What is the primary purpose of a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system?

The primary purpose of a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system is to aggregate, analyze, and report on security data from various sources within an organization. SIEM systems play a critical role in cybersecurity by collecting logs and security events from across an organization's IT infrastructure, including servers, network devices, and applications. This centralized approach allows security teams to identify patterns or anomalies that could indicate potential security threats or incidents.

Through real-time analysis, SIEM solutions not only help in detecting security breaches but also assist in compliance reporting and forensic investigations. By correlating data from various sources, a SIEM can provide valuable insights that are crucial for understanding the security landscape of the organization and for implementing effective security measures.

The other options focus on specific areas of security that do not encapsulate the broad functionality of SIEM systems. Enhancing physical security pertains to facility protections rather than data analysis. Providing antivirus protection is primarily about malware defense, while creating backup copies of data is related to data recovery rather than real-time security monitoring and analysis.