Find out in this report how the two Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
They appreciate the rich telemetry data from the solution, as it provides in-depth threat identification.
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks helps to reduce my total cost of ownership significantly.
In Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, most of the remediation is automated and the accuracy is quite good.
Two customers faced a network breach and a bad configuration incident, but unlike in the past where recovery took days, they managed to shut down access points quickly.
With Cisco XDR, I gain visibility on one dashboard where I can see extensive logs, resulting in time saved and reduced security incidents, which provides a strong return on my investment.
The biggest return on investment when using Cisco XDR is the downtime aspect, specifically not having to roll out to sites and not having customers experience downtime.
Other NDR solutions provide virtual appliances that can be deployed on virtualization servers to get up and running quickly.
Using this solution provides financial benefits by securing from server attacks, which offers indirect savings.
The technical support from Palo Alto deserves a mark of ten because they reach out within an hour whenever assistance is needed.
There is no back and forth, and they know what we are asking for and come up with the best resolution for a solution.
If any of these services are missed, it becomes a problem in terms of support tickets, follow-up, or special configuration that needs to be done in the system.
They responded quickly, they were always willing to meet, and they were always willing to work as per my schedule.
the tech support is excellent
I would rate Cisco customer service a ten out of ten.
The technical support from Darktrace is of high quality.
Darktrace provides excellent technical support with a monthly meeting to review platform incidents, ensuring the system functions as expected.
The challenge lies in waiting for a response after logging a ticket.
You can onboard 10,000 endpoints in just hours, which demonstrates the excellent scalability of this product.
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks can be expanded anytime by purchasing another license without any issues related to scalability.
I think scalability for Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is good.
Cisco XDR is designed to handle significant scaling of endpoints, allowing management of a large scale of environments with thousands of sessions.
You can start with less than 10 endpoints and expand as results appear.
In terms of scalability, I rate it as the best.
Darktrace has high scalability, and I would rate it a nine out of ten.
Since it's cloud-based, it expands easily.
There is still a gap in terms of storage, and we are trying to figure out how to increase that capacity for regulated environments, which require data retention for 5 to 6 years.
Cortex remains fast and responsive, even with increasing data and alerts.
The thresholds we've seen on our firewall boxes at some instances reached 80% to 85%, but even at that level of utilization, we don't observe any latency or any issues reported with respect to accessing the application.
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
Customers have mentioned that the stability and scalability are good compared to competitors.
Once they got it fixed and figured out the issue with the observables and with the character limit, it's been flawless.
The stability and reliability of Cisco XDR, similar to most Cisco products, are bulletproof.
The stability of Darktrace is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
The appliance itself has never let me down.
For stability, I would rate Darktrace an eight out of ten.
Improving reporting and dashboard customization, along with the addition of real-time and exportable reports, would help SOC teams greatly.
The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products.
If the per GB data could be provided at a certain level free of cost or at the same cost which the customer is taking for the entire bundle, that would be better.
Competitors offer more visibility without any additional licensing, which is a significant drawback for Cisco.
If it can capture threats from worldwide new threats and publish them into a particular database linked with an AI-driven system that can immediately alert people, that would be very good for zero-day threats.
Offering some free XDR licenses for testing features, similar to VPN licenses, could have a significant impact on costs.
There is no dedicated salesperson in Egypt, and having one would help to improve focus on this market.
They say they can integrate with most firewalls, but when we did an integration with Meraki MX firewalls, that integration didn't work and still doesn't work to this day.
We need Darktrace on each branch to get the data out, and I suggest having some kind of a centralized product that gets data from multiple sources to aggregate and provide the data.
The pricing on SentinelOne is far more reasonable and cheaper than Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
I would say it is definitely not a cheap product, considering how mature it is and how scalable all Palo Alto products are together.
Cortex XDR is perceived as expensive by some customers, yet offers dynamic pricing.
This integration and discounting are something we cannot get from competitors, leading to reduced security costs.
Users can customize their use of Cisco XDR significantly from the onset, which has resulted in a lower total cost of ownership.
Overall, the price is a bit expensive compared to local competitors.
The product is considered expensive compared to others.
The pricing is costly in USD, and they charge based on device counts.
The licensing cost is approximately eight dollars a year.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
It includes machine learning to easily analyze data and detect complex threats across endpoints, networks, or clouds.
Between the clarity, the granularity, and the dashboard, it just works.
The feature I appreciate the most about Cisco XDR is the flexibility for a user to be able to create their own reporting and dashboards.
Cisco XDR helps prevent data loss during ransomware attacks by integrating with multiple levels of security, tying to identity management systems, and allowing placement of blocks at the endpoint level.
