Best AI SOC Platforms for 2026: ​​How to Choose the Right One

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If you are evaluating security platforms in 2026 based on which one has the best chatbot or can write a slightly better Python script for you, you’re fighting the last war. 

Attackers are already using AI to scale their operations with speed and precision. If your “AI SOC platform” is just a co-pilot that summarizes tickets while humans do all the work, you’re behind.

The modern SOC is shifting from automated (static playbooks and scripts) to autonomous — an AI SOC platform powered by agentic AI that can reason, plan, and act within explicit guardrails.

We break down what the best AI SOC platforms actually need to deliver, how leading architectures differ, and why platform choice now is really an architecture decision.

What Sets Top AI SOC Platform Architectures Apart in 2026

To operate at machine speed, defend against AI-enhanced adversaries, and eliminate manual work, a next-generation AI SOC platform must deliver five core capabilities. These capabilities map directly to where legacy systems fail: data sprawl, slow investigations, brittle automation, and siloed case management.

1. A Unified Operational Data Layer

Legacy architectures assumed that every alert and log file had to be funneled into a SIEM for analysis, creating a massive data bottleneck and a single point of failure. As cybersecurity analyst Francis Odum noted at Torq’s SKO 2025: “Legacy SOAR assumed everything starts in the SIEM. Now, teams connect automation directly to EDR, email, and identity systems”.

A true AI SOC platform must deliver:

  • SIEM-agnostic connectivity: The platform should consume alerts and logs from any SIEM (Splunk, Sentinel, QRadar, Sumo Logic, Elastic) without forcing data migration or lock-in.
  • Native integrations across identity, cloud, SaaS, EDR, NDR, and email security: This includes Okta, Entra ID, AWS/GCP/Azure, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Proofpoint, Zscaler, Netskope, and more.
  • Decentralized processing: Instead of aggregating data into a centralized point before taking action, the platform integrates directly with data lakes and tools to create a unified control plane.

When SOC tools and data are disconnected, SOCs suffer higher mean time to respond (MTTR), more context switching, and lower detection quality. The best AI SOC platforms treat unified, real-time telemetry as a non-negotiable foundation.

2. Autonomous Investigation and Response 

In a next-generation SOC, analysts should never have to manually:

  • Enrich alerts
  • Pivot across six browser tabs
  • Copy and paste logs
  • Correlate IPs, hashes, and identities
  • Ask users “Was this you?”
  • Check cloud exposure severity
  • Determine whether an alert is real or noise

A true AI SOC platform takes over these tasks and autonomously executes:

  • Identity enrichment (such as roles, MFA events, privileges, and historic activity)
  • Endpoint posture and behavioral indicators
  • SaaS OAuth scope analysis
  • Network and cloud asset risk context
  • Threat intelligence lookups
  • Log retrieval, summarization, and normalization
  • Evidence collection for case management

This shift significantly improves critical metrics like MTTD and MTTR by removing the latency of manual investigation.

3. Agentic AI Capabilities 

The best AI SOC platforms must include agentic AI, which is AI that can reason, plan, adapt, and take actions within defined guardrails. In a fully realized AI-native SOC, a multi-agent system (MAS) can handle 90%+ of Tier-1 security analysts’ tasks.

Agentic AI enables:

  • Goal-driven planning: Instead of executing a static playbook, the AI determines how to reach an outcome (e.g., “Validate whether this login is malicious”).
  • Dynamic tool use: AI selects which systems to query — SIEM, identity provider, EDR, cloud APIs — based on context.
  • Contextual memory: The AI remembers case details, user signals, prior actions, and earlier investigations.
  • Independent decision-making: Within guardrails, AI decides:
    • Is the alert true or false?
    • Should a user be challenged?
    • Is the cloud resource exposed?
    • Which action mitigates the threat fastest?

The platform must ensure this happens safely, predictably, and auditably — not as “black box” reasoning.

4. Native Case Management 

Traditional ticketing systems were never designed for security investigations. They fragment context, slow down collaboration, and give AI very little structure to reason over.

A true AI SOC platform needs native case management designed specifically for security operations with:

  • Autonomous case generation: Cases should be created automatically from alerts based on severity, correlation, identity risk, or cloud exposure.
  • AI-driven prioritization: AI analyzes blast radius, business criticality, and user behavior to determine which cases matter most.
  • Integrated collaboration: Slack, Teams, email, and ticketing systems (like Jira or ServiceNow) are synced without forcing analysts to leave the AI SOC console.
  • Full evidence timeline: Every alert, enrichment, AI decision, human approval, and automated action must be fully logged.
  • Audit-ready transparency: Compliance and cyber insurance increasingly require AI explainability. Native case management makes this possible.

5. Open Ecosystem + Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Flexibility is the difference between a scalable AI SOC platform and a platform that traps you in inefficiencies.

Top AI SOC platforms must provide:

  • Comprehensive integrations: Hundreds of connectors for identity, cloud, EDR, SIEM, firewalls, ticketing, SaaS, DevOps tools, and threat intelligence solutions.
  • No-code + low-code workflow creation: Analysts should be able to build or edit automation with zero Python dependency.
  • Support for API-first and event-driven architecture: AI should react instantly to events — not wait for cron jobs or polling intervals.
  • Rapid onboarding without professional service or engineering dependency: If it takes weeks of professional services to onboard new integrations, it’s already obsolete.
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP) support: To facilitate reliable communication between AI agents and tools, leading architectures now support MCP, an open protocol that standardizes the way applications provide context to AI agents.

AI SOC Platform Architecture Comparison

Most products marketed as an “AI SOC platform” fall into three architectural categories.

1. AI-Enhanced Platforms 

Many products marketed as AI SOC platforms are better described as AI-enhanced security platforms. Architecturally, these solutions are centralized detection and analytics ecosystems that rely on large-scale data aggregation to improve visibility, correlation, and analyst productivity.

Aggregating and normalizing telemetry across identity, endpoint, cloud, network, and SaaS tools is essential for agentic reasoning at scale. When signals are locked inside individual silos, each tool only sees part of the picture — and understands it in part. Aggregation sets the stage for AI to correlate related activity, assemble the whole picture, and surface real risks that would otherwise remain obscured.

The architectural challenge arises from how that aggregation is implemented.

Platforms like Cortex XSIAM and Microsoft Sentinel require customers to ingest the majority of their telemetry into vendor-owned, proprietary data lakes to unlock their most advanced AI capabilities. While this can improve detection and analytics within the platform, it introduces several structural risks security leaders must evaluate carefully, such as:

  • Vendor lock-in by design: Once large volumes of historical telemetry are stored in proprietary formats, migration becomes costly and operationally disruptive. This creates renewal leverage for the vendor, limiting long-term architectural flexibility.
  • Captive storage economics: Customers are locked into premium ingestion and retention pricing models with limited tiering or external storage options, despite growing data volumes year over year.
  • Integration asymmetry: These platforms typically offer deep, native integrations for tools within their own ecosystem, while providing shallower or less capable integrations for competing third-party security products.
  • Platform-first optimization: The data lake is optimized to retain customers within a single ecosystem, rather than enabling best-of-breed security architectures across vendors.

As a result, the AI experience can initially feel powerful — until teams need to investigate or remediate across tools the vendor doesn’t own. At that point, automation often degrades into brittle connectors, custom engineering, or manual analyst effort. This is what many security leaders now refer to as the ‘integration tax’.

A true AI SOC platform still aggregates and normalizes data, but does so without holding that data hostage. It favors open standards (such as OCSF), vendor-agnostic access, and flexible storage choices. The goal isn’t centralization for its own sake; it’s open, normalized telemetry that empowers agentic AI to reason and act across heterogeneous, multi-vendor environments.

2. Legacy SOAR

Legacy SOAR platforms helped define automation years ago, but they were never architected for autonomous operations or agentic AI. These systems still rely on playbook-driven, script-heavy automation, using Python and operator-defined logic. 

Because SOAR engines were built for manual playbook triggering, not autonomous reasoning, vendors layer generative AI on top rather than rebuilding the stack around it.

Legacy SOAR tools fall short because:

  • Their core automation engine is still script-based, brittle, and infrastructure-heavy
  • AI cannot operate beyond summarizing or accelerating playbook creation
  • They cannot autonomously investigate, correlate, or remediate cases
  • Scalability and maintainability depend heavily on engineering resources
  • AI is bolted on, not built into the core reasoning and execution layer

In short: the AI is a feature, not the engine of the platform.

3. A True AI SOC (AI-Architected)

Torq pioneered the AI SOC category because traditional SOAR couldn’t handle the scale of modern hybrid cloud enterprises.

A true AI SOC platform must:

  • Correlate and reason over multi-vendor, multi-cloud telemetry
  • Generate and prioritize cases automatically
  • Make policy-aware decisions in real time
  • Execute remediation actions safely and autonomously
  • Maintain full auditability and operational control

Torq delivers this through:

  • Generative AI for investigation, summarization, and communication
  • Agentic AI for adaptive reasoning and action
  • Hyperautomation to orchestrate actions across your entire security stack
  • Case Management to unify triage, investigation, and response in a single view
  • Multi-Agent System Architecture for coordinated, parallel execution across tools

Torq’s AI SOC agents, led by Socrates and bolstered by HyperAgents, don’t just suggest actions — they can execute them within your guardrails. For example, they can:

  • Interview users via Slack or Teams to validate activity
  • Investigate alerts across SIEM, EDR, IAM, cloud, and SaaS tools
  • Enrich, correlate, and summarize findings into a native case
  • Remediate threats automatically where policy allows
  • Maintain an immutable, auditable trail of every step

Torq works well for all SOCs, but especially lean teams that want to eliminate backlog, and enterprises that need an AI SOC platform that can scale without inheriting the fragility and maintenance burden of script-heavy legacy systems.

“As new entrants crowd into the space with ambitious roadmaps and evolving terminology, Torq increasingly functions as the reference point others are measured against…. In that sense, Torq is more or less the de facto leader of the AI SOC space. While the category is now being treated as emerging, Torq’s position reflects something closer to incumbency — an established platform in a market that is only just catching up to what it represents.

Forbes, The AI SOC Boom Is Real, But The Work Started Long Before The Buzz

10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing an AI SOC Platform

Ask these ten questions during your next demo to separate the AI SOC platform contenders from the pretenders.

  1. Can the AI autonomously investigate and resolve security cases using predefined runbooks written in natural language?
  2. Does the AI provide structured, evidence-linked case summaries with direct citations to original forensic data?
  3. Can the platform safely execute containment actions with human-in-the-loop approvals and predefined guardrails?
  4. Does the solution integrate natively with your existing SIEM, EDR, IAM, cloud, and SaaS stack without custom engineering?
  5. Does the vendor use customer data to train or fine-tune AI models, or is all data kept isolated?
  6. Is the system compliant with SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR, and other major trust frameworks?
  7. Does the solution provide immutable logs of all AI-driven actions, inputs, and outputs for auditing and insurance needs?
  8. Is the AI restricted to act only within explicitly enabled workflows, with no standalone entitlements to IT assets?
  9. Does the architecture support true multi-tenancy isolation for MSSP or multi-business-unit deployments?
  10. How does the AI SOC Analyst license work, and are there extra costs tied to usage, tuning, or model quotas?

How Valvoline Transformed Security with an AI SOC Platform

Valvoline’s experience illustrates what separates a true AI SOC platform from legacy SOAR and point solutions that limit AI capabilities to just the first 30 seconds of triage. When Valvoline’s security team was cut in half during a major divestiture, their legacy SOAR couldn’t keep up. Critical integrations failed, phishing alerts overwhelmed analysts, and investigations stalled under manual workload.

Some vendors claim AI capabilities while stopping at alert classification — telling you which alerts to investigate, then handing everything else back to your overwhelmed analysts. Valvoline needed a platform that handled the entire incident lifecycle: detect, triage, investigate, contain, and remediate. 

Torq transformed that reality in days. Within 48 hours of deployment, Valvoline automated high-volume, repetitive Tier-1 tasks, especially phishing triage, which previously consumed up to 12 analyst hours per day. Torq’s no-code workflows, agentic AI decisioning, and unified case management allowed the team to streamline investigations, accelerate containment, and eliminate manual steps that previously buried analysts.

With Torq, Valvoline now:

  • Saves 6–7 analyst hours every day through automated email and alert triage
  • Executes real-time containment when users click malicious links, including password resets, session termination, and cross-platform isolation
  • Correlates evidence automatically across Microsoft 365, Defender, CrowdStrike, Rapid7, and more
  • Runs workflows built by non-developers, thanks to Torq’s intuitive no-code design
  • Maintains full auditability through native case management with complete evidence timelines

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

– Corey Kaemming, CISO, Valvoline

The Best AI SOC Platform Is an Architecture Choice

The security landscape of 2026 demands more than a slightly faster version of your 2020 stack. It requires a fundamental shift in how your SOC operates.

The future isn’t about who has the prettiest chatbot. It’s about which AI SOC platform architecture gives you:

  • An aggregated and normalized security data lake
  • De-duplicated and correlated telemetry, to reduce noise
  • Transparent agentic triage with guardrails, for clarity and focus
  • Native, auditable case management
  • Autonomous investigation and response actions
  • An open ecosystem that deeply integrates with your security stack

Build an autonomous SOC that fights at machine speed, with humans firmly in control of risk and policy. Get the AI or Die Manifesto to learn how to deploy AI in the SOC the right way.

FAQs

What is an AI SOC platform and how does it differ from traditional security tools?

An AI SOC platform uses artificial intelligence to automate threat detection, investigation, and response across your security stack. Unlike traditional tools that rely on static rules and manual analysis, AI-driven platforms can process thousands of alerts simultaneously, recognize patterns in attack behavior, make contextual decisions about threat severity, and execute dynamic response strategies. 

This enables SOCs to handle enterprise-scale alert volumes without proportionally scaling headcount. Organizations with lean teams have been able to scale through automation with Torq, achieving end-to-end phishing response with zero analyst intervention on a 24/7 basis.

What key features should I look for when evaluating AI SOC platforms?

When evaluating AI SOC platforms, prioritize these capabilities: autonomous triage and Tier-1 remediation that reduces alert fatigue, real-time enrichment with threat intelligence and business context, no-code/low-code workflow building accessible to analysts at all skill levels, extensive pre-built integrations (300+ for enterprise environments), native case management that unifies alerts into coherent narratives, and scalable cloud-native architecture. Also assess deployment speed. With Torq, leading organizations achieve operational ROI within 48 hours, with some launching 100+ workflows in just 3 months without costly professional services.

Can AI SOC platforms work with my existing security tools, or do I need to replace my stack?

Leading AI SOC platforms are designed to integrate with your existing security stack, not replace it. Torq offers 300+ pre-built integrations covering SIEM, EDR, IAM, cloud platforms, ITSM, and collaboration tools through an agentless, API-first architecture. 

What ROI can organizations expect from implementing an AI SOC platform?

