Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Cisco SecureX [EOL] comparison

Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a highly effective network traffic analysis (NTA) solution that enables users to find threats in their network traffic even if those threats are encrypted. It turns an organization’s network telemetry into a tool that creates a complete field of vision for the organization’s administrators. Users can find threats that may have infiltrated their systems and stop them before they can do irreparable harm.

Cisco Secure Network Analytics Benefits

A few ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Cisco Secure Network Analytics include:

• Security scaling. Secure Network Analytics makes it easy for organizations to scale up their level of network protection to match the growth that their business is experiencing. It can be deployed on whatever type of system is necessary. Users will have their growth needs met at every stage of their business journey because the solution offers users the ability to use it on-premises or in the cloud and it can be consumed as a SaaS-based or license-based solution. Whenever any kind of device is added, Secure Network Analytics can automatically classify that device so that it is seamlessly integrated into its network protection system.

• Detects threats as they appear. Users gain the ability to scan their network traffic for even the most advanced threats at all times. Secure Network Analytics easily identifies the early warning signs that are typically initiated before attacks are conducted by bad actors. Once these signs are found, users are warned so that they can take steps to prevent those threats from escalating. This also enables users to determine the source of the threat and whether it might have spread further than initially thought.

• Eliminate blind spots. Organizations that use Secure Network Analytics can view their network traffic across both private networks and public cloud environments. The scanning power of the solution allows users to gain complete visibility with a fewer number of sensors than their competitors require to achieve a similar level of protection.

Cisco Secure Network Analytics Features

Some of the many features that Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers include:

• Centralized security management. Secure Network Analytics’ Identity Services Engine feature enables users to control their network from a single graphical user interface. Administrators can simplify their jobs by controlling profiler, posture, guest, authentication, and authorization services from a single pane of glass.

• Machine learning tools. Secure Network Analytics uses machine learning to generate alerts when malicious or suspicious activity is detected. It also analyzes the threat so that users gain insight into the nature of the dangers that confront them. Additionally, it examines the threats to determine whether they are actual threats or false alarms. This significantly reduces the number of false alarms that administrators have to spend time attempting to resolve.

• Automation. Users can automate routine tasks that users would otherwise have to handle manually. This automation feature frees administrators and employees to handle other more critical tasks.

Reviews from Real Users

Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a solution that stands out even when compared to many other comparable products. Two major advantages that it offers are the way that it enables users to define the threshold at which the solution will issue a warning to administrators and the predefined alerts that it offers straight out of the box.

Gerald J., the information technology operations supervisor at Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., writes, “StealthWatch lets me see the ports running in and out and the country. It has excellent reporting, telemetry, and artificial intelligence features. With the telemetry, I can set thresholds to detect sudden changes and the alarms go through the PLC parts. I can see all the ports running on that trunk.”

A senior security engineer at a tech services company, says, “Cisco Stealthwatch has predefined alerts for different types of security issues that might happen in the network. Whether it's PCs or servers that are used for botnets or Bitcoin mining we receive the alerts automatically. This functionality is what we receive from the solution out of the box.”

Cisco SecureX is an integrated security platform that connects the breadth of Cisco's integrated security portfolio and the customer's infrastructure to create a consistent experience. The solution unifies visibility, enables automation, and strengthens your security across network, endpoints, cloud, and applications. Cisco SecureX is embedded within every Cisco Security product and supports integrations with SIEM and SOAR, so customers will not need to replace any solution or worry about layering on new technology.

Cisco SecureX Features

Cisco SecureX has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Unified overview: Cisco SecureX offers key metrics on transactions and threats for network, endpoints, cloud and applications. In addition, the SecureX interface is integrated into all Cisco Security technologies.

• Automation and an increase in operational efficiency: With Cisco SecureX, you gain better automation of workflows for products of the Cisco Security portfolio and third parties, allowing you to focus on other more important tasks. By eliminating manual work (through automatic identification of threats using analytical data of Cisco Talos and other sources), the solution helps your organization save a significant amount of time.

• Security strengthening: Cisco SecureX makes it easy to compare analytical data from a set of various sources with the telemetry received from network, endpoints, e-mail, cloud, and third-party products.

Cisco SecureX Benefits

Some of the benefits of using Cisco SecureX include:

• Secure every business endeavor with an open, integrated platform that has out-of-the-box interoperability and scales to meet security needs.

• Advance your security maturity level using existing resources.

• Turn security from a blocker into an enabler. Cisco SecureX allows you to add new security capabilities for the threat landscape.

• Maximize your operational efficiency, helping you get the most from your security investments.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Cisco SecureX users.

PeerSpot user Wouter H., Technical Team Lead Network & Security at Missing Piece BV, shares several reasons why he thinks the solution is fantastic. In his opinion, “SecureX takes all the separate pieces of security within your company, adds in intelligence from different sites and services on the internet, and makes them work together. If an email is received on a machine and malware is being executed, it can be put into lockdown mode. The fact that you can have a single solution that combines endpoint intelligence with email intelligence, firewalls, and publicly available intelligence is really helpful. Also, SecureX provides us with contextual awareness throughout our security ecosystem. Before SecureX, things that were not possible, or that would take days, now literally take seconds to find out.

Michal S., Infrastructure Engineer at a media company, says, “SecureX provides many measurements and has a really good dashboard. Working with it you are able to see things very clearly and you have every detail on a single display. That saves us money and time.” He also adds, “It brings all our data into a central point. It also shows us many data connections between many of our environments. SecureX gives you really good information about potential risks. You are able to find the source of a risk, a potential risk from a user or a machine.”

Blair A., Technology Director at Shawnee Heights USD #450, explains, "One of the most valuable features is the simplicity of deploying SecureX. It's very easy to do that and then you gain very detailed visibility into everything that's going on in your network and, obviously, at the device level. There's just a wealth of information that you can pull from all of these products that are part of SecureX. You know exactly if you have an issue or not."