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Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) was once the answer. With the rise of agentic AI, the question isn't if you'll replace your SOAR but how to do it without breaking your SOC.Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) was once the answer. With the rise of agentic AI, the question isn't if you'll replace your SOAR but how to do it without breaking your SOC.

How to Phase Out SOAR Without Breaking Your SOC

2025/10/19 16:03

Some security operations teams are stuck. It’s not that they’re doing anything wrong; their tech stack is just stuck in the past.

Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) was once the answer. Automate alerts. Speed up response. Limit fatigue. But it never lived up to its promise. Managed Detection and Response (MDR) providers filled some of the gaps, but they lack the organizational context to properly investigate and respond to threats.

Meanwhile, the world continued to change. Threat volume and complexity grew, leading to the deployment of new security tools that generated more alerts for the SOC. Recent advances in AI for security operations promise to change how SOCs operate. The rise of agentic AI, tools that reason, learn, and act, has allowed AI agents to take on the manual, repetitive tasks of triaging and investigating alerts.

The question now isn’t if you’ll replace SOAR. It’s how you’ll do it without breaking your SOC.

Here’s the playbook.

Know What You’re Replacing, And Why

Before you rip anything out, clarify what SOAR is doing today. Take inventory of every integration. Every playbook. Every alert it touches.

But don’t stop there. Ask what still works, and what doesn’t.

Is your SOAR flooding the team with brittle automations?
Are you writing custom scripts for every tool update?
Are you still debugging the same workflows you built three years ago?

This isn’t about bashing SOAR. It did its job. But agentic systems (those that understand context, not just workflows) are built for the complexity of modern threats.

They can triage, reason, and act, without needing a playbook for every “if-then” path.

Build a Timeline That Doesn’t Kill Morale

You don’t switch from SOAR to agentic AI in a week. Or even a sprint. You phase. You prototype. You shadow-run. And you keep your analysts in the loop.

Set a timeline, but don’t tie it to a vendor roadmap. Tie it to operational readiness.

A basic structure:

Month 0-1: Inventory and gap analysis
Month 2-3: Shadow deployments of agentic tools
Month 4-5: Parallel running of SOAR and AI
Month 6: Controlled decommissioning of SOAR

Avoid going cold turkey; let the new tools prove themselves.

Stop Writing Playbooks. Start Mapping Behaviors.

SOAR lives on playbooks, Agentic AI learns from behaviors. To migrate, shift how you document response.

Instead of:

“If alert A and IP B, then quarantine endpoint C.”

Think in terms of: “When an analyst sees X pattern, they check telemetry from Y, confirm via Z, then act.”

This behavior-driven view helps agentic systems build internal models of your analysts’ decisions. You’re not feeding static instructions. You’re sharing context.

Prophet Security, a leading AI SOC Platform provider, suggests starting with low-risk incidents. Capture how humans solve them. Then test whether the AI can do the same, without being told every step, and finally escalate to high-risk, meaningful ones “without risky suppression.”

Keep the Humans in Control

Don’t view agentic AI as a self-driving car, but as a co-pilot.

SOC analysts shouldn’t just review what the AI does. They should guide it, correct it, and challenge it.

Build feedback loops:

Can an analyst see why the AI chose that response?
Can they ask it to explain its reasoning?
Can they change its course if needed?

This isn’t just about trust, it’s about accountability. Security teams answer for the decisions made; automated or not.

Start with Use Cases That Matter

Not every SOAR use case needs an agentic twin. Some should just die off. Others need an upgrade.

Start with pain points:

Repetitive phishing triage
Alert deduplication
Log correlation across tools

Then ask: “Where are humans adding most of the value today?”

That’s where agentic AI shines. It thrives in the gray area. It’s not about triggering a response.

It’s about deciding if a response is needed in the first place.

Don’t Let Integrations Drag You Back

One of SOAR’s main selling points was integration. It connected tools, it passed data. But it came at a cost. Maintaining those integrations was a job in itself.

Agentic systems work differently. They don’t need every tool hardwired in, they can consume APIs, ingest logs, and work across silos.

So don’t recreate the old spaghetti mess. Ask your AI:

“Can you work from the data I already collect?”