Organizations implementing AI SOC platforms see measurable ROI across multiple dimensions:

Response Time Improvements:

  • 75% reduction in MTTR for common security incidents
  • 60x faster MTTR — from two hours to two minutes
  • 8.2x faster incident detection-to-containment timelines
  • 50% improvement in Mean-Time-To-Detection (MTTD)

Operational Efficiency Gains:

  • 90% of Tier-1 tickets auto-remediated without human involvement
  • 95% decrease in manual tasks for Tier-1 SOC analysts
  • 80% reduction in alert fatigue
  • 10x faster security operations efficiency
  • 83% decrease in escalations to Tier-2/3 analysts for routine matters
  • 68% reduction in time spent on manual data correlation

Scalability Benefits:

  • 4x capability to handle security alerts with the same size team
  • 3.5x increase in customer-to-analyst ratio without sacrificing service quality
  • 100% of Tier-1 alerts handled by agentic AI
  • 3.8x increase in security coverage across environments

Business Impact:

  • 35% reduction in the probability of a major breach
  • 50% decrease in average cost per incident
  • 41% improvement in customer retention rates
  • 63% reduction in time spent generating compliance reports
  • 4.2x improvement in SLA adherence for critical security events

 

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

Ready to automate everything?

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

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“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

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“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

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“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

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“Torq has transformed efficiency for all five of my security teams and enabled them to focus on much more high-value strategic work.”

Yossi Yeshua, CISO

Automated Incident Management: Detection to Resolution Without the Fire Drill

Contents

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TL;DR: What should you know about automated incident management?

  • The average organization faces 960 alerts daily; 40% are never investigated.
  • Data breaches now cost $4.88M on average, up 10% from last year.
  • AI and automation cut breach identification and containment time by nearly 100 days.
  • Torq automates every phase: detection, triage, containment, recovery, and post-incident review.
  • Result: faster MTTR, consistent playbooks, and analysts who aren’t burned out.

Security incidents aren’t slowing down. Yet, most security teams are still fighting fires with buckets instead of firehoses. 

It’s time to put the buckets down. 

The numbers tell a brutal story: the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024, a 10% increase from the prior year and the largest yearly jump since the pandemic. Meanwhile, the average organization receives 960 alerts daily from approximately 28 different security tools, and 40% of those alerts are never investigated.

The gap between incoming threats and the capacity to respond isn’t just widening, it’s becoming a chasm. But with the right automation in place, security teams can move from reactive to a structured, repeatable response, without burning out analysts.

That’s where Torq Hyperautomation™ comes in.

What is Incident Management?

Incident management in cybersecurity is the structured process of detecting, triaging, responding to, and recovering from security events that threaten an organization’s operations, data, or systems. An incident, by definition, is an occurrence that can disrupt or cause a loss of operations, services, or functions.

The scope is broad: phishing attacks, malware infections, unauthorized access attempts, cloud misconfigurations, insider threats, and ransomware. Basically, any event that degrades security posture or interrupts business operations qualifies. Incidents can vary widely in severity, ranging from an entire global web service crashing to a small number of users having intermittent errors.

Incident management isn’t only about putting out fires. It’s about minimizing damage, reducing recovery time, and restoring normal operations as quickly as possible. Typically, this process is owned by the Security Operations Center (SOC) and incident response (IR) teams, supported by defined playbooks and runbooks that standardize how different incident types are handled.

An incident is resolved when the affected service resumes functioning in its intended state. This includes only those tasks required to mitigate impact and restore functionality. 

The Phases of Security Incident Management

Effective incident management follows a lifecycle. Each phase builds on the last, and skipping steps creates gaps that attackers exploit. Here’s how the process breaks down.

1. Detection and Alerting

Everything starts with visibility. Security tools like SIEMs, EDRs, cloud security platforms, and threat intelligence feeds continuously monitor environments and generate alerts when anomalies are detected. An incident can come from anywhere: an employee, a customer, a vendor, monitoring systems. The goal at this stage is simple: identify that something is wrong, and identify it fast. A 2024 SANS survey found that 67% of organizations now track MTTR to measure their cyber defense effectiveness. Proof that speed matters. 

2. Triage and Investigation

Not every alert is a true positive. Triage separates signal from noise: Is this a real threat or a false positive? What’s the scope? Who owns the affected asset? This is the process where you determine whether you’ve been breached and begin to understand what you’re dealing with. Proper categorization and prioritization at this stage directly impact how quickly the incident gets resolved.

3. Containment and Response

Once a threat is confirmed, the priority shifts to stopping the bleeding. When a breach is first discovered, your initial instinct may be to securely delete everything so you can just get rid of it. However, that will likely hurt you in the long run since you’ll be destroying valuable evidence. Instead, containment focuses on isolating affected systems, revoking compromised credentials, blocking malicious IPs, and preventing lateral movement, all while preserving forensic data.

4. Recovery

With the threat contained, operations need to resume. This means restoring systems from clean backups, redeploying patched configurations, and verifying that normal service has been restored. It’s important to get your systems and business operations back up and running without fear of another breach. Monitoring continues to ensure the threat doesn’t resurface.

5. Post-Incident Review

The incident is closed, but the work isn’t done. Post-incident reviews, sometimes called retrospectives or postmortems, capture lessons learned: What worked? What didn’t? How can detection be improved? This is where you will analyze and document everything about the breach and use those insights to strengthen playbooks, tune detection rules, and improve future response.

Torq Hyperautomation takes care of each of these phases, from ingesting alerts and enriching them with context to executing containment actions and logging every step for post-incident analysis.

Why Traditional Incident Management Fails

Most security teams aren’t struggling because they lack talent or tools. They’re struggling because their processes were built for a different era, one with fewer alerts, simpler environments, and slower-moving attackers. Here’s where traditional approaches break down:

  • Manual ticketing and coordination: Security, IT, and DevOps teams still rely on emails, spreadsheets, Slack messages, and manual ticket creation to coordinate incident response. By the time the right people are looped in and context is shared, attackers have already moved laterally.
  • Alert overload leads to delays: According to Osterman Research, almost 90% of SOCs are overwhelmed by backlogs and false positives, while 80% of analysts report feeling consistently behind in their work. Analysts triage incidents hours — sometimes days — after they start, giving threats time to escalate. 61% of teams admitted to ignoring alerts that later proved critical.
  • Tools don’t talk to each other: Data from SIEMs, EDRs, cloud platforms, identity providers, and threat intelligence feeds sits in silos. Analysts spend precious time pivoting between consoles, manually correlating information that should flow together automatically.
  • Every team follows a different process: Without standardization, incident response becomes a game of improvisation. One analyst handles a phishing incident one way; another handles it differently. The result is inconsistent outcomes, missed steps, and compliance headaches, especially during audits. Torq eliminates these bottlenecks by enabling a unified, automated incident response workflow that connects every tool, every team, and every process into a single orchestrated system.

How Automated Incident Management Works

Automation doesn’t replace analysts; it amplifies them. Here’s what automated incident management looks like in practice.

Connect to All Your Sources

Automated incident management starts with integration. SIEMs, XDRs, IAM platforms, cloud logs, ticketing systems, and threat intelligence feeds all become inputs into a unified workflow. No more swivel-chairing between consoles.

Trigger Dynamic Playbooks

Hyperautomation playbooks are key. When an alert fires, automation kicks in. Based on alert type, severity, affected asset, user risk score, or time of day, the right playbook executes automatically. A credential compromise triggers a different response than a cloud misconfiguration, and the system knows the difference.

Enrich Alerts in Real Time

Raw alerts lack context. Automated enrichment adds asset ownership, user identity, geolocation, historical behavior, threat intelligence matches, and risk scores, everything an analyst needs to make a fast decision, delivered in seconds instead of minutes.

Route Incidents to the Right Responders

Not every incident needs a Tier 3 analyst. Automation routes incidents to the appropriate responder — the on-call engineer, the cloud security team, the identity specialist — based on predefined criteria. Escalation happens automatically when thresholds are exceeded.

Remediate and Escalate Automatically

For known threat patterns, automated remediation takes action without waiting for human approval: disabling compromised accounts, isolating infected endpoints, revoking API keys, and quarantining malicious emails. When automation can’t resolve the issue, it escalates to a human with full context attached.

Log and Learn

Every action, every decision, every outcome is logged. Resolution time, workflow steps, ownership, and exceptions are all captured automatically. This data feeds continuous improvement, helping teams refine playbooks and identify recurring issues.

Benefits of Automating Incident Management

Organizations that embrace automated incident management see measurable improvements across every metric that matters:

  • Faster detection-to-resolution time: According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024, organizations using AI and automation saw their time to identify and contain a breach lowered by nearly 100 days on average. When every phase of the incident lifecycle is automated, MTTR drops from hours to minutes.
  • Reduced manual effort for Tier-1 teams: According to the SANS 2025 SOC Survey, 66% of teams cannot keep pace with incoming alert volumes. Automation handles the repetitive, time-consuming work — enrichment, triage, initial response — so human analysts can focus on complex threats that actually require their expertise.
  • More consistent playbook execution: Under pressure, humans make mistakes. Automation doesn’t. Standardized workflows ensure every incident is handled the same way, every time — reducing errors, improving compliance, and creating reliable audit trails.
  • Better cross-team collaboration: When security, IT, and DevOps share a unified incident management platform, handoffs disappear. Everyone works from the same data, the same timeline, the same playbooks. Torq customers like Check Point have seen transformative results: “With Torq HyperSOC, we can react automatically to problems before they become security incidents,” says Jonathan Fischbein, CISO at Check Point.
  • Complete auditability: Regulators and auditors want proof that incidents were handled properly. Automated incident management provides it: every step tracked, every handoff logged, every action timestamped. No more reconstructing timelines from memory or scattered notes.

How Torq Streamlines Incident Management from End to End

Torq’s Hyperautomation platform was built for exactly this challenge: bringing structure, speed, and sanity to incident management without requiring security teams to become full-time developers.

With Torq, security teams can ingest alerts in real time from SIEM, EDR, CSPM, and cloud logs, all normalized and correlated automatically. Contextual enrichment adds user, asset, and threat data instantly. Conditional logic triggers the right playbook based on alert type, risk score, asset criticality, or any custom criteria.

Smart routing and escalation push incidents to the right teams via Slack, Jira, ServiceNow, or email, with full context attached. Automated remediation actions execute in seconds: isolating compromised hosts, disabling accounts, revoking keys, or notifying legal and HR when incidents require broader coordination.

And everything is visible in real time. Dashboard reporting tracks response time, ownership, and incident trends, giving security leaders the visibility they need to optimize operations and demonstrate value.

As Tyler Young, CISO at BigID, puts it: “What would normally require 10 security engineers just needs one or two with Torq.”

Valvoline’s security team saw similar results after migrating away from their legacy SOAR platform. Within 48 hours of deploying Torq, they cut analyst workload by 7 hours a day and gained the ability to respond to threats at machine speed.

Start Responding with Automated Incident Response 

Security incidents will keep happening. The question isn’t whether your organization will face a breach attempt; it’s how you’ll respond when it does.

Traditional incident management is buckling under the weight of alert volume, tool sprawl, and staffing shortages. The math simply doesn’t work: 70% of breached organizations reported that the breach caused significant or very significant disruption, and recovery often takes months.

But automation changes the equation. By orchestrating every phase of incident management — from detection to resolution — Torq helps security teams respond faster, more consistently, and with less manual effort. Fewer war rooms. More closed cases. And analysts who can finally focus on the work that matters.

Ready to learn how to automate your incident management? 

FAQs

What is incident management in cybersecurity?

Incident management is the structured process of detecting, triaging, responding to, and recovering from security events that threaten an organization’s operations, data, or systems. It encompasses everything from phishing and malware to insider threats and cloud misconfigurations, aiming to minimize damage, reduce recovery time, and restore normal operations as quickly as possible.

How does automated incident management work? 

Automated incident management connects your security tools, SIEMs, EDRs, cloud platforms, and identity providers into a unified workflow. When an alert fires, automation triggers dynamic playbooks, enriches alerts with real-time context, routes incidents to the right responders, executes remediation actions such as isolating endpoints or revoking credentials, and logs every step for compliance and continuous improvement.

What's the difference between incident management and incident response?

Incident response is one component of the broader incident management process. Incident response focuses specifically on the actions taken to contain and remediate an active threat. Incident management includes response but also covers detection, triage, recovery, post-incident review, and the ongoing improvement of processes and playbooks.

What tools help manage security incidents? 

Effective incident management typically requires alerting systems (SIEM, EDR, XDR), security automation platforms like Torq, communication tools (Slack, Microsoft Teams), ticketing systems (Jira, ServiceNow), and threat intelligence feeds. The key is integration; tools that talk to each other reduce manual effort and accelerate response.

How can I reduce incident response time (MTTR)? 

To reduce MTTR, automate repetitive tasks like alert enrichment, triage, and initial containment. Use standardized playbooks so every incident follows a proven process. Integrate your security stack so data flows automatically instead of requiring manual correlation. According to IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report, organizations using AI and automation reduced their time to identify and contain breaches by nearly 100 days.

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

Ready to automate everything?

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

Compuquip logo in white

“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

Fiverr logo in black

“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

Carvana logo in black

“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

Riskified logo in white

“Torq has transformed efficiency for all five of my security teams and enabled them to focus on much more high-value strategic work.”

Yossi Yeshua, CISO

Top Cybersecurity Tools to Secure Your Business in 2026

Contents

Get a Personalized Demo

See how Torq harnesses AI in your SOC to detect, prioritize, and respond to threats faster.

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TL;DR: Essential Cybersecurity Tools for 2026

  • Cybercrime projected to cost $15.63 trillion globally by 2029 — businesses need layered security, not single solutions
  • The 10 essential tool categories: EDR, SIEM, IAM, CSPM, email security, vulnerability management, threat intelligence, web app security testing, penetration testing, and Hyperautomation
  • 88% of breaches involve compromised credentials, making identity and access management critical
  • Individual tools aren’t enough — integration is what separates secure organizations from breached ones
  • Hyperautomation platforms connect your stack and cut response times from hours to under a minute
  • Choose tools based on your environment, threat landscape, team capacity, and integration capabilities — not just features

Cybercrime will cost the global economy as much as $15.63 trillion by 2029.

The math is simple: businesses run on digital infrastructure, and that infrastructure is under constant attack. More cloud environments, more remote endpoints, more third-party integrations, more ways in for attackers. The attack surface isn’t just expanding; it’s exploding.

But here’s what’s changed: cybersecurity tools have gotten dramatically better. The challenge isn’t whether good SOC tools exist — it’s knowing which ones actually matter for your organization and, most importantly, how to make them work together. This guide covers the essential categories, what each tool does, and how to evaluate them.

What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from digital attacks. That’s the textbook definition. The business definition is more visceral: it’s what stands between you and regulatory fines, reputational damage, and the kind of operational downtime that tanks quarterly earnings.

IBM pegged the average cost of a data breach at $4.4 million in 2025. Though that number was a 9% decrease YoY, companies still clearly can’t afford to pull back on cybersecurity measures. 

But no single tool does it all. Effective cybersecurity requires layers — different security tools covering different threat vectors, working together as a system. The organizations that get breached aren’t usually missing tools. They’re missing integration.

Why Businesses Need Cybersecurity Tools

The threat landscape has fundamentally changed. Fifteen years ago, cybersecurity was an IT problem. Today, it’s a matter of whether or not your business survives.

Attackers have professionalized. Ransomware-as-a-service means sophisticated attacks are available to anyone willing to pay. Nation-state tactics trickle down to criminal groups within months. AI is accelerating both sides of the battle — but attackers don’t have compliance requirements or change management processes slowing them down.

Meanwhile, your attack surface keeps expanding. Every SaaS application, every cloud workload, every remote employee, every API integration creates new entry points. The average enterprise now manages hundreds of applications and thousands of identities. Manual security can’t keep pace.

And the consequences of failure have never been higher. Regulatory frameworks like GDPR, CCPA, and industry-specific mandates (HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOX) carry real penalties. Customers expect data protection. Boards ask about cyber risk in every meeting. A single breach can wipe out years of brand equity overnight.

