nuanced situations and ensure that systems are functioning correctly.

Brian Stoner, Senior VP of Growth at Judy Security, emphasizes that SOCs will never be fully autonomous due to the potential for false positives and the complexity of cybersecurity. Humans will always be needed to review and fine-tune AI-driven processes. This “human-in-the-loop” model is precisely how LegitBytes and Erthling Security plan to ensure their AI systems remain effective, adaptable, and trustworthy.

Conclusion

The strategic alliance between LegitBytes and Erthling Security is paving the way for the SOC of the future — one where AI-driven automation handles the bulk of the work, while human analysts focus on high-level decision-making and complex threat scenarios. By integrating advanced AI, XDR, and SOAR technologies, this partnership is reshaping how organizations manage security, making it faster, smarter, and more resilient.

As cyber threats grow more sophisticated, this combination of automation and human expertise will be critical to defending against bad actors. LegitBytes and Erthling Security are positioned to lead this transformation, ensuring that tomorrow’s SOCs are equipped to handle the challenges of an ever-evolving cyber threat landscape.

Stay tuned as this partnership continues to innovate and redefine the future of cybersecurity operations.