SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) and UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics) are complementary cybersecurity technologies that help organizations detect, investigate, and respond to threats.
SIEM Overview
SIEM platforms collect, aggregate, and analyze log and event data from across an organization’s IT infrastructure—including firewalls, servers, endpoints, and applications. Key capabilities include:
- Log management and normalization
- Real-time alerting on suspicious activities based on rules or correlation engines
- Compliance reporting (e.g., for PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR)
- Incident investigation dashboards and timeline reconstruction
Popular SIEM solutions:
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Microsoft Sentinel
- IBM QRadar
- LogRhythm
- Elastic Security (based on the Elastic Stack)
UEBA Overview
UEBA enhances threat detection by establishing behavioral baselines for users and entities (e.g., devices, applications) and flagging deviations that may indicate compromise. UEBA is especially effective against insider threats, compromised accounts, and lateral movement.
Core features:
- Behavioral profiling using machine learning or statistical models
- Anomaly detection (e.g., unusual login times, atypical data access)
- Risk scoring of users/entities
- Integration with SIEM or SOAR platforms for enriched context
Popular UEBA solutions:
- Exabeam Advanced Analytics
- Splunk UBA
- Microsoft Defender for Identity (includes UEBA-like capabilities)
- Securonix
- Gurucul
SIEM vs. UEBA: How They Work Together
- SIEM is rule- and signature-driven, making it great for known threats and compliance.
- UEBA is behavior-driven—better at spotting novel or stealthy attacks that don’t match known patterns.
In modern security operations centers (SOCs), UEBA is often integrated into or fed into a SIEM to reduce false positives and provide deeper context. For example:
A SIEM might alert on multiple failed logins, but UEBA can determine whether the login attempts are consistent with the user’s typical behavior or suggest a compromised account.
Deployment Considerations
- Data sources: Both require access to identity (e.g., Active Directory), network, endpoint, and application logs.
- Tuning: UEBA models require time to learn normal behavior, while SIEM rules necessitate ongoing refinement.
- Scalability: Cloud-native options (e.g., Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk Cloud) offer easier scaling and lower infrastructure overhead.