Traditional security information and event management (SIEM) platforms are expensive — so a free SIEM sounds like an appealing option.
Organizations that need more visibility shouldn’t jump blindly into a SIEM project — even if it’s free — without considering the ramifications. Time is money, after all, and a failed SIEM implementation can translate to hours that could’ve been spent on more valuable tasks.
Before deciding on a free SIEM, it’s important to understand each tool’s capabilities and limitations.
Open source tools seem like an appealing option for organizations that don’t have the budget for expensive security software, but it’s not a silver bullet by any means.
Open source has a variety of benefits:
Open source software isn’t always the best choice for smaller teams because it inherently requires some upfront work and expertise. Open source is community-supported by definition, so there’s no guaranteed way to get help from an expert. Not all open source tools are user-friendly, so implementing and managing the tool might be challenging.
Smaller, resource-strapped IT and security teams with less technical expertise should consider alternatives, solely due to the time and effort it takes to get an open source tool successfully up and running.
We’ve researched and evaluated seven SIEM platforms, pulling pros and cons from reliable online review sites.
Wazuh has three main components. The agent detects threats and collects log data; the server analyzes that data, and the Elastic Stack, which indexes and stores the alerts that Wazuh generates. The tool integrates with Kibana, one of the components of the Elastic Stack, to provide a user interface.
Wazuh began as a subsidiary of OSSEC, another open source monitoring solution, but with more reliability and scalability.
According to a Wazuh user, it is a “good starter solution, but there are other more advanced solutions on the market.”
Pros: Integrates easily with other solutions, comprehensive, can help meet some compliance requirements
Cons: User interface is clunky, requires manual configure alerts and monitoring, detection is lacking
Logstash, Kibana, and Beats are all free for on-premises deployments, but there is a charge for the cloud-based versions, starting at $95 per month for the Standard tier.
The software includes out-of-the-box detection rules that are aligned to the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Its features include audit logging, anti-malware, network security analysis, and more.
According to a software engineer that uses ELK Stack: “Just take your time to study it carefully, as its powerful tools require mastering…There is quite a bit of a learning curve.”
Pros: Powerful search engine, can handle big-scale applications
Cons: Only free for on-premises environments, users report breaking changes between different versions, can be difficult to set up, detection rules are not automatically updated
Other features include file integrity monitoring (FIM), rootkit and malware detection, compliance auditing, and system inventory. Atomic Corp, the company that maintains the project, offers extra features such as integrations, role based access control, malware protection, and a management console, but at a cost.
Pros: Can integrate with ELK Stack, offers threat detection rules
Cons: No dashboard, painful upgrades, older solution that is largely unsupported
A senior writer at CSO Online said it best: “Does Security Onion do exactly what you want it to do? Probably not. Will you have to tweak it to fit your enterprise? Probably yes. Will you need skilled security people to run it? Definitely yes.”
Pros: Compiles many open source tools, easily customizable, educational resource
Cons: Noisy, many false positives, requires expertise
Splunk Free is a very limited version of Splunk Enterprise that
The free license does not expire, but it is unlikely not a viable long-term solution to maintain visibility across an environment due to its many limitations.
Pros: No expiration date
Cons: Data caps at 500 MB/dau, does not include alerting, not configurable
AlienVault OSSIM is an open source SIEM platform that offers asset discovery, vulnerability assessment, intrusion detection, behavioral monitoring, and event correlation. It is available for
However, OSSIM is only available for a single server and does not support cloud applications such as AWS and Azure.
Pros: Many integrations, strong event correlation capabilities
Cons: Lacks log management, can be overwhelming to set up, noisy false positives
Blumira’s Free edition is the industry’s only free cloud-based SIEM with threat detection and response capabilities — with zero limits
Blumira’s free edition is limited to up to 3 cloud integrations, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Duo Security, SentinelOne, Umbrella, Webroot, and more. However, users can easily upgrade in-app to paid editions for more coverage, support, and longer data retention.
Blumira’s platform comes with detections automatically activated and fine-tuned, which significantly reduces false positives and saves time and effort for busy IT admins. The free edition includes a summary dashboard of key findings and basic reports, with 7 days of log retention.
Free edition users can detect a variety of threats, including ransomware and malware, suspicious user activity, and privilege escalation. Download a data sheet for a full list of what you can detect with Blumira’s Free edition.
Pros: Fast and easy to install, user-friendly interface, comes with every Microsoft 365 detection that is included in the full product, no data caps or user limits
Cons: Limited to up to 3 integrations including Microsoft 365, Duo Security, SentinelOne, Umbrella, Webroot, and Mimecast, may not be suitable for larger enterprises
Open source software is a great option for organizations with experienced security practitioners with time to invest in a large implementation project. However, small teams without security expertise should consider an out-of-the-box solution like Blumira.
Unlike the open source options, Blumira’s Free edition doesn’t require expertise or even a full-time security practitioner to deploy and install it. Built for small teams, Blumira is a powerful way to instantly get visibility without many resources.
Try Blumira for free today and see how easy it is to get started.
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