A leading plastic manufacturer establishes robust Security Operations Centre (SOC) implementing full stack Microsoft security products

Background

A leading plastic manufacturer, operating globally with a complex supply chain and distributed IT environment, underwent a business transformation by splitting from its parent firm. As part of this transition, the company sought to establish a Security Operations Centre (SOC) leveraging Microsoft’s full-stack security solutions, including Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR. The goal was to build a strong security foundation and ensure proactive threat detection and response.

Challenges

• Building a Security Framework from the Ground Up: The organization needed to establish a security operations framework as it transitioned into an independent entity.
• Lack of Centralized Security Operations: The absence of a dedicated SOC led to gaps in security visibility and incident response capabilities.
• Compliance and Regulatory Requirements: The manufacturer needed to align with industry security standards and regulatory compliance mandates.
• Standardization of Incident Management: The company required a structured incident response process to handle potential security threats effectively.
• Integration of Microsoft Security Technologies: The organization aimed to fully leverage Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender XDR for end-to-end security monitoring and management.

Solution

Netwoven designed and implemented a full-scale Security Operations Centre (SOC) with a structured roadmap, integrating Microsoft’s security technologies to ensure a proactive and automated defense system.

1. Deployment of Microsoft Sentinel for Centralized Security Monitoring

• Implemented Microsoft Sentinel as the SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) platform for real-time security event collection and correlation.
• Configured data connectors to ingest logs from Microsoft Defender XDR, firewalls, endpoint security, identity management solutions.
• Established automation and orchestration rules to enhance threat detection and response efficiency, reducing mean time to respond (MTTR).

2. Implementation of Microsoft Defender XDR for Advanced Threat Protection

• Rolled out Microsoft Defender XDR to protect endpoints, email, identity, and cloud applications.
• Integrated Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Office 365, Defender for Identity, and Defender for Cloud Apps for a cohesive security posture.
• Leveraged AI-driven threat intelligence and automated remediation to streamline security operations and reduce manual effort.

3. Establishing a Comprehensive Incident Management Process

• Designed and documented an incident response playbook aligned with NIST and MITRE ATT&CK frameworks.
• Implemented automated incident triaging and ticketing workflows within Microsoft Sentinel.
• Defined escalation procedures, SLAs, and a continuous feedback loop to refine SOC operations.
• Conducted regular incident response drills and simulations to improve detection and mitigation capabilities.

4. Building a Future-Ready SOC with Governance & Training

• Developed SOC policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and governance frameworks to ensure ongoing security resilience.
• Established role-based access control (RBAC) and least-privilege access for enforcing security best practices.
• Created Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and security dashboards to monitor SOC effectiveness.
• Conducted training programs for internal security teams to enhance their expertise in Microsoft security tools and SOC workflows.

Netwoven leverages the extended Detection and Response (XDR) approach to provide a unified security strategy for its customers. By integrating Microsoft Security solutions, Netwoven enables organizations to prevent, protect, detect, and respond to threats across their entire digital landscape—including email, endpoints, identities, cloud apps, and workloads.

Benefits

By choosing Netwoven to design and deploy the cybersecurity solution and setting up the SOC, the company achieved the following.

• Structured Security Operations: The newly established SOC ensures 24/7 security monitoring, incident response, and threat hunting.
• Enhanced Security Posture: Unified security monitoring eliminated blind spots, significantly reducing security incidents and improving threat visibility.
• Operational Efficiency: Automated workflows optimized incident triaging, allowing security teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than manual tasks.
• Regulatory Compliance: The SOC framework helped meet industry standards, reducing compliance risks and audit penalties.
• Future-Proofed Security Infrastructure: The scalable SOC model enables continuous security evolution, AI-driven analytics, and seamless integration of future security innovations.
• Maximized ROI with Microsoft E5 Licensing: By leveraging the organization’s existing Microsoft E5 licensing, the SOC implementation eliminated the need for costly third-party security solutions, significantly reducing additional security expenses. The built-in capabilities of Microsoft Sentinel, Defender XDR, and AI-powered threat intelligence provided enterprise-grade security at a fraction of the cost, leading to a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and a higher return on investment (ROI). The use of Microsoft automation and AI-driven analytics also reduced manual effort and enhanced efficiency, allowing the security team to focus on strategic priorities rather than repetitive tasks.
• End-to-end supply chain security: Microsoft Defender XDR and Defender for Cloud ingest signals across cloud, endpoints, identities, and SaaS apps for real-time threat detection. Microsoft Sentinel centralizes security data for analysis, empowering SecOps teams to investigate and respond efficiently in the Defender and Sentinel portals.

By combining technical expertise with a clear plan for managing the change and ensuring user adoption, Netwoven ensured that data, device and process integrity were maintained, organizational workflows remained uninterrupted, and the company was well-positioned for success within the Microsoft ecosystem. 

The “Security” project was received as an overwhelming success, enabling the company to:

• Feel confident about protecting sensitive information
• Improve productivity
• Simplify & centralize management and governance of security framework and operations through SOC
• Reduce costs