Top Security Automation Use Cases Using No-Code Workflows

To improve security operational efficiency, it seems like security practitioners need superpowers. While not a radioactive spider bite, security automation copilots – powered by generative AI – have emerged as a transformative solution. This solution empowers organizations to fortify their defenses without the need for any coding expertise, for faster and easier workflow automation.

This paradigm shift to automation with no-code workflows enables security teams to focus on SecOps strategy and productivity while the automation handles the repetitive, manual security tasks. Let's delve into how a security automation copilot streamlines key cybersecurity use cases.

SOC and Incident Response

Rapid incident response is critical. When time is of the essence, security automation supports practitioners by automating repetitive, manual security tasks. By automating common Security Operations Center (SOC) workflows, security analysts can quickly decrease MTTR and resolve SIEM alerts faster. 

Examples of SOC use cases to automate include:

• When a malicious file is detected, generate reports in VirtusTotal and Hybrid Analysis, then create a case summary.
• After detecting a potentially malicious IP, confirm with the user if the activity is legitimate. In not, block and blacklist the IP.

Threat Hunting

It’s crucial for threat hunters to stay one step ahead of malicious actors. Threat hunting is important to identify and mitigate these risks, but it’s often a time-consuming and daunting task.

This is where a security automation copilot comes in. It provides threat hunters with the ability to easily create custom queries and automate the search for unusual patterns. By automatically enriching security alerts and kickstarting remediation workflows across various tools, threat hunting becomes more streamlined and effective.

Some threat hunting workflows to automate include:

• Pull a list of “AccessDenied” events with users and source IP addresses
• Get user and IP activity from logs, like AWS CloudTrail

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability management has become a critical aspect of ensuring the security of your data and systems. With the rise of security automation platforms, automating vulnerability management tasks has become more accessible than ever before. These platforms allow for automated vulnerability scans, risk assessments, and patch management – all of which help practitioners to identify and address vulnerabilities promptly.

Common vulnerability management workflows to automate are:

• The validation and distribution of vulnerability management softwares
• Check for and install patches for cloud resources

Cloud Security

By leveraging gen-AI powered security automation, you can continuously monitor and manage your organization’s cloud security, setting custom guardrails and automating remediation processes as needed. This not only saves time but also minimizes the risk of human errors that can lead to costly security breaches. Automating cloud security workflows for security patches and compliance reporting helps companies stay on top of potential threats and maintain the trust of their customers.

Examples of cloud security workflows to automate include:

• Daily reports on any security issues detected in your GCP network, delivered via Slack
• Check if any new Amazon S3 buckets are public, then opening incidents in ServiceNow for remediation

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is an essential component of any organization's security measures. However, manually managing user provisioning, access revocation, and other IAM processes takes significant time and resources. By automating IAM workflows, organizations can streamline their processes, ensure timely updates, and adhere to the principle of least privilege.

Common IAM workflows to automate are:

• Generate reports for identification and validation of administrative access, rules enforcements, and license management.
• The detection and remediation of impossible traveler events

Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC)

As companies grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to adhere to regulations and internal policies. A security automation copilot makes it easier to automate GRC workflows like compliance audits, risk assessments, and reporting. Cloud applications can be continuously monitored for SOC 2, ISO, GDPR, or other compliance checks, which frees up valuable time for employees to focus on other important tasks.

Some GRC workflows you could automate include:

• Weekly status reports on controls, such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, and others
• Scan and enforce Jumpcloud policies, such as USB access

Endpoint Security

Effective endpoint security measures can help companies protect sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access. One way to enhance endpoint security is through security automation. By automating the deployment of security patches, antivirus updates, and EDR/XDR workflows, businesses can streamline their security measures and improve their overall operational efficiency.

Examples of endpoint security workflows to automate are:

• Verify that all devices have an EDR agent installed, such as Crowdstrike

Network Security

Network security is an important piece of any company’s digital infrastructure, and the rise of generative-AI powered security automation paves way to a major boost in productivity. By automating tasks such as firewall rule management, intrusion detection, device quarantining, and VPN provisioning, businesses can better protect their systems more efficiently.

Network security workflows you could automate include:

• Employee requests for network access to the network on Cloudflare

Data Security

By automating data security tasks like data classification, encryption, and access controls, security teams can safeguard sensitive data without the need for extensive manual processes. This not only reduces the risk of data breaches but also helps organizations meet compliance regulations. A security automation copilot makes it easier for risks to be identified, data and privacy policies can be enforced, and action can be taken across the organization to limit the sharing of risky permissions, credentials, or personally identifiable information. 

Examples of data security workflows to automate could be:

• When confidential data is sent over email, ask sender for reason and request manager approval
• Weekly cleanups of externally shared files and folders across company Google Drives

Email Security

Emails are an integral part of our lives. But this convenience has also led to an increase in phishing attacks and malware propagation, putting company security at risk. Thankfully, security automation copilots can help ensure safe communication with automated email security checks, attachment scanning, and link analysis. Coupled with other measures like enforcing 2FA and taking immediate action when attacks are detected, you can minimize the impact of phishing attempts.

Common of email security workflows to automate include:

• Detection and response to Gmail phishing emails
• Search for email IOCs across company Gmail accounts

Credential Security

Credential security has become increasingly critical for businesses. By automating the management and rotation of credentials, security teams can effectively prevent unauthorized access and safeguard their sensitive information. Generative-AI powered security automation enables you to automatically alert, revoke, and rotate credentials in response to suspicious activities. 

Examples of credential security workflows to automate are:

• Detect and create a report of Google Workspace users who don’t have MFA enabled
• When there’s a new push event to a repository on GitHub, identify any files with stored sensitive credentials

IT & SaaS Security

As the use of SaaS applications and collaboration tools continues to grow, IT teams must ensure that employees and company data are protected. A security automation copilot can help reduce the risk of unauthorized access or insider threats by automating workflows related to access controls, data sharing policies, and activity monitoring. These purpose-built automated workflows make it easy to enforce organizational policies, which helps users to adopt secure behaviors and reduce risky activity. 

Common of SaaS and IT security workflows to automate include:

• Update user account permissions during employee onboarding and off-boarding procedures
• Monitor accounts of recently terminated employees for suspicious activity

The security landscape grows more sophisticated every day. The ability to automate critical security functions without extensive coding skills is a game-changer. Security automation copilots empower organizations to respond faster, minimize human errors, and allocate skilled professionals to more strategic tasks. 

As organizations continue to grapple with evolving security demands, embracing security automation tools – like Blink – will be an essential step towards boosting productivity and operational efficiency. Schedule a demo of Blink today to discover the endless use cases of your security automation copilot.