The Future of Retail Cybersecurity: SOC Automation

Retail companies are high-value targets for cybercriminals. With sprawling infrastructures, complex supply chains, and large amounts of customer data, retailers are a goldmine for bad actors. In 2024, the retail sector accounted for 24% of all cyberattacks — more than any other industry. The average cost of a data breach in retail rose to $3.28 million.

Meanwhile, security teams in the retail sector face increasing pressure to maintain uptime, protect consumer data, and streamline operations across global environments. This is where security Hyperautomation comes in.

Below, we explore key retail cybersecurity use cases for security Hyperautomation and spotlight how a fashion retail giant used Torq to cut ticket response times and scale SOC operations across global markets.

Why Retail Cybersecurity Teams Need SOC Automation

Retail has become one of the most targeted industries, accounting for one in four cyberattacks. Phishing, ransomware, and credential theft are the leading threats driven by attackers looking to exploit high volumes of customer data and payment information.

The rise of e-commerce (84% of consumers now shop online) and global retail operations has dramatically expanded the attack surface. Add distributed teams and ever-tightening compliance demands — and it’s no wonder retail cybersecurity processes are struggling to keep up.

Top retail SOC challenges include: 

• High alert volumes with limited analyst headcount
• Manual ticket handling and case management
• Access and identity control challenges
• Customer service expectations and compliance demands

SOC automation is the engine behind this transformation, powered by Torq Hyperautomation™. By leveraging specialized AI Agents, Torq Hyperautomation helps retailers meet these security challenges: eliminating repetitive work, accelerating incident response, and gaining visibility across global environments — all without needing to rip and replace their security stack.

Top Retail Cybersecurity Challenges Solved by Hyperautomation

Below are the top use cases being Hyperautomated by Torq’s retail cybersecurity customer base, along with real-world examples of the workflows they have built.

1. Security Case Management 

Automate the ingestion and processing of security incidents from Wiz. For “open” incidents, facilitate the creation and management of security cases with enriched data and actionable insights.

Workflow Steps:

1. Filter Wiz event data to select incidents with status ‘OPEN’ and severity ‘MEDIUM’, ‘HIGH’, or ‘CRITICAL’.
2. Transform data using Data Agent (AI-generated data transformation) operator to prepare it for case creation.
3. Create a new case with detailed incident information and links.
4. Add a quick action button to the case for advancing investigation phases based on the assigned runbook.
5. Extract indicators of compromise (IOCs) from incident alerts.
6. Populate observables within the security case with the newly extracted IOCs.
7. Update case severity based on incident severity and;
   1. IF case severity changes to ‘CRITICAL’ or ‘HIGH’, change the case state to ‘TRIAGE’ and assign the case to the appropriate Tier-2 analyst. 
   2. IF case severity changes to ‘MEDIUM’ or ‘LOW’, change the case state to ‘TRIAGE’ and assign the case to Socrates, Torq’s AI SOC Analyst, for remediation.

2. Threat Intelligence Analysis

Automate the process of retrieving, analyzing, and managing threat intelligence data from CrowdStrike alerts, integrating AI Task Agent operator analysis, and updating case observables.

Workflow Steps:

1. List Crowdstrike case events and filter them based on [custom] criteria.
2. Create a session with CrowdStrike, retrieve alert details, and add to case.
3. Filter and process command line data using the AI Task Agent for analysis.
4. Extract and filter IOCs from alert details.
5. Compare new IOCs with existing case observables and identify unique ones.
6. Trigger a secondary nested workflow to check observables with threat intelligence (Workflow: Parallel execution — VirusTotal, Recorded Future, AlienVault).
7. Revoke the CrowdStrike session token and exit.

3. Automated Alert Enrichment

Aggregate endpoint information from SentinelOne, Axonius, and Azure AD to enrich security data and support threat intelligence efforts.

Workflow Steps:

1. Execute parallel processes to gather endpoint details from multiple sources.
2. Retrieve agent details from SentinelOne using an API call with specified parameters.
3. Extract key information from SentinelOne data using a JSON query.
4. Fetch device details from Axonius with a POST request and process the response to extract relevant attributes.
5. Generate an access token for Microsoft 365 and retrieve device information from Azure AD based on display name.
6. Compile the gathered data from SentinelOne, Axonius, and Azure AD using AI Task Agent to create a formatted summary of results.

4. Identity Access Request Management

Automate the process of requesting, approving, and granting temporary admin rights to Mac users across different store locations, ensuring compliance and proper authorization.

Workflow Steps:

1. Search for a Slack user’s email address based on the provided username.
2. If the email is found, prompt the user to provide a reason for requesting temporary admin rights on their Mac.
3. Depending on the user’s response, either proceed to find computers and store locations associated with the user’s email, or end the request.
4. If approved computers are found at the current location, ask the user to select which Mac they need admin rights on.
5. Request IT approval for granting admin rights.
6. If approved, temporarily grant admin rights on the selected Mac and notify the user.
7. After 15 minutes, revoke the admin rights and notify the user of the expiration.
8. If not approved, notify the user about the denial.

5. Daily Health Check

Automate the monitoring and management of security cases and detections, integrating with CrowdStrike and Microsoft Teams for comprehensive incident handling and communication.

Workflow Steps:

1. Query Crowdstrike events for specific states and severities, starting a custom SLA timer for each based on severity.
2. Retrieve the current date from each event; check if it is Monday, Wednesday, or Friday to proceed with further actions.
3. Search for unassigned detections and incidents older than specified hours/days.
4. Filter and process detection and incident data, collecting details for each unassigned detection and incident.
5. Summarize findings and send to Microsoft Teams.

Case Study: Fast Fashion Retailer Enhances SOC Efficiency with Hyperautomation

One of the world’s largest fast-fashion retailers was struggling under the weight of manual processes, siloed tools, and a legacy SOAR platform. With thousands of alerts coming in every day, their team was spending most of their time chasing false positives and combing through disjointed systems, leaving little time for meaningful response and strategy. 

The retailer turned to Torq Hyperautomation to modernize their cybersecurity processes. With Torq’s intuitive workflow builder, analysts at all skill levels could build automations in minutes. Torq’s case management system and integrations with the team’s existing security solutions streamlined alert enrichment, triage, and response. They were also able to automate their just-in-time access across OS systems, cloud, and hybrid environments, ensuring a streamlined process for administrative workflows.

The retailer now solves end-user tickets in minutes and automates admin access across globally distributed teams. Read the full case study for more.