Symantec Pumps $50 Million into Security Operations Centers

Symantec said on Wednesday that it will invest $50 million to boost its cyber security services business globally, with a specific focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

Part of the investment was used to to build a new Security Operations Center (SOC) in Singapore, which was inaugurated today and doubles the company’s cyber security services expertise in the Asia-Pacific region.  

With the launch of the SOC in Singapore, customers will have access to intelligence, threat detection and proactive notification of emerging threats. The new SOC will also help customers detect and respond to threats faster, proactively counter emerging threats, and reduce operational costs.  

“Today, technology alone may not stop advanced threats. Organizations need security experts on hand to interpret and prioritize the critical events that need action. By investing in people and security IQ in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific, Symantec is expanding its visibility into the region, enabling us to bolster customers’ security operations capabilities, and protect their critical information and assets,” said Samir Kapuria, SVP and general manager of Cyber Security Services at Symantec.  

“The Asia-Pacific region is incredibly diverse and multi-cultural. This allows us to attract highly educated multi lingual security professionals who bring expertise and experience from many vertical industries and global security organizations and are well-versed in the security landscape,” Kapuria added.   

The investment will also support expansion of its Chennai, India SOC as well as the Tokyo, Japan SOC.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based security firm said that the next phase of its SOC expansion will be in Europe, with additional facilities scheduled to open within the next 12 months.

Once complete, the company says it will have eight SOCs worldwide, extending their current team of more than 500 cybersecurity professionals.   

The announcement follows a $20 million investment in existing SOCs across Australia, India and Japan in the past year. In 2012, Symantec opened a new SOC in Herdon, Virginia. 

Symantec said that its SOCs currently analyze roughly 30 billion logs globally each day while helping enterprises boost their defenses and respond to new threats.  

In Oct. 2014, Symantec announced its plans to split into two separate, publicly traded companies – one focused on security, the other focused on information management. In Aug. 2015, Symantec agreed to sell its Veritas information management business to investment firm The Carlyle Group for roughly $8 billion in cash. Symantec bought Veritas in 2005 for roughly $13.5 billion.