Benefits of Cybersecurity Tools

The right security stack delivers measurable value across the organization:

  • Reduced breach risk: Layered defenses catch threats that single tools miss, dramatically lowering the probability and impact of successful attacks
  • Faster incident response: Automated detection and response shrinks dwell time from months to minutes, limiting damage before it spreads
  • Operational efficiency: Automation eliminates manual, repetitive tasks, so security teams focus on high-value work instead of copy-pasting between consoles
  • Regulatory compliance: Built-in logging, reporting, and controls satisfy auditor requirements without last-minute scrambles
  • Business continuity: Proactive threat detection and response keeps operations running instead of scrambling to recover from preventable incidents
  • Cost savings: Preventing breaches is dramatically cheaper than recovering from them
  • Scalability: Cybersecurity tools that automate and integrate allow security programs to grow with the business without linear headcount increases
  • Visibility: Centralized dashboards and correlated data give security leaders a clear picture of risk posture instead of fragmented guesswork

10 Essential Cybersecurity Tools for 2026

1. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

EDR monitors endpoints —  laptops, servers, mobile devices, anything with an IP address — for suspicious activity and provides tools to investigate and contain threats. With remote work now permanent, endpoints are the new perimeter.

Why it matters: Attackers don’t break through firewalls anymore. They log in through compromised endpoints using stolen credentials. EDR is your visibility into what’s actually happening on every device in your environment.

Key players: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Microsoft Defender, Carbon Black

2. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

A SIEM aggregates log data from across your entire environment — firewalls, endpoints, applications, cloud services — and analyzes it to detect threats and anomalies. It’s command central for security visibility.

Why it matters: Threats hide in the gaps between systems. A SIEM connects the dots, correlating events across your infrastructure to surface attacks that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Key players: Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Google Chronicle, IBM QRadar

3. Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM controls who can access what in your environment and enforces authentication policies like multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and privileged access controls. Identity has become the most critical security layer.

Why it matters: 88% of breaches involve compromised credentials. You can have the best tools in every other category, but if attackers can simply log in as legitimate users, none of it matters.

Key players: Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping Identity, CyberArk

4. Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

CSPM continuously monitors cloud environments for misconfigurations, compliance violations, and security risks. As infrastructure moves to the cloud, so do the vulnerabilities.

Why it matters: Most cloud breaches aren’t sophisticated zero-days. They’re misconfigurations — a publicly accessible S3 bucket, an overly permissive IAM policy. CSPM catches these before attackers do.

Key players: Wiz, Orca, Prisma Cloud, Lacework

5. Email Security

Email security detects and blocks phishing, malware, and business email compromise before messages reach users. Despite all the sophisticated attack vectors out there, email remains number one.

Why it matters: Your employees receive hundreds of emails daily. One convincing phish is all it takes to compromise credentials or drop malware. Email security is your first line of defense against the most common attack vector.

Key players: Proofpoint, Mimecast, Abnormal Security, Microsoft Defender for Office 365

6. Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability management tools scan your environment for known vulnerabilities, prioritize them by actual risk, and track remediation. New common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) drop constantly — you need a system to keep up.

Why it matters: Security teams can’t patch everything simultaneously. Vulnerability management tells you what to fix first based on exploitability and business impact, not just CVSS scores.

Key players: Tenable, Qualys, Rapid7, CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight

7. Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)

Threat intelligence platforms aggregate, correlate, and operationalize threat data from multiple sources — commercial feeds, open-source intelligence, industry sharing groups, and internal telemetry. They turn raw data into actionable context.

Why it matters: Knowing an IP address is malicious isn’t useful if that knowledge sits in a spreadsheet. TIPs integrate threat intel directly into your security stack, enriching alerts with context and enabling proactive defense against emerging threats.

Key players: Recorded Future, Mandiant Threat Intelligence, Anomali, ThreatConnect

8. Web Application Security Testing (DAST/SAST)

Web application security testing tools identify vulnerabilities in your applications before attackers do. Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tests running applications from the outside; Static Application Security Testing (SAST) analyzes source code for flaws during development.

Why it matters: Applications are a prime attack vector — especially customer-facing web apps. Testing in production isn’t a strategy. These tools shift security left, catching vulnerabilities before they ship.

Key players: OWASP ZAP, Checkmarx, Snyk, Veracode

9. Penetration Testing & Exploitation Frameworks

Penetration testing tools simulate real-world attacks against your infrastructure, applications, and people. They help security teams think like attackers — finding weaknesses before someone with worse intentions does.

Why it matters: Vulnerability scanners find known issues. Pen testing finds how those issues chain together into actual attack paths. It’s the difference between knowing you have unlocked doors and knowing someone can walk through them into your vault.

Key players: Metasploit, Cobalt Strike, Kali Linux, Pentera, Horizon3.ai

10. Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation connects security tools, automates complex workflows, and accelerates incident response using AI-driven orchestration. It’s the evolution beyond legacy SOAR — which promised automation but delivered rigid playbooks, six-month integrations, and constant maintenance.

Why it matters: SOC teams face thousands of alerts daily. Without automation, analysts burn out on repetitive tasks while actual threats slip through. Legacy SOAR tried to solve this but created its own problems: brittle playbooks that break when anything changes, integrations requiring professional services, and specialized skills most teams don’t have.

Hyperautomation takes a fundamentally different approach. AI-driven workflows adapt without constant manual tuning. Integrations take days, not months. Automation extends beyond simple playbooks to complex, multi-step processes across the entire security organization — not just the SOC.

Key players: Torq

How These Tools Work Together

Here’s the thing about security tools: none of them work in isolation. A stack full of best-in-class point solutions means nothing if they can’t talk to each other.

Without integration, security operations look like this: An alert fires in one console. An analyst sees it, copies the relevant data, pivots to another tool to enrich it, manually checks a third system for context, then opens a ticket in a fourth. Multiply that by hundreds of alerts per day. With the right integration layer, those same tools become a system that responds automatically, consistently, and at machine speed.

Imagine this phishing response scenario: 

  • Without automation: Email security flags a suspicious message. An analyst sees the alert (eventually), manually pulls the email headers, searches threat intel for the sender domain, checks if the user clicked any links, pivots to EDR to scan the endpoint, decides whether to reset credentials, opens a ticket, documents the incident, and notifies the user. Best case: 45 minutes. Realistic case: hours, if it happens at all before the next alert demands attention.
  • With Hyperautomation: Email security flags the phishing message and triggers an automated workflow. Within seconds: the email is quarantined, threat intelligence enriches the alert with context on the sender and any known campaigns, EDR scans the recipient’s endpoint for malicious payloads, IAM resets the user’s credentials as a precaution and enforces a step-up authentication on next login, SIEM logs the entire incident chain for investigation and compliance, and the user receives a notification explaining what happened. Total time: under a minute. Analyst involvement: zero for Tier-1 resolution, escalation only if anomalies require human judgment.

Cybersecurity Tools Working Together: Results From Torq Customers

Kenvue

Kenvue, the consumer health giant behind brands like BAND-AID, Listerine, and Neutrogena, started with an outsourced SOC model. It provided coverage at scale but came with trade-offs: limited visibility, no ability to measure effectiveness, and a reactive security approach.

When Kenvue decided to bring operations in-house, they needed more than just automation. They needed a platform that could unify their tools, enforce consistency across incident types, and provide the data to prove their SOC’s value to the business.

With Torq, Kenvue hit their end-of-year automation goals in six months and now automates 89% of cases. MTTR dropped 60% within two months. But the bigger win was strategic: analysts who previously spent their time on manual data collection can now go “ten layers deeper” into investigations, catching subtle indicators of compromise that would have been missed before.

As Dustin Nowak, Kenvue’s Sr. Manager of Threat Detection & Hunt, put it: “We can now go to the business and say, ‘Here’s where the risk is, here’s how we brought that risk down, and we’re getting better at buying that risk down.'”

HWG Sababa

For managed security services provider HWG Sababa, their in-house automation tool required custom coding for every workflow, and they couldn’t build fast enough to keep up with their growing customer portfolio.

After switching to Torq, HWG Sababa recreated years’ worth of automation development in just weeks — something they couldn’t replicate with any other solution they evaluated. The platform now automatically manages 55% of their total monthly alert volume, from acknowledgment through investigation and response. MTTI/MTTR improved by 95% for medium- and low-priority cases and 85% for high-priority cases.

The ROI extends directly to customers. Torq automates containment and remediation actions that previously required customer involvement, saving large clients days of reclaimed time. HWG Sababa tracks every automated action and reports concrete time savings back to customers, including tasks handled outside business hours when customer teams aren’t available.

The result: a stronger security posture, happier analysts freed from tedious manual work, and a competitive MSSP advantage when pitching new prospects.

How to Choose the Right Cybersecurity Tool Stack for Your Environment

There’s no universal “correct” security stack. The right combination depends on your infrastructure, threat profile, team size, compliance requirements, and budget. But the selection process follows the same logic regardless of your situation.

  1. Start with your environment. Cloud-native? Multi-cloud? Hybrid with legacy on-prem systems? Your infrastructure dictates which cybersecurity tools matter most. A company running entirely on AWS has different needs than one managing data centers alongside Azure and GCP workloads.
  2. Map your threat landscape. What are you actually defending against? A financial services firm faces different threats than a healthcare provider or a SaaS startup. Understand where attacks are most likely to come from — email, endpoints, applications, supply chain — and prioritize tools that address those vectors.
  3. Assess your team’s capacity. The most powerful tool is useless if your team can’t operate it. Be honest about skills, headcount, and bandwidth. A five-person security team can’t manage the same stack as a 50-person SOC. Choose security tools that match your operational reality, not your aspirations.
  4. Prioritize integration over features. A tool with 100 features that doesn’t integrate with your stack creates more problems than it solves. Every security tool you add should connect to the others — sharing data, triggering workflows, and operating as part of a system rather than another silo to manage.
  5. Plan for scale. Your environment will grow. Alert volumes will increase. New security tools will get added. Choose a stack that can grow with you without requiring a full rearchitecture every 18 months.

Here’s the reality: even the best-selected tools won’t deliver value if they operate in isolation. You can check every box (EDR, SIEM, IAM, CSPM, email security, vulnerability management) and still have a security program that’s slower and more manual than it should be.

That’s where Torq comes in. Torq Hyperautomation™ is the layer that brings your entire stack together. With out-of-the-box integrations to over 300 security products, Torq connects your environment (whatever it looks like) and automates the workflows that tie detection to response to remediation. 

The cybersecurity tools you choose matter. But what matters more is making them work together. Torq makes that happen.

Make Your Tools Work Together

The right cybersecurity tools protect your business. But only if they work together.

A disconnected stack — where analysts manually shuttle data between consoles, where integrations take months, where automation means “slightly faster manual work” — isn’t a security program.

Integration and automation are the force multipliers. They’re what separate security teams that stay ahead from those perpetually playing catch-up.

Torq Hyperautomation connects your entire security stack and automates response at machine speed, without rigid playbooks, six-month integration projects, or adding to your team’s workload.

Get the Don’t Die, Get Torq manifesto to learn how your SOC tools can work together to protect your business.

FAQs

What are the most important cybersecurity tools for businesses in 2026?

The essential cybersecurity tools for businesses include Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) for device-level threat visibility, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) for centralized log analysis and correlation, Identity and Access Management (IAM) for controlling user access and authentication, Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) for monitoring cloud misconfigurations, email security for blocking phishing and business email compromise, and vulnerability management for prioritizing and tracking remediation.

However, tools alone aren’t enough — Hyperautomation platforms like Torq connect these tools and automate response workflows so they operate as a unified system rather than isolated point solutions.

How do cybersecurity tools work together to protect an organization?

Cybersecurity tools work together through integration and automated workflows. When tools share data and trigger actions across systems, they transform from isolated point solutions into a coordinated defense.

For example, when email security detects a phishing message, it can automatically trigger threat intelligence enrichment, endpoint scans, credential resets, and user notifications — all within seconds. Without integration, analysts manually copy data between consoles, delaying response and increasing the chance that threats slip through. Hyperautomation platforms serve as the orchestration layer that connects security tools and automates these multi-step workflows at machine speed.

How do I choose the right cybersecurity tools for my business?

Choosing the right cybersecurity tools starts with understanding your environment, threat landscape, and team capacity. First, map your infrastructure — cloud-native, hybrid, or on-prem environments have different requirements. Second, identify your most likely threat vectors based on your industry and data sensitivity. Third, be honest about your team’s size and skills; the most powerful tool is useless if your team can’t operate it. Fourth, prioritize integration over features — tools that don’t connect to your existing stack create more problems than they solve.

Finally, plan for scale so you don’t need to rearchitect every 18 months. The most critical factor is ensuring your tools work together as a system, which is why organizations increasingly adopt Hyperautomation platforms to unify their stack and automate cross-tool workflows.

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

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“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

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“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

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“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

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“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

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The Agentic SOC is Here: Torq Raises $140M Series D to Dominate the Future of Security Operations

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We are witnessing the end of the legacy SOC and the rise of something entirely new.

I’m incredibly proud to announce Torq has closed a $140 million Series D, valuing our company at $1.2 billion. This brings our total funding to $332 million. But let’s be clear: this isn’t just a fundraising milestone. It is a declaration that the Agentic SOC is no longer a future concept — it’s the operational reality for the world’s most advanced enterprises, and Torq is leading the charge.

Rebuilding the SOC with Pure Agentic Capabilities

From day one, our mission wasn’t to build a better SOAR or a faster automation tool. We set out to fundamentally rebuild the SOC around agentic AI.

AI Agents are driving a change in multiple software industries as we speak. Torq shows that the application of this technology to security operations can bring tremendous outcomes and this is what we are after: the opportunity of breaking away from “being an important tool for security professionals” and delivering on our true mission: providing outcomes that revolutionize security operations and make the overall security posture of an organization much stronger then ever before. We plan not only to deliver agentic technologies, but to restructure the whole experience for our customers, focusing on outcomes.

The industry has been stuck with bolt-on automation and legacy tools that require endless tuning and heavy services. That era is over. Torq is delivering pure agentic capabilities — a fully agentic, AI-first security operations platform that works at true enterprise scale.

We are delivering the only end-to-end solution designed for Hyperautomation, intelligent alert triage, and complete operational autonomy. We aren’t just assisting analysts, but liberating them. We are eliminating alert fatigue so security teams can evolve from reactive responders to proactive strategists.

Market Domination: Proven Value, Not Hype

The adoption of Torq AI Agents has been explosive because the value is undeniable. Unlike traditional tools that take months to deploy, Torq provides immediate, measurable impact.

Our agents are now deeply embedded in the SOCs of Fortune 500 leaders like Marriott, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Uber, and Virgin Atlantic. They are running millions of agentic security actions every single day — handling everything from complex investigations to rapid response.

The feedback from our customers is the only validation that matters.

“Torq delivers fast, measurable value to Valvoline’s SOC and eliminates the manual tasks that once consumed our analysts’ time,” said Corey Kaemming, CISO, Valvoline. “Within 48 hours of deployment, our team was using Torq’s AI SOC Platform for automating phishing triage, accelerating alert handling, and reducing response times across the board.”

“Our results with Torq were transformative. Analysts reclaimed hours of time, containment actions became automatic, and the security team evolved from reactive responders to proactive strategists. Torq took the vision that was in our heads and actually put it into practice. My team is in love with Torq.”

