The race to dominate the cloud computing market has been dominated by the big three which includes Google Chronicle and Microsoft’s Azure. With cloud services comes the need to secure ongoing data and transactions within the cloud. Google and Microsoft are both trying to dominate the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) niche, which is important to securing on-premise, cloud, and hybrid networks.  

Datashield has compiled reviews of both tools and compared them based on the following criteria: 

• Collaboration and Social Business Intelligence – A SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tool’s ability to provide end-to-end security across social networks and other IT assets of an enterprise is a principal factor that must be considered.  
• Cloud Business Intelligence – Cloud computing has become the go-to platform for enterprises looking to run applications, secure transactional data, or store operational data within a scalable environment. Thus, the ability to receive business intelligence related to security from cloud architecture is an important consideration when choosing a SIEM tool. 

• Mobile Exploration and Authoring – This criterion focuses on the ability to generate and deliver content to mobile devices while taking advantage of the features of mobile devices. 
• Analytics, Dashboard and Interactive Visualization – Threat detection and security analytics are important to eliminating security incidents, but visualization tools enable security teams to view threats and recognize attack patterns.  
• Platform Administration – This criterion focuses on the tools both options offer for administration, monitoring, and reporting security incidents.  
• Customer Experience – If the customer is king, then feedback from end-users of both SIEM tools must count towards helping you make a choice when searching for the perfect option for your business.  

Collaboration and Social Business Intelligence 

As its name suggests, Sentinel offers a birds-eye view across complex enterprise networks and collects security-related data across the diverse assets within the network. Sentinel’s log collection abilities extend to both on-premise and multi-cloud environments. Sentinel also takes advantage of Azure’s extensive cloud assets to provide users with scalability for data collection.  

Google’s Chronicle also collects data at cloud-scale which means users get scalability in terms of collecting security data from extensive networks. Chronicle takes its threat hunting capabilities across the cloud, on-premise, and multi-cloud architecture. Thus, in terms of collaboration and receiving social intelligence, both Chronicle and Sentinel offer the tools required to capture data across collaborative networks.  

To put a score to both options ability to provide end-to-end data collection capabilities, we will defer to reviews from customers. Gartner’s Peer Insight scores Azure Sentinel at 4.6/5 while Google’s Chronicle gets a score of 4.4. 

Cloud Business Intelligence 

Azure Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM tool and it applies its Log Analytics and Logic Apps to provide its Cloud BI services to the end-user. The application of artificial intelligence also enables extensive threat investigations across cloud networks. Sentinel is vendor-neutral which means it can be deployed across both proprietary and non-proprietary cloud platforms. Microsoft’s threat intelligence stream feature also provides support for security teams interested in bringing or developing their own specific threat intelligence template. 

Chronicle is built on Google infrastructure and offers Cloud BI capabilities, backed by Google Cloud Security Experts. With Chronicle you get advanced threat detection capabilities and scalable infrastructure for collecting cloud data and analyzing the captured data. Google’s backing of Chronicle means security teams will be supported by some of the best heads in the industry. According to Gartner Peer Insight, both the Sentinel and Chronicle score 4.4/5 for the Cloud BI features they offer.  

Mobile Exploration and Authoring 

Azure Sentinel offers dedicated authoring tools security teams can use to monitor and manage cybersecurity incidents. Azure provides diverse built-in playbooks to help security teams orchestrate the threat detection and incident response process. One example is the ServiceNow ticketing system which can be used to automate workflows.  

Chronicle also offers mobile exploration and authoring tools which are powered by Chronicle’s Back Story for automating the threat detection and incident response process. In terms of mobile exploration and authoring, Azure Sentinel provides a more robust solution compared to Google’s Chronicle.  

Analytics, Dashboard, and Interactive Visualization 

Azure Sentinel makes use of analytics to correlate alerts to pinpoint security incidents which can be viewed through its extensive dashboard. The Sentinel also makes use of machine learning rules to map network behavior and handle complex data analytics to gain insight into threat actors and incidents. The application of machine learning reduces the noise from false alerts and help security teams focus on what matters. Security teams can leverage Sentinel’s MITRE framework and deep investigation feature for threat hunting and investigations. The results from these initiatives are displayed on its interactive visualization boards to enable security teams to take actions in real-time. 

Chronicle makes use of extensive visualization tools to automate the threat detection process and analyze security incidents. Security teams can take advantage of Chronicle’s Uppercase and VirusTotal solutions to analyze both known and unknown threats. Chronicle makes use of an analytical engine to detect abnormal behavior and gain insight into threat actors. The Chronicle dashboard is an extensive visualization tool which guarantees ease of use for security teams.  

Platform Administration 

Getting started with Azure Sentinel requires some configuration when onboarding enterprise data to the Sentinel. Microsoft provides detailed information concerning the onboarding process which simplifies it for security teams. Security teams will have to go through some learning when creating playbooks although custom playbooks can be used.  

Chronicle is a plug and play solution which simplifies the administration process and guarantees ease of use. Both SIEM options also offer extensive aftersales services which simplify the onboarding and administration process.  

Which is best for your organization?

Microsoft’s Sentinel and Google Chronicle are relatively new to the SIEM market but offer extensive features for security teams looking to manage cloud and on-premise network security. The age of both options means a lot is still ongoing behind the scenes to optimize the security features they offer. For the Sentinel, the deep investigation tools for threat hunting is a new feature Microsoft intends to include soon while Chronicle’s Back Story will play a significant role in expanding the capabilities of Google’s SIEM tool.  

Decisions on which cloud SIEM works for your organization is rarely made in a vacuum. If you are looking for experienced engineers, make sure to contact Datashield for a no-cost consultation.

Our MDR offerings go hand-in-hand with SIEM offerings and are compatible with both Splunk and Chronicle.

Contact us today