“Can you learn from the analysts without needing custom scripts?”

If the answer is no, it’s not the right tool.

Train Your Analysts, Not Just the AI

Tooling is only half the story. The real shift is cultural.

You’re not moving from SOAR to AI, you’re moving from workflow execution to decision augmentation.

Analysts need to know:

How to interact with agentic tools
How to validate their outputs
How to teach them when they get it wrong

Invest in training, but make it hands-on. Let your team explore. Break things. Rebuild. Be directionally accurate rather than precisely wrong.

The best AI-enhanced SOCs are the ones where humans and machines evolve together.

Know When to Turn It Off

This one’s simple. If the AI starts making bad calls, shut it down.

You need kill switches, audits, and logs. You need observability into the decision-making. Agentic systems should earn trust, they don’t deserve blind faith.

Keep the Metrics Honest

Never fudge the numbers to make the new tools look good. If your response time drops, fantastic. If false positives spike, flag it.

Measure what matters:

The hours analysts saved
The incidents that were caught earlier
More confidence in triage decisions

Let the data speak, and keep it visible.

Building Better Bridges

Phasing out SOAR isn’t about burning bridges, but about building better ones. Automation isn’t being traded for hype; rigid scripts are being traded for flexible intelligence.

Do it carefully. Do it transparently. And keep the humans sharp.

Because at the end of the day, the SOC is still about decisions. The machines just help us make better ones.

SOAR had its day. Agentic AI is here to stay. Phase it out like a pro. Start slow, stay grounded, and never give up control.

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The gaming industry is in the midst of a historic shift, driven by the rise of Web3. Unlike traditional games, where developers and publishers control assets and dictate in-game economies, Web3 gaming empowers players with ownership and influence. Built on blockchain technology, these ecosystems are decentralized by design, enabling true digital asset ownership, transparent economies, and a future where players help shape the games they play. However, as Web3 gaming grows, security becomes a focal point. The range of security concerns, from hacking to asset theft to vulnerabilities in smart contracts, is a significant issue that will undermine or erode trust in this ecosystem, limiting or stopping adoption. Blockchain technology could be used to create security processes around secure, transparent, and fair Web3 gaming ecosystems. We will explore how security is increasing within gaming ecosystems, which challenges are being overcome, and what the future of security looks like. Why is Security Important in Web3 Gaming? Web3 gaming differs from traditional gaming in that players engage with both the game and assets with real value attached. Players own in-game assets that exist as tokens or NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), and can trade and sell them. These game assets usually represent significant financial value, meaning security failure could represent real monetary loss. In essence, without security, the promises of owning “something” in Web3, decentralized economies within games, and all that comes with the term “fair” gameplay can easily be eroded by fraud, hacking, and exploitation. This is precisely why the uniqueness of blockchain should be emphasized in securing Web3 gaming. How Blockchain Ensures Security in Web3 Gaming?

Immutable Ownership of Assets Blockchain records can be manipulated by anyone. If a player owns a sword, skin, or plot of land as an NFT, it is verifiably in their ownership, and it cannot be altered or deleted by the developer or even hacked. This has created a proven track record of ownership, providing control back to the players, unlike any centralised gaming platform where assets can be revoked.
Decentralized Infrastructure Blockchain networks also have a distributed architecture where game data is stored in a worldwide network of nodes, making them much less susceptible to centralised points of failure and attacks. This decentralised approach makes it exponentially more difficult to hijack systems or even shut off the game’s economy.
Secure Transactions with Cryptography Whether a player buys an NFT or trades their in-game tokens for other items or tokens, the transactions are enforced by cryptographic algorithms, ensuring secure, verifiable, and irreversible transactions and eliminating the risks of double-spending or fraudulent trades.
Smart Contract Automation Smart contracts automate the enforcement of game rules and players’ economic exchanges for the developer, eliminating the need for intermediaries or middlemen, and trust for the developer. For example, if a player completes a quest that promises a reward, the smart contract will execute and distribute what was promised.
Anti-Cheating and Fair Gameplay The naturally transparent nature of blockchain makes it extremely simple for anyone to examine a specific instance of gameplay and verify the economic outcomes from that play. Furthermore, multi-player games that enforce smart contracts on things like loot sharing or win sharing can automate and measure trustlessness and avoid cheating, manipulations, and fraud by developers.
Cross-Platform Security Many Web3 games feature asset interoperability across platforms. This interoperability is made viable by blockchain, which guarantees ownership is maintained whenever assets transition from one game or marketplace to another, thereby offering protection to players who rely on transfers for security against fraud. Key Security Dangers in Web3 Gaming Although blockchain provides sound first principles of security, the Web3 gaming ecosystem is susceptible to threats. Some of the most serious threats include:

Smart Contract Vulnerabilities: Smart contracts that are poorly written or lack auditing will leave openings for exploitation and thereby result in asset loss. Phishing Attacks: Unintentionally exposing or revealing private keys or signing transactions that are not possible to reverse, under the assumption they were genuine transaction requests. Bridge Hacks: Cross-chain bridges, which allow players to move their assets between their respective blockchains, continually face hacks, requiring vigilance from players and developers. Scams and Rug Pulls: Rug pulls occur when a game project raises money and leaves, leaving player assets worthless. Regulatory Ambiguity: Global regulations remain unclear; risks exist for players and developers alike. While blockchain alone won’t resolve every issue, it remediates the responsibility of the first principles, more so when joined by processes such as auditing, education, and the right governance, which can improve their contribution to the security landscapes in game ecosystems. Real Life Examples of Blockchain Security in Web3 Gaming Axie Infinity (Ronin Hack): The Axie Infinity game and several projects suffered one of the biggest hacks thus far on its Ronin bridge; however, it demonstrated the effectiveness of multi-sig security and the effective utilization of decentralization. The industry benefited through learning and reflection, thus, as projects have implemented changes to reduce the risks of future hacks or misappropriation. Immutable X: This Ethereum scaling solution aims to ensure secure NFT transactions for gaming, allowing players to trade an asset without the burden of exorbitant fees and fears of being a victim of fraud. Enjin: Enjin is providing a trusted infrastructure for Web3 games, offering secure NFT creation and transfer while reiterating that ownership and an asset securely belong to the player. These examples indubitably illustrate that despite challenges to overcome, blockchain remains the foundational layer on which to build more secure Web3 gaming environments. Benefits of Blockchain Security for Players and Developers For Players: Confidence in true ownership of assets Transparency in in-game economies Protection against nefarious trades/scams For Developers: More trust between players and the platform Less reliance on centralized infrastructure Ability to attract wealth and players based on provable fairness By incorporating blockchain security within the mechanics of game design, developers can create and enforce resilient ecosystems where players feel reassured in investing time, money, and ownership within virtual worlds. The Future of Secure Web3 Gaming Ecosystems As the wisdom of blockchain technology and industry knowledge improves, the future for secure Web3 gaming looks bright. New growing trends include: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): A new wave of protocols that enable private transactions and secure smart contracts while managing user privacy with an element of transparency. Decentralized Identity Solutions (DID): Helping players control their identities and decrease account theft risks. AI-Enhanced Security: Identifying irregularities in user interactions by sampling pattern anomalies to avert hacks and fraud by time-stamping critical events. Interoperable Security Standards: Allowing secured and seamless asset transfers across blockchains and games. With these innovations, blockchain will not only secure gaming assets but also enhance the overall trust and longevity of Web3 gaming ecosystems. Conclusion Blockchain is more than a buzzword in Web3; it is the only way to host security, fairness, and transparency. With blockchain, players confirm immutable ownership of digital assets, there is a decentralized infrastructure, and finally, it supports smart contracts to automate code that protects players and developers from the challenges of digital economies. The threats, vulnerabilities, and scams that come from smart contracts still persist, but the industry is maturing with better security practices, cross-chain solutions, and increased formal cryptographic tools. In the coming years, blockchain will remain the base to digital economies and drive Web3 gaming environments that allow players to safely own, trade, and enjoy their digital experiences free from fraud and exploitation. While blockchain and gaming alone entertain, we will usher in an era of secure digital worlds where trust complements innovation. The Role of Blockchain in Building Safer Web3 Gaming Ecosystems was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story