– Corey Kaemming, CISO, Valvoline

“We’re always innovating our security operations approach at Virgin Atlantic and the Torq AI SOC Platform is driving significant benefits for us,” said John White, CISO, Virgin Atlantic. “Today, innovation stems from an AI-first approach, which Torq excels at. Torq is making our security operations simpler and more efficient, and providing us with complete coverage across our security stack. Torq is now our umbrella platform.” 

This is what Agentic SOC market domination looks like: bottom-up adoption that transforms Torq from a point solution into the beating heart of the modern security stack.

Fueling the Revolution

This funding enables us to accelerate. We’re doubling down on speed, including speed of innovation, speed of go-to-market, and speed of value for customers.

A major focus of this next chapter is expanding into the U.S. Federal and Public Sector markets. We’re ready to navigate the complexities of FedRAMP and bring the power of the Agentic SOC to protect the nation’s most critical infrastructure. The stakes are high, and our platform is proven.

Our Partners in Vision

We’re thrilled to have Merlin Ventures lead this round. As a firm with deep roots in both commercial and U.S. public sectors, they understand exactly where the market is going.

“Torq is redefining security operations,” said Shay Michel, Managing Partner, Merlin Ventures. “They’ve fused automation and human judgment into a new AI SOC Platform built for asymmetric threats and real-world scale. This is why Merlin is leading the investment. Our focus now is speed — accelerating go-to-market, expanding across commercial and government markets, and building the next global category leader in AI security operations.”

It’s also a powerful vote of confidence that every single one of our existing investors doubled down in this round, including Evolution Equity Partners, Notable Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners, and Greenfield Partners. Thank you for believing in our vision, our team, and the future we are building.

To the Torq Team and Our Customers

To my team: this milestone belongs to you. Your relentless focus and belief that security operations can be radically better is what got us here.

To our customers: thank you for trusting us to protect your organizations.

The Agentic SOC is here. We’re just getting started.

Let’s go!

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

Ready to automate everything?

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

Compuquip logo in white

“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

Fiverr logo in black

“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

Carvana logo in black

“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

Riskified logo in white

“Torq has transformed efficiency for all five of my security teams and enabled them to focus on much more high-value strategic work.”

Yossi Yeshua, CISO

The Top Cybersecurity Tools for Federal Agencies and Utilities in 2026

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Legacy SOAR isn’t the only casualty in cybersecurity. The era of “best efforts” in federal cybersecurity ended in 2025. The Salt Typhoon campaigns made sure of that.

Throughout 2025, adversaries planted spyware and stole sensitive data from critical infrastructure, telecom, and federal IT assets. 2026 will be worse — AI-driven threats are coming for agencies that aren’t prepared. Executive Order 14028 has turned autonomous orchestration from a competitive advantage into a mandate.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Federal agencies have the tools. SIEMs. EDR. Firewalls. But when threat actors move from access to lateral movement in under 90 minutes, manual playbooks won’t save you. You’re bringing human-speed response to an AI-speed fight.

The tools aren’t failing you. The gaps between them are.

Hyperautomation changes that, not as another tool, but as the autonomous orchestration layer that makes your stack work at adversary speed. And at the speed federal law now demands. 

Why Legacy Tools Weren’t Built for This Fight

Federal security teams know the pain. Legacy SOAR platforms promised automation but delivered something else: complex deployments requiring specialized coding skills, rigid playbooks that break with every infrastructure change, and an inability to scale when alert volumes spike (for a deeper dive on why this model is broken, read The SOAR is Dead Manifesto).

The compliance burden makes it even worse.

  • NIST RMF requirements demand continuous monitoring across hundreds of controls. 
  • NERC CIP mandates rigorous documentation for utilities.
  • FISMA reporting cycles consume analyst hours that should be spent hunting threats. 

Every manual process creates a security gap. Time spent documenting is time not spent defending.

Not to mention, the staffing math doesn’t work. Federal cyber workforce shortages persist while threat volumes multiply. You can’t hire your way out of a problem that requires machine-speed response.

Vendors built legacy SOAR for a different era, one where analysts had time to build custom Python scripts, and threats moved slowly enough to allow deliberate response. 

That era is over.

The Essential Cybersecurity Tool Stack for 2026

It’s time to stop thinking about security tools as a checklist and to start thinking about them as an integrated system with distinct functions. 

That’s exactly what Torq delivers: an autonomous Hyperautomation layer that unifies your SIEM, EDR, identity tools, and cloud security platforms into a single, orchestrated defense system. Call it your legacy SOAR replacement. 

Here’s a breakdown of an integrated system starting at the top:

1. Hyperautomation

This is the orchestration layer that transforms your security stack from a collection of point solutions into a unified defense system. Torq Hyperautomation amplifies your systems and tools by automating the data flow, decision-making, and response actions that currently require human intervention.

The difference from legacy SOAR? A customizable workflow design that security analysts can build and modify without waiting on engineering resources. Native cloud architecture that scales to handle massive event volumes. And AI-driven decision support that accelerates triage without removing human judgment from critical decisions.

For example, when Check Point deployed Torq, they eliminated alert fatigue despite a 30% manpower gap

2. Modern SIEM and Data Lakes

Visibility remains foundational, but visibility alone isn’t enough. No more “swivel-chairing” to multiple screens and dashboards. Whether you’re running Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Elastic, or a combination, your SIEM is only as valuable as your ability to act on what it sees.

The challenge is turning that data into action fast enough to matter. When the Hyperautomation layer integrates directly with your SIEM, alerts trigger automated enrichment, correlation, and initial response before an analyst even opens the ticket.

3. EDR and XDR

Endpoint detection and response tools like CrowdStrike and SentinelOne provide the enforcement capability your security operations need. But isolation and remediation only happen if the signal gets through the noise and reaches the right response workflow.

Here’s where integration becomes critical. Hyperautomation connects your detection capabilities to your response capabilities with no manual handoffs, no copy-paste between consoles, and no delays while analysts context-switch between tools.

4. Unified Orchestration

The real power emerges when these layers work together automatically. Consider NIST RMF evidence collection, typically a manual exercise consuming hundreds of analyst hours per authorization cycle. With Torq Hyperautomation, every security action generates documentation. Every control assessment pulls live data from your actual security tools. Continuous monitoring becomes continuous by default, not as an aspiration.

This type of system is how organizations like BigID achieve 10x efficiency gains. As their CISO noted, work that would normally require ten security engineers now needs just one or two, with Torq Hyperautomation handling the orchestration.

Use Cases That Matter for Federal Agencies and Utilities 

Automated NIST and CISA Compliance

Compliance shouldn’t mean choosing between security and documentation. When security workflows automatically log actions, capture evidence, and update control status, you get both.

Picture this: An incident triggers automated response. The workflow contains the threat, collects forensic data, and notifies stakeholders, while simultaneously documenting every action, timestamping it, and mapping it to relevant NIST 800-53 controls. 

Your next audit prep just got significantly shorter.

Phishing Response at Scale

Large federal agencies and utilities face thousands of reported suspicious emails monthly. Each report requires triage, investigation, and potential remediation. Traditional approaches create backlogs that leave threats active while analysts work through queues.

Hyperautomation transforms phishing investigation and response. Automated analysis identifies genuine threats within seconds. The system quarantines malicious messages across the organization automatically. Users receive immediate feedback. Analysts focus on the complex cases that actually need human judgment.

Lennar’s security team experienced this directly — phishing remediations that previously consumed hours are now completed in minutes.

IT/OT Convergence for Critical Infrastructure

Utilities face a unique challenge: securing operational technology environments that engineers never designed for connectivity, now increasingly integrated with IT networks. When an alert fires in your OT monitoring system, can your IT security team respond appropriately? Can they respond fast enough?

Hyperautomation bridges this gap by orchestrating response across both environments. 

An anomaly detected in an industrial control system can trigger IT-side investigation, OT-side containment, and coordinated notification, without requiring analysts to manually pivot between disconnected tools.

5 Questions Federal CISOs Must Ask Their Vendors

Before your next security investment, get clear answers to these questions:

1. Can this solution deploy on-prem, in government cloud, and in hybrid configurations? Federal environments have strict data residency requirements. Solutions that only work in commercial cloud may not meet your compliance needs.

2. Does it require proprietary coding languages or specialized development skills? If building a new workflow requires Python expertise and weeks of development, you’ve just created a bottleneck. Look for no-code or low-code approaches that put automation capability in the hands of your security analysts.

3. Can it sustain 1M+ daily security events without performance degradation? Federal agencies generate massive event volumes. Proof-of-concept environments rarely match production scale. Demand evidence of enterprise-scale deployments.

4. How does it integrate with our existing tools? Generic “API support” claims mean nothing. Ask for demonstrated integrations with your actual SIEM, EDR, identity provider, and ticketing system. Look for pre-built connectors, not promises.

5. What is the realistic deployment timeline to first value? Legacy SOAR implementations often stretch 12-18 months before delivering meaningful automation. Modern Hyperautomation platforms like Torq show value in weeks. Valvoline saw results within 48 hours of deployment.

Ready to ditch your legacy SOAR? Here’s how to migrate.

The Year of Autonomous Defense

2026 will test federal security operations like never before. AI-powered threats will move faster than human-speed response can counter. Nation-state actors will continue targeting critical infrastructure. Compliance requirements will expand while budgets and staffing remain constrained.

The agencies and utilities that thrive will embrace autonomous defense, amplifying human capabilities with machine-speed automation. Torq is accelerating this mission. A $140M Series D led by Merlin Ventures — a firm with nearly 30 years bringing technologies to the U.S. government — gives Torq the strategic support and deep government relationships to navigate FedRAMP and scale across Federal and Public Sector markets.

Your security stack already has the tools. Torq Hyperautomation is the missing layer that makes them work together.

Ready to achieve autonomy for your federal security operations? Get the Don’t Die, Get Torq manifesto. 

FAQs

What is the difference between legacy SOAR and Hyperautomation for utilities?

Legacy SOAR often requires heavy coding and manual upkeep, which fails in the high-stakes environment of IT/OT convergence. Hyperautomation provides a customizable orchestration layer that allows utility operators to automate security across both traditional IT assets and industrial control systems (ICS) without needing a dedicated team of software engineers to maintain the scripts.

How does Hyperautomation support Executive Order 14028?

Executive Order 14028 mandates that federal agencies modernize their cybersecurity through Zero Trust Architecture and standardized incident response playbooks. Hyperautomation supports this by acting as the connection that automates these playbooks across disconnected tools, ensuring that response actions are executed at machine speed as required by CISA’s federal cybersecurity guidelines.

How does a Hyperautomation platform integrate with my existing security tools?

Torq offers 300+ pre-built integrations with leading SIEMs, EDR/XDR platforms, identity providers, and cloud security tools, including Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, CrowdStrike, Okta, and more.

Can Hyperautomation automate NIST 800-53 compliance reporting?

Yes. Hyperautomation platforms like Torq turn compliance from a manual audit into an “always-on” process. By integrating directly with your security stack, the platform can automatically orchestrate evidence collection for third-party compliance solutions. Torq AI Agents and Hyperautomation also turn NIST-800-53 controls, like Incident Response (IR), into automated, defined and repeatable processes while documenting every action in real-time.

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

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“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

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“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

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“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

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“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

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Yossi Yeshua, CISO

Making the AI SOC Work in the Real World

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The promise of the “AI SOC” is everywhere. Every vendor is pitching a future where security operations are self-driving, autonomous, and effortless.

But for the CISOs and engineers actually doing the work, the reality feels different. The gap between the marketing hype and a functioning production environment is filled with technical roadblocks, integration nightmares, and operational friction. Most AI SOC initiatives stall not because AI is ineffective, but because integration complexity, trust boundaries, and operational friction are underestimated.

If you are struggling to modernize your operations, you aren’t alone. These AI SOC challenges are real — but they aren’t insurmountable. The difference between failure and success lies in the platform you choose to navigate them.

Here is a transparent look at the most challenging aspects of building an AI SOC, and how Torq removes the obstacles to make the path forward easier.

7 AI SOC Challenges Holding Teams Back

Challenge 1: Data Integration Complexity

SOC teams rely on dozens of tools across SIEM, EDR, identity, cloud, email, and ITSM. Each produces valuable signals, but those signals live in separate systems with different APIs, schemas, and workflows.

The reality:

  • Disparate tools with inconsistent log formats
  • Legacy SIEMs that don’t integrate with modern platforms
  • Shadow IT and undocumented data sources
  • API limitations and rate throttling that bottleneck automation

According to Splunk’s State of Security 2025 report, 78% of organizations are fighting with dispersed, disconnected tools. Every investigation requires manual pivoting between consoles. 

Challenge 2: Playbook Design and Maintenance

Legacy SOAR promised automation through playbooks. What it delivered was technical debt. Legacy SOAR automation relies heavily on deterministic, script-based logic. As environments evolve, these workflows degrade.

The reality: 

  • Building reliable, adaptable workflows is resource-intensive
  • Static playbooks break when environments change
  • Edge cases multiply faster than teams can document them
  • Maintenance burden grows with every new automation

Teams that invested months building SOAR playbooks often spend more time fixing them than benefiting from them. One vendor update, one environment change, one edge case nobody anticipated — and the whole workflow breaks.

Challenge 3: Trust and Risk Tolerance in Automation

The hardest question isn’t “can AI act?” — it’s “when should it act?”

The reality:

  • Analysts resist letting automation act autonomously
  • One bad automated action erodes months of trust-building
  • Risk tolerance varies dramatically by organization and use case
  • Security teams have been burned by automation failures before

The trust gap is real. Black-box AI decisions make it worse. When analysts can’t see why an automation took an action, they don’t trust it — and they shouldn’t. Without trust, teams keep humans in the loop for everything. “Autonomous” becomes “automation with extra approval steps.” The efficiency gains disappear.

Challenge 4: Limited Context Across Environments

Most security incidents are cross-domain, but most tools are not.

Email, endpoint, identity, SaaS, and cloud telemetry often live in separate silos. AI that only sees one domain is forced to guess.

The reality:

  • Cloud, endpoint, identity, and SaaS data live in silos
  • Correlating context across environments requires deep integration
  • Multi-cloud and hybrid architectures multiply complexity
  • Real-time correlation at scale is technically difficult

AI without context makes bad decisions. A suspicious login looks different when you know the user’s endpoint just flagged malware. An anomalous data transfer makes sense when correlated with a legitimate business process.

When AI can’t see the full picture, analysts end up doing manual correlation anyway — defeating the purpose of automation.

Challenge 5: Skill Gaps in SecOps Teams

Most SOC analysts were hired to analyze threats, not engineer automation. That mismatch creates real AI SOC challenges.

The reality:

  • Automation fluency is different from security expertise
  • Vendors assume technical capabilities that don’t exist
  • Turnover means institutional knowledge walks out the door
  • Poor implementation leads to poor results

Teams that lack automation skills not only struggle with implementation but also with ongoing optimization. Projects stall waiting for “the one person who knows how it works.” When that person leaves, the automation becomes a black box nobody wants to touch.

Challenge 6: Organizational Resistance

Perception plays a critical role in the success or failure of AI SOC initiatives.. Fear of job displacement, skepticism from prior failures, and cross-team friction can stall adoption.

The reality:

  • Fear of job replacement creates internal opposition
  • Leadership skepticism after previous failed projects
  • “We’ve always done it this way,” mindset

Analysts who feel threatened become blockers, not champions. This is the AI SOC challenge that catches technical teams off guard. You can solve every integration problem and still fail because nobody wants to use what you built.

Challenge 7: Vendor Lock-In and Siloed Systems

Centralization is not the same as autonomy. Some platforms require full data ingestion into proprietary data lakes to unlock AI capabilities. This limits flexibility and increases switching costs.

The reality:

  • Proprietary platforms create dependency
  • Closed ecosystems limit integration options
  • Migration costs make switching prohibitively expensive
  • Vendor roadmaps don’t align with your needs

Achieving autonomy through a locked-in vendor isn’t autonomy; it’s trading one constraint for another. Autonomy should increase freedom — not reduce it.

How Torq Helps Teams Address AI SOC Challenges

We built Torq because we lived through these AI SOC challenges ourselves. We knew that for AI to work in the enterprise, it didn’t just need to be smart; it needed to be accessible.

Here is how Torq’s AI SOC eliminates the friction and makes the transition to autonomy easy.

Open, Stack-Agnostic Integration

We don’t care what tools you use. Our platform is built on an open, API-first architecture with limitless integrations.

You don’t need to build custom connectors or normalize data manually. Torq connects to your existing stack — Wiz, Okta, CrowdStrike, Slack — instantly. To build the full picture, our AI Agents can query any tool in your arsenal that you authorize, automatically bridging the data gaps that stall other platforms.

Transparent, Policy-Bound Autonomy

With Torq, you see exactly what the AI is thinking. Our AI SOC Analyst, Socrates, shows its work. You get a full, human-readable timeline of every step the AI took: I checked the IP reputation, I verified the user in Okta, I saw no previous logins from this country.

Every AI-driven action in Torq is explainable, logged, and auditable. Teams control when automation analyzes, recommends, or executes — and can adjust that boundary over time.

Solve Complexity with No-Code + Agentic AI

Torq combines the power of agentic AI with a no-code interface. 

  • Agentic AI: Handles the complex “thinking” tasks (investigation, decision making, conversational triage with users).
  • No-code builder: Allows your team to visually drag-and-drop the workflows and guardrails.

This combination means you can deploy adaptive, AI-enhanced workflows in minutes, not months.

Maintenance with AI Workflows

Legacy automation breaks constantly. Torq is built to adapt. Torq workflows are intent-driven, not hard coded scripts, making them more tolerant of API changes and minor data shifts.

The Bottom Line

AI SOC challenges are real. But the challenges are surmountable. Organizations that approach AI SOC implementation with realistic expectations, the right platform, and genuine organizational alignment achieve transformative results: 95%+ automation, 60%+ MTTR reduction, and analysts doing strategic work instead of drowning in alerts.

The Torq platform was built with these challenges in mind. 300+ prebuilt integrations for the data complexity problem. Adaptive reasoning instead of brittle playbooks. Explainable AI with full audit trails. 90-day time-to-value, not 12-month implementations.

It’s possible — and we’ll show you how.

FAQs

What are the biggest AI SOC challenges for enterprises?

The biggest AI SOC challenges are data fragmentation (tools not communicating with each other), a lack of trust in AI decision-making (fear of errors or unintended consequences), and the high technical barrier to entry (requiring coding skills). Torq addresses all three by offering extensive integrations, transparent AI reasoning, and a no-code interface.

How does Torq solve integration challenges in the SOC?

Torq solves integration challenges by using an agentless, API-first approach. Unlike platforms that require you to move all your data into their proprietary data lake, Torq overlays your existing stack, orchestrating actions across any tool (SIEM, EDR, Cloud, Identity) without complex setup.

Can AI in the SOC really be trusted to act autonomously?

Yes, but only if the platform provides transparency and guardrails. One of the main AI SOC challenges is the “black box” problem. Torq addresses this by ensuring that every AI decision is logged, auditable, and visible to human analysts, and by enabling teams to establish strict policy guardrails on what the AI is permitted to do.

Is implementing an AI SOC expensive and time-consuming?

Sometimes. But AI SOC platforms like Torq make the path easy. By removing the need for custom code and offering pre-built AI Agents, Torq enables organizations to transition from “zero” to “autonomous value” in days, rather than the 6-12 month cycles typical of legacy SOAR solutions.

How long does it take to implement an AI SOC?

With true AI SOC platforms, organizations can see a measurable impact within 30 days and achieve significant automation coverage within 90 days. However, full autonomy is a journey — most organizations benefit from incremental expansion over 6 to 12 months.

What should I look for in an AI SOC platform?

Prioritize platforms with broad prebuilt integrations (300+), adaptive reasoning instead of static playbooks, explainable AI with full audit trails, vendor-agnostic architecture, and proven time-to-value. Look for 90-day ROI, not 12-month implementations.

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

Ready to automate everything?

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

Compuquip logo in white

“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

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“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

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“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

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“Torq has transformed efficiency for all five of my security teams and enabled them to focus on much more high-value strategic work.”

Yossi Yeshua, CISO

What Is An MSSP & MSP? Key Differences Explained

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TL;DR: MSSP vs MSP  

  • What is an MSP? A Managed Service Provider manages IT infrastructure, networks, help desk, cloud services, and software updates
  • What is an MSSP? A Managed Security Service Provider focuses on cybersecurity — 24/7 threat monitoring, incident response, and compliance
  • Main difference between MSP and MSSP: MSPs handle IT operations; MSSPs handle security operations
  • Can an MSP provide security? Yes, but only baseline protection. MSSPs offer specialized, SOC-level defense
  • Do you need an MSP or MSSP? Many organizations use both for complete IT and security coverage
  • What’s changing? Automation is bridging the MSP-MSSP gap, enabling faster response and broader capabilities

You’ve seen the acronyms. MSP. MSSP. MDR. But do you know the difference between them?

The primary difference between a managed service provider (MSP) and a managed security services provider (MSSP) is the scope of their offerings. One keeps your IT lights on. The other keeps attackers out. 

In this blog, we’ll break down exactly what MSPs and MSSPs do, where they diverge, and why automation is becoming the great equalizer for both. Whether you’re a CISO evaluating service providers or a security architect building your defense strategy, understanding this distinction could mean the difference between operational efficiency and a costly breach — IBM reports the average now tops $4.88 million.

What is an MSP?

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) functions as your outsourced IT department. They deliver comprehensive technology services that keep your business operations running smoothly. They’re the ones who make sure your employees can actually do their jobs without screaming at frozen screens.

MSPs handle the operational backbone of your technology stack:

  • Network management and infrastructure support
  • Cloud migration and hosting services
  • Help desk support and troubleshooting
  • Software deployment, maintenance, and updates
  • User access management and provisioning
  • Data backup and disaster recovery

Their goal is to keep your IT systems operational and efficient, handling the technology backbone so your team can focus on core business objectives.

The catch? While MSPs typically include baseline security services like antivirus management and patch deployment, security represents just one component of their broader service portfolio. While MSPs do offer some level of security services, such as antivirus and firewall management, their services are not as specialized as those provided by MSSPs.

For organizations without the budget or headcount for a full internal IT team, MSPs provide instant scale. They’re invaluable for keeping operations running. But when sophisticated threats come knocking — and they will — you’ll need a specialist.

What is an MSSP?

A Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) is a different animal entirely. MSSPs operate at a higher level of specialization. They build and run a dedicated security operations center (SOC) or leverage one through a partnership.

MSSPs don’t dabble in general IT. Their singular goal is protecting your organization from cyber threats — 24/7, 365 days a year. While your MSP ensures employees can access their email, your MSSP ensures attackers can’t. 

Some MSSPs also offer Managed Detection and Response (MDR) — a more focused service that combines advanced threat detection, real-time monitoring, and active incident response. Where traditional MSSP services might stop at alerting you to a problem, MDR goes further by investigating threats and taking action to contain them. Think of MDR as the rapid-response team within the broader MSSP model.

Other core MSSP capabilities include:

MSSPs specialize in monitoring, detecting, and responding to cybersecurity threats. They evolved to address a brutal reality: modern security environments are too complex for generalists to handle. According to (ISC)², the global cybersecurity workforce faces a shortage of approximately 4.8 million unfilled positions; most organizations simply cannot build a capable internal security team.

A single good security analyst can cost over $120,000 per year. To cover your business 24/7, you’d need at least five of them. An MSSP delivers that entire team — plus the technology stack — for a predictable monthly fee.

MSSPs are particularly critical for organizations in highly regulated industries like finance, healthcare, government contracting, and e-commerce, where the stakes of a breach extend far beyond dollars to include regulatory penalties, legal exposure, and reputational damage. According to the World Economic Forum, two-thirds of organizations face additional risks because of cybersecurity skills shortages, making external security expertise more valuable than ever.

MSSP vs MSP: 6 Key Differences

The line between MSPs and MSSPs isn’t just semantic;  it defines your organization’s risk posture. Here’s how they stack up:

FactorMSPMSSP
Primary FocusIT operations and infrastructure managementCybersecurity and threat protection
Core ObjectiveSystem uptime and operational efficiencyRisk reduction and incident response
Security DepthBaseline security (antivirus, patches)Advanced security (SIEM, XDR, threat hunting)
Operating ModelReactive — responds to IT issues as they ariseProactive — continuously monitors for threats
Operations CenterNetwork Operations Center (NOC)Security Operations Center (SOC)
Compliance SupportLimitedComprehensive (HIPAA, PCI, GDPR, etc.)

MSPs are generalists focused on reliability and IT operations. MSSPs are security specialists focused on risk reduction and incident response.

The distinction matters because the MSSP needs to provide clients with 24/7 protection and availability to combat security incidents through speedy detection and response. Most MSPs struggle with this simply because of limited resources and experience.

That said, the line is blurring. SOAR is out. Hyperautomation is in. The difference: More integrations, cloud-native scalability, and AI-powered automation that actually works. This technological shift is enabling both MSPs and MSSPs to expand their capabilities in ways that were impossible just a few years ago.

How Hyperautomation Transforms Both MSPs and MSSPs

Here’s where it gets interesting. The traditional boundaries between MSPs and MSSPs are dissolving — and automation is the catalyst.

According to MSSP Alert, manual responses won’t be able to keep up with AI-assisted adversaries, making security automation the only viable path forward. In 2026, the MSSPs gaining the most market share will be the ones shifting their operating model from human-led workflows to AI-driven automation. But this shift isn’t exclusive to MSSPs. Forward-thinking MSPs are leveraging automation platforms to punch above their weight class and deliver MSSP-level capabilities.

For MSPs expanding into security:

Hyperautomation platforms enable MSPs to automate security workflows without requiring a dedicated security engineering team. This includes automated compliance checks, standardized response actions, and cross-tool orchestration that previously demanded specialized expertise.

For MSSPs scaling service delivery:

Forward-thinking MSSPs implementing AI-driven automation with Hyperautomation platforms are already achieving 90–95% autonomous Tier-1 alert handling, effectively eliminating the most resource-draining portion of SOC operations. The result? They can onboard more customers with fewer analysts, unlocking higher margins without adding headcount.

Torq Hyperautomation™ enables both models to unify monitoring, response, and compliance across managed environments. Whether you’re an MSP looking to add advanced security services or an MSSP scaling to meet growing demand, the platform provides:

  • Unlimited integrations with existing security and IT tools
  • AI-driven case triage that eliminates noise and surfaces real threats
  • Automated response playbooks that execute at machine speed
  • Multi-tenant architecture built for service providers

The shift from manual to automated operations isn’t just an efficiency play; it’s an existential one. 

Choosing Between an MSP and MSSP Provider (and Why Many Choose Both)

So which do you need? The honest answer: it depends on your current capabilities, risk tolerance, and regulatory requirements.

Consider an MSP if:

  • You lack internal IT resources and need comprehensive infrastructure support
  • Your security needs are relatively basic (compliance isn’t heavily regulated)
  • You’re a small business looking to outsource IT operations cost-effectively

Consider an MSSP if:

  • You have IT resources, but need dedicated security expertise
  • You operate in a highly regulated industry (healthcare, finance, government)
  • You require 24/7 threat monitoring and rapid incident response
  • Your organization handles sensitive data that attackers actively target

Consider both if:

  • You need comprehensive IT operations AND advanced security capabilities
  • You want a clear separation of duties between IT management and security
  • Your organization is scaling rapidly and needs both operational efficiency and robust protection

For businesses with larger, more complex IT environments, a hybrid approach that combines the strengths of both MSPs and MSSPs can offer a more complete, strategic solution.

Tip: Ask how prospective providers are leveraging automation. The managed services landscape is rapidly bifurcating between providers stuck in manual, human-led workflows and those embracing AI-driven operations. The former will struggle to keep pace with evolving threats. The latter will deliver faster response times, better coverage, and stronger outcomes.

The MSP vs MSSP Debate Ends Where Automation Begins

MSPs and MSSPs serve different but complementary functions. MSPs keep your IT operations humming. MSSPs keep attackers at bay. Confusing the two — or assuming one can fully cover the other’s domain — creates gaps that adversaries will exploit.

But here’s the real takeaway: the MSP vs MSSP debate is becoming obsolete. Automation is rapidly bridging the gap between IT management and security orchestration. The managed service providers winning market share aren’t just hiring more analysts;  they’re deploying intelligent automation that enables machine-speed detection and response while freeing human experts to focus on strategic work.

For MSSPs and MDRs, that means solving the challenges that have plagued the industry for years: analyst burnout from triaging low-value alerts, slow customer onboarding, and margins squeezed by headcount-dependent delivery models. Torq’s AI SOC addresses these head-on with:

  • 95% of Tier-1 cases auto-investigated and enriched — clearing out low-impact work so analysts focus on what matters
  • 18x faster customer onboarding — spinning up new customers in minutes, not weeks
  • Multi-tenant architecture — centralized automation with segmented environments for performance and SLA management
  • AI SOC Analyst (Socrates) — a 24×7 on-call agent handling Tier-1 and Tier-2 cases autonomously, escalating with full context when human judgment is needed

Whether you’re evaluating external providers or looking to enhance your internal capabilities, the question isn’t just “MSP or MSSP?” It’s “How are they automating security operations?”

Ready to see how Torq powers the next generation of managed security? 

FAQs

What is an MSP in IT?

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a third-party company that remotely manages an organization’s IT infrastructure and end-user systems. MSPs handle tasks like network management, cloud services, help desk support, software updates, and data backup — essentially functioning as an outsourced IT department.

What is an MSSP in cybersecurity?

A Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) is a specialized third-party provider focused exclusively on cybersecurity. MSSPs deliver services like 24/7 threat monitoring, incident response, vulnerability management, and compliance support, typically operating from a dedicated Security Operations Center (SOC).

What's the main difference between an MSP and an MSSP?

The primary difference is focus. MSPs concentrate on broad IT operations and keeping systems running efficiently. MSSPs specialize exclusively in cybersecurity, providing advanced threat detection, incident response, and compliance management that goes far beyond the baseline security services MSPs typically offer.

Can an MSP also offer managed security services?

Yes, many MSPs include basic security services like antivirus management and patching. However, these offerings typically lack the depth, 24/7 monitoring, and specialized expertise that MSSPs provide. Some MSPs are expanding into MSSP-level capabilities by leveraging automation platforms like Torq Hyperautomation™.

How does Torq help MSSPs automate security operations?

Torq Hyperautomation enables MSSPs to automate Tier-1 alert triage, incident investigation, and response actions across multiple client environments. With AI-driven case management, unlimited integrations, and multi-tenant architecture, MSSPs can handle more customers without increasing headcount, reducing MTTR from minutes to seconds while improving service margins.

What is MSP vs MDR?

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is a specialized cybersecurity service that combines advanced technology with human experts for continuous monitoring, threat hunting, and active remediation. While an MSP manages general IT infrastructure, MDR focuses specifically on detecting and responding to threats. MDR is typically a service that top-tier MSSPs provide as part of their security offerings.

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

Ready to automate everything?

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

Compuquip logo in white

“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

Fiverr logo in black

“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

Carvana logo in black

“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

Riskified logo in white

“Torq has transformed efficiency for all five of my security teams and enabled them to focus on much more high-value strategic work.”

Yossi Yeshua, CISO

Automating HIPAA Breach Notification Workflows with No-Code Security Automation

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TL;DR: HIPAA Compliance

  • What triggers a HIPAA breach notification? Any unauthorized access, acquisition, use, or disclosure of unsecured PHI is presumed a breach unless you can document a low probability of compromise.
  • What’s “unsecured” PHI? PHI that isn’t encrypted (at rest and in transit) or properly destroyed per NIST standards.
  • What are the notification deadlines? 60 days to notify affected individuals; 60 days to notify HHS and media for breaches affecting 500+ people.
  • Why do manual workflows fail? Buried alerts, inconsistent documentation, missed handoffs between security, legal, and compliance, and audit trails that fall apart under OCR scrutiny.
  • Why does automation matter? Speed lowers risk. Consistency wins audits. Integration prevents misses. When OCR investigates, you want to export a timeline — not reconstruct one from email threads.
  • How does Torq help? 300+ integrations, prebuilt healthcare workflows, BAA-ready compliance, and no-code orchestration.

HIPAA breach notifications are a “must get right” moment for every healthcare organization. When unsecured protected health information (PHI) is exposed, the clock starts, and so do the obligations: investigate rapidly, determine notifiability, coordinate with legal and compliance, notify affected individuals (and sometimes HHS and the media), and document everything for audit. Doing this manually across fragmented tools introduces delays, inconsistencies, and risks.

This blog shows CISOs how to move beyond generic checklists by Hyperautomating HIPAA breach notification workflows, so your team can respond in real time, enforce consistency, and produce audit-ready evidence on demand. Modern AI SOCs (like Torq) integrate with the systems you already use (SIEM, EHR, IAM, ticketing, comms) to orchestrate a defensible, repeatable response for incidents involving PHI and ePHI.

What is HIPAA Security Compliance?

HIPAA compliance means meeting the regulations established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its implementing rules: Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification. Together, they define the requirements for how covered entities and business associates protect and use PHI.

Core Goals of HIPAA

HIPAA exists to:

  • Protect patient privacy by limiting uses and disclosures of PHI
  • Ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic PHI (ePHI)
  • Enable secure healthcare operations with appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards

Three Rules That Define HIPAA Compliance

  1. Privacy Rule: Governs when and how PHI may be used or disclosed.
  2. Security Rule: Sets safeguard standards (administrative, physical, technical) for ePHI; it is the core of HIPAA security compliance.
  3. Breach Notification Rule: Requires notification when unsecured PHI is breached. This is where speed, coordination, and documentation matter most — and where automation delivers outsized value.

What Does HIPAA Protect? 

What is PHI?

Protected health information (PHI) is individually identifiable health information held or transmitted by a HIPAA-covered entity or its business associate, in any form. Examples include medical records, diagnostic images, claims and billing data, lab results, clinical notes, appointment histories, and insurance details. If a data element can reasonably identify a person and relates to health, care, or payment, it’s PHI.

ePHI and Its Risks

ePHI is PHI in electronic form. It’s uniquely exposed to cyber risks, including lost or stolen devices, misconfigured cloud storage, exposed backups, insider snooping in electronic health records (EHRs), phishing-driven account takeovers, and unpatched systems. The HIPAA security rule requires safeguards that match these risks.

What Counts as “Unsecured” PHI

Under HIPAA, PHI is “unsecured” if it is not rendered unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals — typically by NIST-recognized encryption (at rest and in transit) or proper destruction. 

Breach notification duties generally apply to unsecured PHI. A “breach” is presumed unless a documented risk assessment shows a low probability of compromise considering factors such as: the nature of the data, who received it, whether it was actually viewed/acquired, and the extent of mitigation (e.g., verified deletion).

Who Must Comply with HIPAA?

HIPAA-Covered Entities and Business Associates

Covered entities: Health plans, most healthcare providers, and healthcare clearinghouses.

Business associates: Vendors and partners that create, receive, maintain, or transmit PHI for a covered entity (e.g., IT providers, billing services, cloud platforms).

Both share responsibility: Business associates must notify the covered entity of a breach without unreasonable delay (no later than 60 days), and covered entities generally carry the public notification burden.

Who Enforces HIPAA

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigates complaints, conducts audits, and enforces HIPAA regulations. Penalties range from corrective action plans to significant civil monetary penalties, based on willfulness, negligence, and corrective actions.

Why AI and Automation Support Compliance

  • Speed lowers risk: Faster detection, triage, and decision-making reduces exposure and the likelihood of OCR findings.

  • Consistency wins audits: Standardized workflows and complete, immutable logs show diligence, reduce human error, and improve audit outcomes.

  • Integration prevents misses: Automated orchestration across EHR, IAM, SIEM, cloud, legal, and comms keeps every stakeholder aligned.

HIPAA Breach Notification Requirements and Why They’re Easy to Miss

When a Breach Triggers Notification

A breach is any unauthorized access, acquisition, use, or disclosure of unsecured PHI that compromises its security or privacy. Under HIPAA, a breach is presumed unless your organization can demonstrate, through a documented risk assessment, that there’s a low probability that the PHI was actually compromised.

The challenge is that these determinations require coordination across security, legal, privacy, and compliance teams. Manual processes mean delayed handoffs, inconsistent documentation, and risk assessments that don’t hold up under scrutiny.

Notification Obligations

Individual notification: Affected individuals must be notified within 60 days of breach discovery. Notices must include specific information about what happened, what data was involved, and what steps individuals should take.

HHS notification: Breaches must be reported to HHS via the OCR portal. Breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals can be reported annually; breaches affecting 500 or more must be reported within 60 days.

Media notification: If a breach affects more than 500 residents of a state or jurisdiction, prominent media outlets serving that area must be notified within 60 days.

Why Manual Workflows Fail

Manual breach response is a game of broken telephone. Alerts get buried in inboxes. Escalations depend on someone remembering to forward an email. Risk assessments get documented inconsistently — or not at all. Legal doesn’t get looped in until it’s too late.

This results in missed deadlines, incomplete documentation, and the kind of audit trail that makes OCR investigators lean forward in their chairs.

HIPAA Compliance Checklist for Automating Breach Notifications

Use this checklist to design a defensible, automated breach notification workflow with Torq Hyperautomation.

End-to-End Automation Steps

1. Detect incidents involving PHI: Ingest signals from EHR audit logs, SIEM/XDR, DLP, CASB, cloud posture tools, IAM (impossible travel and geo anomalies), and ticketing systems. Torq has 300+ integrations out of the box, so you’re pulling signals from your entire stack — not just the tools that happen to have a native connector.

2. Auto-enrich with context: Automatically correlate accounts to identities and roles, devices and endpoints, data systems accessed, specific data elements involved (demographics, clinical notes, etc.), geo/IP, and time ranges. This context is what transforms a raw alert into an actionable case.

3. Escalate to legal and compliance: Route a standardized breach-risk questionnaire and facts pack to Privacy and Legal with required fields to drive the low-probability-of-compromise analysis. No more chasing down stakeholders — Torq can spin up a dedicated Slack channel, assign Jira tickets, and track response SLAs automatically.

4. Notify external parties per HIPAA guidelines: Generate compliant individual notices, queue OCR portal submission, and prepare media templates when thresholds are met. Track deadlines and automate reminders so nothing slips past the 60-day window.

5. Log everything for audit and OCR reviews: Maintain immutable, timestamped records of events, decisions, content sent, recipients, and approvals. Tag by incident ID and retention policy. When OCR comes knocking, your documentation is already organized, complete, and ready to present.

Why CISOs Need This HIPAA Checklist

Codifying policy into machine-enforced steps reduces pressure on Legal and Privacy, ensures consistency across every incident, and creates the kind of documentation that demonstrates diligence. When you can show OCR exactly what happened, when it happened, and how your team responded, you’re in a fundamentally different position than the organization scrambling to reconstruct a timeline from email threads.

Real Use Cases: How Healthcare Organizations Automate HIPAA Breach Notifications

Here’s how healthcare providers are actually using Torq Hyperautomation to meet HIPAA breach notification requirements in the real world.

Unauthorized EHR Access by Internal Staff

An impossible travel alert fires. A nurse’s credentials accessed patient records from two states within an hour. Torq automatically enriches the alert with the user’s role, recent access patterns, and the specific records viewed. If the access looks anomalous, Torq escalates to the security team via Slack, creates a case in ServiceNow, and kicks off a breach risk assessment workflow, prompting Privacy and Legal to complete a pre-populated questionnaire. If the assessment confirms a breach, notification workflows trigger automatically.

Lost or Stolen Device with PHI Access

An employee reports a stolen laptop through a self-service Slack chatbot. Torq immediately queries the endpoint management system to confirm whether the device was encrypted and whether it had access to PHI. If encryption was enabled and remotely verified, the incident is documented and closed. If not, Torq initiates the breach notification workflow, pre-populating the risk assessment with device details, user access history, and data classification tags.

Cloud Storage Misconfiguration Exposing PHI

A Wiz alert identifies an S3 bucket containing patient data that’s been publicly accessible for 72 hours. Torq automatically remediates the misconfiguration, then pivots to breach assessment: What data was exposed? Was it accessed? By whom? Torq queries access logs, enriches with data classification, and routes findings to Legal with a recommendation on notifiability. The entire sequence — from detection to auto-remediation to breach assessment— happens in minutes, not days.

Why No-Code Automation Is a Game-Changer for HIPAA Compliance

Manual breach response doesn’t scale. It doesn’t document well. And it definitely doesn’t hold up under regulatory scrutiny. No-code automation changes the equation.

Key Capabilities That Improve Breach Response

Prebuilt workflows for healthcare use cases: Torq offers templates purpose-built for compliance scenarios, so you’re not starting from scratch. Deploy a HIPAA breach notification workflow in hours, not months.

Real-time escalation across systems: Torq connects your SIEM, EHR, Slack, Jira, ServiceNow, email, and more — orchestrating response across every stakeholder without manual handoffs. When an alert fires, the right people know immediately, with full context.

Audit logs for OCR readiness: Every action, decision, and communication is logged automatically. When it’s time for an audit, you’re not reconstructing a timeline; you’re exporting one.

How Torq Stands Out

Security-first platform: Torq is built for security teams, with SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and C5 compliance baked in. When engaging with HIPAA-covered entities, Torq provides and signs Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) to ensure the highest level of care for information.

Healthcare integrations out of the box: EHR systems, cloud platforms, identity providers, ticketing tools; Torq connects to 300+ tools natively, with AI-powered integration generation for anything not already in the library.

No-code, low-code, and full-code flexibility: Security analysts can build workflows visually without writing code. Engineers can drop into Python or custom logic when needed. Everyone works in the same platform.

Manual HIPAA breach notification processes are slow, risky, and impossible to scale. Every hour spent on manual coordination is an hour the breach window stays open, documentation stays incomplete, and OCR scrutiny grows more likely.

With Torq Hyperautomation, healthcare security teams can detect PHI incidents in real time, enrich and escalate with full context, coordinate breach assessments across Legal and Privacy, automate compliant notifications, and maintain audit-ready documentation — all without writing a line of code.

Ready to Hyperautomate your HIPAA breach response? Get the Don’t Die, Get Torq Manifesto.

FAQs

What triggers a HIPAA breach notification requirement?

Any unauthorized access, acquisition, use, or disclosure of unsecured protected health information (PHI) triggers HIPAA breach notification requirements. Under HIPAA, a breach is presumed unless your organization can document — through a formal risk assessment — that there’s a low probability the PHI was actually compromised. Factors include the nature of the data, who received it, whether it was viewed or acquired, and the extent of mitigation efforts like verified deletion.

How long do you have to report a HIPAA breach?

HIPAA requires covered entities to notify affected individuals within 60 days of discovering a breach. Breaches affecting 500 or more individuals must also be reported to HHS and prominent media outlets within 60 days. Breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals can be reported to HHS annually. Business associates must notify covered entities without unreasonable delay, and no later than 60 days after discovery.

How can automation help with HIPAA compliance?

Automation helps healthcare organizations meet HIPAA compliance requirements by accelerating breach detection and response, ensuring consistent documentation, and maintaining audit-ready records. Automated workflows can ingest alerts from EHR, SIEM, and cloud systems; enrich incidents with context; route risk assessments to legal and compliance teams; generate compliant notifications; and log every action with immutable timestamps. This reduces human error, prevents missed deadlines, and produces the kind of evidence trail that stands up to OCR scrutiny.

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

Ready to automate everything?

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

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“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

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“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

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“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

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“Torq has transformed efficiency for all five of my security teams and enabled them to focus on much more high-value strategic work.”

Yossi Yeshua, CISO

AI SOC, Explained: How AI-Powered SOCs Transform SecOps

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TL;DR: AI SOC

  • SOCs are drowning. Alert volumes are exploding, 40% of alerts go unaddressed, and there’s a 4M+ cybersecurity talent shortage with no end in sight.
  • AI in the SOC isn’t enough. Bolt-on copilots and point tools make analysts slightly faster — they don’t transform operations.
  • A true AI SOC is different. AI agents autonomously triage, investigate, and remediate threats across the complete security lifecycle.
  • Five capabilities define a true AI SOC: Unified data layer, autonomous investigation and response, agentic AI, native case management, and open ecosystem with MCP support.
  • Humans aren’t replaced. AI agents take on the grunt work so analysts can focus on critical threats and strategic decisions.
  • Results: Torq customers achieve 90%+ auto-remediation of cases in minutes and reclaim hours of analyst time daily — on a platform Forbes calls “the de facto leader of the AI SOC space.”

Security Operations Centers (SOCs) are the command center of an organization’s frontline cybersecurity defenses — responsible for monitoring threats, prioritizing alerts, and orchestrating remediation. However, today’s SOCs are facing an existential crisis: an overwhelming volume of increasingly complex and AI-scale threats combined with a shortage of skilled analysts. This perfect storm is pushing SOCs to their breaking point, burning out their teams and leaving their organizations vulnerable.

Legacy security automation solutions struggled to keep up with the evolving threat landscape, especially at scale. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been hailed as a game-changer for SOCs, offering the potential for unprecedented efficiency gains.

But what does effective AI use in the SOC look like, and what’s the difference between AI in the SOC and an AI SOC? Below, we break down everything you need to know about AI-powered security operations.

What is an AI SOC?

But here’s what matters most: the AI SOC doesn’t stop at analysis.

While many solutions focus solely on detection and triage, the true value of an AI SOC lies in managing the complete threat lifecycle — from triage through investigation to response. The agentic SOC takes action and closes cases autonomously.

Modern security operations is shifting from automated (static playbooks and scripts) to autonomous (agentic AI that can reason, plan, and act within explicit guardrails). This distinction matters: the difference between AI as a feature and AI as the engine of your security operations is the difference between incremental improvement and operational transformation.

AI in the SOC vs. AI SOC: What’s the Difference?

Not all AI-powered security is created equal. There’s a critical distinction between adding AI capabilities to an existing SOC and building a truly AI-native SOC.

AI in the SOC refers to bolt-on AI tools layered on top of traditional SOC infrastructure — a copilot here, a chatbot there, maybe some machine learning (ML)-based detection. These point solutions can provide incremental improvements, but they typically stop providing any real value at a crucial tipping point: the verdict. AI that simply triages alerts but doesn’t take the next step to turn analysis into action won’t fundamentally change how the SOC operates. Analysts still context-switch between disconnected tools, manually correlate data across systems, and spend hours on repetitive tasks to actually contain and remediate threats. In this scenario, the AI assists, but the human remains the bottleneck.

An AI SOC is architecturally different. It’s built from the ground up with AI at the core — not as an add-on, but as the foundation. In a true AI SOC:

  • AI agents don’t just advise — they act. They autonomously triage, investigate, and remediate threats across the complete lifecycle.
  • The platform is unified, not fragmented. A single operational data layer connects your entire security stack without forcing data migration or vendor lock-in.
  • Humans shift from operators to overseers. Instead of manually executing every step, analysts provide strategic direction and handle only the cases that truly require human judgment.
  • Automation is agentic, not scripted. Rather than rigid playbooks, AI reasons through novel situations, adapts to new threat vectors, and takes goal-driven action within defined guardrails.

AI in the SOC speeds up analyst work slightly. A true AI SOC fundamentally reimagines how analysts spend their time.

The Technical Foundations of an AI SOC

Security automation has evolved way past SOAR and even the basic no-code/low-code automation platforms that quickly became standard-issue features. The new cornerstones of the modern autonomous SOC are Hyperautomation and AI agents.

  • AI-driven Hyperautomation: By seamlessly integrating your security stack and instantly automating any security process using thousands of pre-built integration steps and AI-generated workflows, Hyperautomation offloads routine tasks, reduces analyst burnout, and accelerates threat response.
  • Multi-Agent System: Specialized AI agents automate incident response by interpreting natural-language instructions and collaborating to autonomously execute tasks such as alert triage, containment, and remediation. Human analysts can interact with AI agents using natural language to accelerate enrichment, investigation, and recommended next steps.

Five Core Capabilities of a True AI SOC

To operate at machine speed, defend against AI-enhanced adversaries, and eliminate manual work, a next-generation AI SOC must deliver five core capabilities:

  1. A unified operational data layer: A true AI SOC delivers SIEM-agnostic connectivity with native integrations across identity, cloud, SaaS, EDR, NDR, and email security — enabling decentralized processing without forcing data migration or vendor lock-in.
  2. Autonomous investigation and response: A true AI SOC eliminates manual alert enrichment, tab-switching, and log correlation by autonomously executing identity enrichment, endpoint posture analysis, threat intelligence lookups, evidence collection, and more.
  3. Agentic AI capabilities: The best AI SOCs include agentic AI that can reason, plan, adapt, and take actions within defined guardrails — enabling goal-driven planning, dynamic tool use, contextual memory, and independent decision-making that is safe, predictable, and auditable.
  4. Native case management: A true AI SOC requires purpose-built case management with autonomous case generation, AI-driven prioritization, integrated collaboration, full evidence timelines, and audit-ready transparency — not legacy ticketing systems that were never designed for security investigations.
  5. Open ecosystem + Model Context Protocol (MCP): Top AI SOCs provide comprehensive integrations, no-code workflow creation, API-first architecture, and support for MCP — the open protocol that standardizes communication between AI agents and tools.

AI in the SOC Terminology, Explained

This new landscape of AI in the SOC comes with a LOT of similar-but-different terminology. GenAI, AI Agents, OmniAgents, agentic AI, multi-agent systems — we get it, it can be confusing. 

Here’s a breakdown of all the AI powering modern security operations, what each one does, and how Torq HyperSOC™ puts them all to work. 

TermDefinitionWhat It DoesHow Torq Uses It
GenAICreates content, code, text, images, or predictions in response to natural language promptsEnhances SOC operations with automated case summaries, enrichment, and workflow generationDrafts incident summaries, generates workflow templates, and speeds up case documentation
Agentic AIAutonomous, goal-driven AI that plans, adapts, and executes multi-step security workflows across time and toolsPowers AI agents with autonomy and adaptability to handle tasks like detection, triage, and response in real-timeEnables agentic analysis to become actionable intelligence, elevating AI beyond a simple recommendation tool into an extension of your workforce, making decisions and taking action
AI AgentAn AI Agent is a single AI entity that independently handles a specialized taskPerforms specific security tasks such as isolating endpoints, locking accounts, or enriching threat intelligence based on predefined triggersPowers single-task automations: pulling threat intel, scanning suspicious emails, updating ServiceNow or Jira tickets
HyperAgentsAutonomous, transparent, and customizable AI Agents that transform SecOps workflowsAdapt to your use cases, automate routine tasks, and simplify workflow design based on clear direction your team controlsPowers Auto Triage verdicts, investigation workflows, and remediation actions with full transparency and customization
Multi-Agent System (MAS)Composed of multiple autonomous AI agents that collaborate to achieve complex goalsDeploys specialized AI agents in parallel across the SOC to handle triage, investigation, containment, and case managementSocrates, the AI SOC Analyst, coordinates a team of Agents to act autonomously without human-triggered actions from case creation through threat remediation at machine speed
OmniAgentActs as a “Super Agent” orchestrating the activities and interactions between specialized AI Agents in a MASUses sophisticated iterative planning and reasoning to solve complex, multi-step problems autonomously through the coordination of multiple AI AgentsSocrates identifies, prioritizes, and remediates threats across the entire organization by controlling and coordinating the Runbook, Investigation, Remediation, and Case Management Agents

AI SOCs Complete Threat Lifecycle Management

One of the benefits of a true AI SOC is that it manages the complete threat lifecycle. Here’s how each stage transforms traditional security operations:

Triage: The AI SOC ingests and normalizes telemetry from across your security stack, correlating and deduplicating events to reduce noise. Agentic AI analyzes risk context and threat intel to deliver verdicts that separate false positives from actual risk — before alerts ever reach a human analyst.

Investigate: Cases are assigned to a task force of specialized, customizable AI Agents that work at the direction of your staff to gather evidence, assemble timelines, and summarize findings. This removes manual bottlenecks and expands SOC capacity, all with the transparency, oversight, and control your team demands.

Respond: The AI SOC enables autonomous response actions to contain threats quickly and ensure critical threats are seen by the right people. Over 90% of cases can be remediated completely autonomously, freeing your team to do what they do best: threat hunting, strategic planning, and high-level decision making.

Top Use Cases for AI SOCs

By analyzing vast amounts of data from across your security stack and executing intelligent automations, AI unlocks efficiency gains across SOC functionalities such as:

  • Incident investigation: Analyze massive volumes of alerts to identify patterns, suppress low-fidelity alerts, and automate triage and validation, accelerating the investigation process from start to resolution. 
  • Case management: Streamline the process of prioritizing, tracking, and managing security incidents by intelligently enriching and automating cases.
  • Workflow generation: Prompt AI with a natural language description of your use case to instantly build security automation workflows — no code required.
  • Case summarization: Analyze all relevant data points associated with a security alert to provide easy-to-digest, evidence-backed summaries of complex security cases, improving SOC analysts’ efficiency and collaboration.
  • Documentation: Automatically generate documentation for complex automated processes, increasing both efficiency and accuracy from shift-handovers to compliance audits.
  • Executive reporting: Prompt the system to generate case info in the right tone and level of information for a specific persona, such as for a non-technical executive or board member. 
  • Team collaboration: Automatically alert Slack or Teams channels when a case is created, escalated, resolved and more.
  • Resource optimization: Use AI to assign cases to an available analyst based on workload and shift schedules. 
  • Data correlation: Combine and correlate data from all tools in your security stack to provide a holistic view of your security environment.
  • Threat response: Automate tasks like threat detection and containment for faster incident resolution.

How Do AI SOCs Transform Traditional Security Operations? 

Scaling SOC operations: AI agents can handle an influx of security events: triaging, investigating, and remediating the majority of Tier-1 and Tier-2 alerts. This frees up analyst bandwidth to focus on urgent incidents and strategic projects, enabling SOCs to efficiently scale their operations without increasing headcount. Torq’s AI-powered Hyperautomation scales elastically, handling unlimited alert volumes without degradation. Carvana’s agentic AI now handles 100% of Tier-1 alerts, with no increase in headcount required.

Shifting to a proactive security posture: Agentic AI goes beyond just detecting and counteracting attacks by applying real-time intelligence to identify patterns and detect emerging threats. This allows SOCs to adopt a less reactive, more preemptive approach to address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited or breached. 

Reducing alert fatigue and analyst burnout: By autonomously triaging alerts and reducing false positives, AI agents reduce the number of irrelevant alerts that analysts must wade through. And by automating tedious, repetitive tasks and auto-remediating most low-level alerts, AI-driven Hyperautomation helps senior analysts regain time and capacity to focus on more rewarding work, such as strategic projects. 

Accelerating incident response: Manual investigation and remediation take hours; time attackers use to move laterally and escalate privileges. Socrates coordinates detection, enrichment, containment, and case management at machine speed, auto-remediating 95% of cases within minutes. Valvoline cut analyst workload by 7 hours per day after implementing Torq.

Speeding up MTTR: All of the efficiency gains from leveraging AI in the SOC translate to more alerts resolved, faster.

Will AI Replace Humans in the SOC?

Adopting AI in the SOC is not about replacing human SOC analysts — it’s about augmenting and empowering them. With a looming 4 million+ cybersecurity talent shortage, organizations must not only retain their existing analysts, but also help them work more efficiently. On top of that, organizations are recognizing that human-only defenses are inadequate to counter the evasive and persistent threats posed by AI-driven attacks.

AI reduces analyst burnout: A multi-agent system can reduce the strain on SOC teams by offloading rote tasks, auto-remediating the majority of Tier 1 tickets, and upleveling the skills of junior analysts. This frees up senior analysts to focus their expertise on critical threats and strategic projects, helping their organization achieve a stronger overall security posture.

Human expertise must remain the final line of defense: Done the right way, AI-powered SOCs keep humans “in the loop” as the ultimate decision-makers for high-stakes threats following rigorous, multi-tiered AI evaluation and case enrichment that helps human analysts take informed, decisive action.

“By 2028, multiagent AI in threat detection and incident response will rise from 5% to 70% of AI implementations to primarily augment — not replace — staff.” 

Gartner Inc.

How Torq Delivers a True AI SOC

Torq isn’t AI bolted onto a legacy platform — it’s a true AI SOC built from the ground up. The Torq AI SOC Platform delivers all five core capabilities, combining agentic AI and automation to triage, investigate, and respond to threats with speed, scale, and transparency.

  • Socrates, the OmniAgent AI SOC Analyst: Socrates intelligently automates alert triage, incident investigation, and response, extending your SOC teams’ capabilities and improving response times across the board. Socrates coordinates a full Multi-Agent System (MAS) — planning, investigating, remediating, and managing security cases with human-like decision-making and machine-speed execution. Socrates can auto-remediate 95% of cases within minutes. For critical cases that require human intervention, your analysts can collaborate with Socrates using natural language to summarize case details, enrich cases with additional investigation and threat intelligence, and trigger remediation workflows
  • AI Workflow Builder: Simply describe your desired security automation workflow in natural language, and Torq’s AI Workflow Builder will generate a tailored solution in seconds. Rather than spending hours manually building workflows from scratch, your team is freed up to focus on more strategic security initiatives.
  • AI Case Summaries: Help your team make the right decisions quickly by presenting them with a concise, insightful, and verifiable AI-generated summary of each case. No more wading through pages of logs and incident details! The easy-to-read summaries empower SOC teams to work faster, make informed decisions with confidence, and seamlessly transition between shifts by giving the incoming team clear case context backed by citations.
  • AI Data Transformation: Simplify complex data manipulation for security operations by easily transforming complex JSON data using natural language — no coding required. Each transformation is broken down into precise, testable micro-transformations that users can edit, validate, and modify individually.
  • Runbook Execution: Intelligently plan customized investigation and response strategies based on the organization’s historical outcomes and adapt to new threat vectors, ensuring faster containment.
  • Deep Research Investigations: Uncover hidden attack patterns across disparate data sources, perform detailed root cause analyses, and dynamically assess threat impact — giving SOC teams context previously out of reach without hours of manual digging.
  • Limitless Integrations: 300+ pre-built integrations with 4,000+ steps, plus AI-powered creation of new integrations and workflows.

Torq is the first autonomous security platform to support Model Context Protocol (MCP) natively — making it the most autonomous and truly agentic SecOps platform available.

The Future of the SOC

When deployed effectively, an AI SOC contains threats immediately while extending and enhancing your existing staff’s capabilities. This will become more critical than ever as attackers leverage AI to scale at machine speed.

So, what does the future of SOC automation look like? Sophisticated multi-agent AI continuously learns from historical data and real-time incidents to generate insights and recommendations, automate routine security tasks, and auto-remediate the majority of alerts, with a top layer of human analysts providing strategic oversight for critical cases. This means faster, more proactive responses to threats and vulnerabilities — and a more secure future for organizations everywhere.

Want to learn how to deploy AI in the SOC the right way? Read the AI or Die Manifesto to learn CISO considerations, fake AI red flags, and evaluation questions.

FAQs

What is an AI SOC?

An AI SOC (AI-powered Security Operations Center) is a security operations center that uses agentic artificial intelligence to automate threat detection, accelerate incident response, and manage the complete threat lifecycle — from triage through investigation to remediation. Unlike traditional SOCs that rely on manual processes and static playbooks, an AI SOC leverages agentic AI that can reason, plan, and take autonomous action within defined guardrails.

What is the difference between AI in the SOC and a true AI SOC?

AI in the SOC refers to bolt-on AI tools added to existing infrastructure — such as copilots or ML-based detection — that provide incremental improvements but don’t fundamentally change how the SOC operates. A true AI SOC is built from the ground up with AI at the core, where agents autonomously triage, investigate, and remediate threats across a unified platform. The key difference: AI in the SOC makes analysts slightly faster, while a true AI SOC transforms what analysts spend their time on.

Will AI replace human analysts in the SOC?

No. AI SOCs are designed to augment and empower human analysts, not replace them. AI handles routine tasks like alert triage, data correlation, and Tier-1 remediation — freeing analysts to focus on critical threats, threat hunting, and strategic projects. According to Gartner, multi-agent AI in threat detection will rise from 5% to 70% by 2028, primarily to augment staff rather than replace them.

What are the core capabilities of a next-generation AI SOC?

A next-generation AI SOC must deliver five core capabilities: (1) a unified operational data layer with SIEM-agnostic connectivity, (2) autonomous investigation and response that eliminates manual enrichment, (3) agentic AI that can reason, plan, and act within guardrails, (4) native case management with AI-driven prioritization and evidence timelines, and (5) an open ecosystem with API-first architecture and Model Context Protocol (MCP) support.

Can AI SOC integrate with existing security tools?

Yes. Torq HyperSOC connects seamlessly with your existing stack — SIEM, EDR, IAM, cloud platforms, ticketing systems, and more — through 300+ pre-built integrations. There’s no rip-and-replace required; AI enhances the tools you already have. Explore integrations →

How quickly can an AI SOC be implemented?

Torq deploys in minutes, not months, with agentless architecture and no-code workflow building. Carvana automated 41 runbooks within one month of deployment. Most customers see production value within 30 days, with AI handling the majority of Tier-1 alerts from day one. Get a demo →

SEE TORQ IN ACTION

Ready to automate everything?

“Torq takes the vision that’s in your head and actually puts it on paper and into practice.”

Corey Kaemming, Senior Director of InfoSec

“Torq HyperSOC offers unprecedented protection and drives extraordinary efficiency for RSM and our customers.”

Todd Willoughby, Director

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“Torq saves hundreds of hours a month on analysis. Alert fatigue is a thing of the past.”

Phillip Tarrant, SOC Technical Manager

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“The only limit Torq has is people’s imaginations.”

Gai Hanochi, VP Business Technologies

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“Torq Agentic AI now handles 100% of Carvana’s Tier-1 security alerts.”

Dina Mathers, CISO

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“Torq has transformed efficiency for all five of my security teams and enabled them to focus on much more high-value strategic work.”

Yossi Yeshua, CISO

The Best SOC Tools in 2026: Legacy vs Modern Automation

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Security Operations Centers (SOCs) are evolving faster than ever. As cybersecurity threats grow more sophisticated and digital infrastructure expands across cloud, hybrid, and on-prem environments, legacy SOC tools like SOAR are falling behind. Static dashboards, siloed point solutions, and human-dependent processes simply can’t keep up.

Traditional SecOps tools are no longer enough. Modern tools must proactively detect suspicious activities using broad data sources (e.g., threat intelligence, vulnerability databases, etc.) and enable seamless collaboration across teams. Automation is the key SOC tool to scale detection and response efficiently. 

Modern SOCs require automation-first platforms that enable proactive defense, seamless integrations, and high-scale responsiveness. Platforms like Torq — powered by Hyperautomation — represent the next generation of SOC architecture. 

Read on for a breakdown of SOC tools, an exploration of the best tools of 2025, and how automation streamlines security operations.

What is a SOC Tool?

Today’s cybersecurity environments rely on dozens of integrated systems. While powerful, this complexity can create inefficiencies, increase SOC analyst fatigue, and lead to slower threat response times. This is where SOC automation platforms like Torq shine by orchestrating across all tools, streamlining workflows, and accelerating response.

5 Core Capabilities of Security Operations Center Tools

Modern SOCs demand tools built for the cloud’s dynamic, distributed nature. Here are five must-have capabilities your stack needs.

1. Continuous SOC Monitoring

Tools should provide always-on visibility across cloud, hybrid, and on-prem workloads, dynamically adapting to autoscaling and ephemeral infrastructure. Look for platforms that detect real-time anomalies, monitor traffic flows, flag malicious configurations, and help strengthen your cloud security posture with minimal manual effort.

2. Log Collection and Analysis

Log tools enable deep investigation by aggregating decentralized telemetry across services. They help correlate signals across layers, enhancing intrusion detection, root cause analysis, and threat attribution across sprawling cloud environments.

3. Threat Detection

The best detection tools are plugged into real-time threat intel feeds and vulnerability databases. This allows SOC teams to quickly spot indicators of compromise (IoCs), detect novel tactics, and stay ahead of emerging threats with precision.

4. Incident Response

Incident response platforms have prebuilt playbooks and customizable workflows to stop attacks quickly. They can block malicious IPs, isolate compromised assets, and auto-contain threats without human intervention.

5. Automation

Security automation is essential for modern SOCs to operate efficiently at scale. It streamlines repetitive tasks, accelerates incident response, and allows SOC analysts to focus on complex threats instead of manual workflows.

How to Evaluate SOC Tools in a Fragmented Market

Knowing the capabilities is only half the battle. With thousands of vendors on the market, how do you distinguish a future-proof platform from legacy tech? When evaluating your stack for 2026, prioritize these three non-negotiable criteria:

  • Vendor-agnostic integration: Avoid “walled gardens.” Your tools must communicate openly via API. If a SOAR platform only works well with its parent company’s SIEM, it creates a silo, not a solution.

  • Agentic AI capabilities: Look beyond simple chatbots. Modern tools should feature Agentic AI that can autonomously plan, execute, and verify complex remediation tasks—not just summarize alerts.

  • Time-to-value: Can the tool deploy in hours, or does it require a six-month consulting engagement? The speed of implementation is a critical metric for agile SOCs.

The Top 10 SOC Tools in 2025

Specific tools have emerged as foundational to operational success as the SOC landscape evolves. Below are ten must-have SOC software tools and technologies for any security team aiming to stay ahead.

1. Log Collection and Management

Log management tools like Splunk and Elastic gather security logs and telemetry from various sources, including endpoints, network devices, and cloud environments. Proper log management is foundational for threat detection, compliance monitoring, and forensic investigations, making it an indispensable part of the SOC infrastructure.

2. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

SIEM platforms provide essential SOC monitoring and event correlation capabilities, helping security teams quickly identify and respond to threats. They are the cornerstone for centralized security operations.

Common examples of SIEM tools include IBM QRadar, Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk Enterprise Security, LogRhythm, and ArcSight. This SOC software correlates data across multiple sources, providing comprehensive threat visibility and efficient event management. 

3. Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability management platforms continuously scan and assess SOC network assets for vulnerabilities, prioritizing them based on severity and business impact. These platforms help SOC analysts proactively address critical issues before attackers can exploit them.

Rapid7 InsightVM, Nessus, Tenable, and Qualys are leading vulnerability management tools that provide actionable vulnerability data, enabling teams to rapidly and effectively patch vulnerabilities. Effective vulnerability management reduces organizational risk, maintains compliance, and prevents attackers from exploiting known weaknesses.  

4. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

EDR tools monitor endpoints, such as laptops and servers, enabling detection of malicious activities and automated response to threats in real time. Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions expand this coverage to networks, email, the cloud, and servers, delivering comprehensive security visibility.

EDR solutions like CrowdStrike Falcon and SentinelOne provide forensic capabilities and proactive threat-hunting features. XDR tools like Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR unify endpoints, SOC networks, and cloud security to offer a holistic view of the threat landscape. 

5. Email Security

Email security tools work by performing detection and response across email, endpoints, and identity systems. They can quarantine malicious messages, remove harmful emails post-delivery, and correlate activity across systems to reveal the full scope of an attack. 

Solutions like Proofpoint and Microsoft Defender provide real-time URL and attachment sandboxing, threat intelligence integration, and automated remediation of compromised accounts. These capabilities not only strengthen threat response but also support compliance by enforcing encryption, archiving, and access controls.

6. Threat Hunting

Threat hunting tools proactively search for signs of malicious activity that evade traditional detection methods. Platforms like Carbon Black and Cisco empower SOC analysts with advanced investigative capabilities to discover and neutralize threats before they cause significant damage.

7. Threat Intelligence

Threat intelligence tools gather and analyze external threat data, providing actionable insights into potential cyber threats. Platforms such as Recorded Future and Anomali enhance a SOC’s ability to predict, identify, and ensure a proactive response to emerging threats, keeping teams informed of global threat trends and attacker tactics.

8. Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

CSPM tools help identify, assess, and remediate misconfigurations and policy violations in cloud infrastructure. These tools continuously monitor cloud environments like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform to ensure compliance with internal security policies and industry standards.

CSPM solutions automatically detect configuration drift, enforce least privilege access, and reduce the risk of data exposure by alerting teams to insecure storage, open ports, or excessive permissions. By offering centralized visibility and continuous compliance assessment, CSPM enables SOC teams to secure cloud workloads at scale while responding faster to evolving risks.

9. Identity and Access Management (IAM) 

IAM tools control and monitor user access to IT resources, ensuring only authorized individuals can reach sensitive systems and data. They encompass technologies like single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), privileged access management (PAM), and identity governance. 

In a SOC, IAM is essential for investigating incidents, detecting compromised accounts, and preventing unauthorized lateral movement, making it a cornerstone of a strong security posture.

10. Automation

At Torq, we call this Hyperautomation. Hyperautomation represents the next generation of SOC technology, combining advanced automation and artificial intelligence (AI) into a unified approach that fundamentally transforms traditional security operations. 

Torq integrates seamlessly with existing SOC tools, orchestrating complex workflows across the entire security stack and significantly reducing repetitive, manual tasks. By leveraging GenAI and agentic AI, Torq Hyperautomation dynamically identifies, analyzes, and responds to threats in real time, delivering faster and more consistent incident responses.

This proactive, autonomous approach enables security teams to scale effectively, enhance operational efficiency, and improve accuracy across their security processes. Hyperautomation accelerates response times, reduces SOC analyst workload, and ensures more precise threat detection and remediation. 

How Automation Transforms SOC Tools

Automation transforms traditional SOC operations by connecting disparate tools, streamlining workflows, and enabling rapid, automated responses. Here’s how:

  • Faster detection and response: Automation drastically reduces the time it takes to identify, investigate, and respond to security incidents. What once took hours or days now happens in seconds, minimizing dwell time and damage.

  • Increased SOC analyst efficiency: With Tier-1 alerts automatically triaged (and often auto-remediated) and routine tasks offloaded to automated workflows, SOC analysts can handle a higher volume of cases without burnout. Teams get more done with fewer resources, reducing the need to scale headcount just to keep up.

  • Effortless scalability: As threats grow in number and complexity, automation allows SOC analysts to keep pace without compromising performance. Whether your environment is expanding across clouds or adding new tools, automation scales effortlessly alongside.

  • Smarter use of human talent: SOC analysts are too valuable to be bogged down by repetitive tasks. Automation frees them to focus on high-impact investigations, strategic decision-making, and threat hunting, where human judgment and creativity matter most.

  • Reduction in alerts: Automated triage filters out low-priority noise, enriching and escalating only the alerts requiring attention. SOC analysts stay focused on real threats instead of drowning in false positives.

How Torq Hyperautomation Transforms the SOC

Torq HyperSOC™ is the first agentic, AI-powered SOC platform built for autonomous security operations. It transforms your SOC from reactive and overloaded to autonomous and high-performing

Here’s how Torq makes it happen.

Seamless Integration with Your Entire Security Stack

Torq connects instantly to all your SOC tools — SIEM, EDR, CSPM, IAM, SaaS platforms, ticketing systems, and even homegrown apps — without custom code or complex deployments. Whatever you’re running, Torq plugs in and gets to work.

AI Agents That Work Like SOC Analysts

At the heart of HyperSOC is Socrates, Torq’s AI SOC Analyst and omniagent. Socrates orchestrates a team of specialized AI Agents purpose-built for tasks like enrichment, case management, user verification, and remediation. Together, they coordinate end-to-end case lifecycles with precision and speed.

Natural Language-Driven Automation

Security automation doesn’t have to be complex. With Torq, anyone on your team can trigger powerful workflows using plain English. Want to isolate a user, rotate credentials, or escalate a threat? Just ask — Torq handles the rest.

Hyperautomation at Enterprise Scale

Torq’s performance automatically scales to keep up, whether your environment is cloud-native, hybrid, or on-prem. It runs thousands of workflows in parallel, adapts to evolving threats, and ensures no alert slips through the cracks.

Built to Flex with Your Needs

Torq’s open architecture and robust APIs let you fully customize cases to fit your cybersecurity strategy. Build once, reuse anywhere, and adapt fast to new use cases — all without needing a team of developers.

Real-World Use Case: Transforming the SOC from Black Box to Strategic Value

To understand the true impact of modern SOC tools when orchestrated correctly, let’s look at Kenvue, the world’s largest pure-play consumer health company (home to brands like Tylenol and Listerine).

  • The problem: Kenvue relied on an outsourced SOC model. This created a “black box” effect, characterized by limited visibility, inconsistent workflows, and a reactive approach to threats. Analysts were stuck on a conveyor belt of tickets with no way to measure true effectiveness.

  • The solution: Kenvue brought operations in-house and deployed Torq Hyperautomation™ as their central nervous system. They integrated their entire stack (EDR, SIEM, Identity) into Torq to unify case management and standardize response workflows.

  • The result: The transformation was immediate. Kenvue achieved a 60% decrease in MTTR within just two months. They now automate 89% of cases, allowing analysts to stop churning through tickets and start going “ten layers deeper” into complex investigations.

10 Questions for Your SOC Tool Evaluation

  • Does this tool offer open APIs for bidirectional integration with our current stack?

  • Can it handle our projected data volume without performance degradation?

  • Is the pricing model transparent, or are there hidden costs for data ingestion/retention?

  • Does it support “Human-in-the-Loop” workflows for sensitive decisions?

  • What is the average time-to-value for new deployments?

  • Does it utilize Agentic AI to perform autonomous investigations?

  • Can we build and customize workflows without a dedicated coding team?

  • Does it support multi-tenant operations (crucial for scaling teams)?

  • How frequently is the threat intelligence or vulnerability database updated?

  • Does it automatically map detections and responses to the MITRE ATT&CK framework?

Hyperautomation is the SOC Tool You Need Today

As cybersecurity challenges mount, traditional tools are no longer enough. Modern security operations centers require intelligent, automated, and scalable solutions that enable security teams to move faster, act smarter, and deliver better outcomes.

AI-driven Hyperautomation is that solution.

Torq brings Hyperautomation to life, enabling SOC analysts to move beyond fragmented processes and manual triage. Whether you’re a lean security team or an enterprise SOC analyst, Torq empowers you to detect, respond, and remediate with unprecedented speed and precision.

Get the SOC tool you need.

FAQs

What is a SOC tool?

A SOC (Security Operations Center) tool is any software or technology used by security teams to monitor, detect, analyze, and respond to cyber threats. These tools collect data from across an organization’s network, endpoints, and cloud environments to identify suspicious activity and support incident response. Common examples include SIEM, EDR, and vulnerability scanners.

What are the best SOC tools for 2025?

The best SOC tools for 2025 include modern platforms that prioritize automation and integration. Key tools include next-gen SIEMs (like Microsoft Sentinel), EDR/XDR solutions (like CrowdStrike), vulnerability management platforms, and threat intelligence feeds. Leading the list are Hyperautomation platforms like Torq, which orchestrate these diverse tools into a unified, autonomous defense system.

How do modern SOC tools differ from legacy systems?

Legacy SOC tools are often siloed, on-premise, and rely heavily on manual human intervention for triage and response. In contrast, modern SOC tools are cloud-native, API-first, and designed for automation. They seamlessly share data, scale dynamically with cloud workloads, and use AI to reduce false positives and accelerate response times.

What tools are used in a Security Operations Center?

A standard Security Operations Center (SOC) stack typically includes a SIEM for log management, EDR/XDR for endpoint protection, vulnerability scanners for risk assessment, and threat intelligence platforms. Advanced SOCs also utilize Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools and security hyperautomation platforms to connect and orchestrate these technologies.

Why is security automation important for SOC tools in 2025?

Security automation is critical in 2025 because the volume and speed of cyberattacks now exceed human capacity. Automation allows SOC tools to handle massive alert volumes, reduce response times from hours to seconds, and prevent analyst burnout by offloading repetitive tasks like data enrichment and Tier-1 triage.

Which SOC tools are most effective for cloud environments?

For cloud environments, the most effective SOC tools provide deep visibility into dynamic infrastructure. These include Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP), and Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP). Tools like Wiz and Orca Security are essential for monitoring configuration drift and runtime risks in the cloud.

How does AI enhance SOC tool operations?

AI enhances SOC operations by enabling autonomous investigation and decision-making. AI-driven tools can analyze vast datasets to identify subtle patterns of compromise, reduce false positives, and power Agentic AI that executes complex remediation workflows — such as user verification and threat containment — without requiring constant human hand-holding.

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