It is capable of responding to lateral movement and ransomware deployment within environments where there is data exfiltration.
I do not need to manually process incidents as Darktrace provides an incident summary, potential detection paths, and other details, all exportable with just a click.
If I am in a data center where I don't have layer two, it becomes an issue because the autonomous response is reliant on sending spoofed TCP resets to my core switch to block traffic, which is a major issue.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks | 4.9% |
| Darktrace | 5.4% |
| Cisco XDR | 1.8% |
| Other | 87.9% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 44 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 20 |
| Large Enterprise | 47 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 6 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 3 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 45 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 19 |
| Large Enterprise | 29 |
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks provides advanced threat detection with AI-driven endpoint protection and seamless integration, ensuring multi-layered security and automatic threat response.
Cortex XDR is designed to safeguard endpoints against malware and suspicious activities. It offers advanced threat detection and response capabilities using behavioral analysis, AI, and machine learning. It seamlessly integrates with security infrastructures, providing endpoint security, firewall integration, and enhanced visibility in both cloud-based and on-premises environments.
What are the key features of Cortex XDR?Organizations in diverse sectors deploy Cortex XDR to protect against malware, leveraging its advanced threat detection capabilities. Its integration with existing security infrastructures appeals to those seeking comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments, providing enhanced visibility and threat intelligence.
Cisco XDR delivers an advanced threat detection and response experience through integration with Cisco's security suite, offering enhanced visibility, intelligence, and automation for network protection and system evaluations.
Cisco XDR integrates with Cisco Meraki and Splunk, excelling in threat intelligence and zero-day attack detection. Its automated response features provide crucial support in managing extensive networks, while the comprehensive log management facilitates detailed troubleshooting. Dashboards assist in system evaluation for effective gap mitigation. Despite its licensing complexity and upfront costs, it remains a key tool for Security Operations Center analysts and internet service providers, helping isolate threats and ensuring consistent security monitoring.
What features make Cisco XDR stand out?Cisco XDR is widely implemented in sectors requiring robust network management and monitoring. Organizations use it alongside Cisco Firepower Threat Defense and Meraki for comprehensive security measures, benefiting global customers and internet service providers for traffic and routing insights across devices and data centers.
Darktrace is a leading cybersecurity solution that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide advanced threat detection, response, and risk management capabilities. Many reviewers find Darktrace's AI and machine-learning capabilities to be valuable. They appreciate its ability to detect anomalies and threats that might go unnoticed by traditional security tools. Overall, the general sentiment towards Darktrace from reviewers is positive. Users seem to appreciate its scalability, stability, AI capabilities, visibility, and ease of use.
Darktrace offers a proactive and intelligent approach to cybersecurity. It utilizes AI algorithms to learn and understand the 'pattern of life' for every user and device within a network. This understanding enables it to detect anomalies that could signify a cyber threat, from subtle insider threats to more obvious ransomware attacks.
Its adaptability, autonomous response features, and comprehensive network visibility make it a top-tier solution for different sizes of organizations and across many industries. It was named one of TIME magazine’s ‘Most Influential Companies’ in 2021 and protects over 8,800 organizations globally from advanced cyber threats.
Darktrace Cyber AI Loop
The Darktrace Cyber AI Loop introduces an advanced artificial intelligence-based system for cybersecurity, designed to build a self-improving defense mechanism. This system functions like a closed loop, where each stage feeds information and insights into the next, amplifying the overall effectiveness of the platform.
The key components of the loop are:
Darktrace's AI algorithms can identify threats that traditional security tools might miss. It continuously learns and updates its understanding of what is normal for each environment, ensuring that it can quickly detect and respond to unusual activities that could indicate a breach. Darktrace's Antigena module can autonomously respond to threats in real time. This is particularly crucial in containing fast-moving threats like ransomware, where every second counts.
Darktrace's solution provides unparalleled visibility into all parts of the network, including cloud services, IoT devices, and industrial control systems. This comprehensive coverage ensures that no part of the network is left unprotected. However, while the Darktrace Cyber AI Loop offers a robust solution, it is not a complete cure-all and requires careful implementation and integration with existing security frameworks.Darktrace offers a comprehensive and unified approach to cybersecurity. It provides continuous protection against known and unknown threats, regardless of where they emerge. Darktrace's solutions provide visibility into your cloud infrastructure, continuous monitoring of application usage and communication patterns (e.g., identification of suspicious actions like unauthorized data access), comprehensive email security that goes beyond traditional spam and phishing filters, real-time protection for endpoints, and continuous monitoring of network traffic and device activity.
Darktrace also provides specialized coverage to secure your zero-trust architecture. Identifies compromised identities, unauthorized access attempts, and risky data exfiltration within a least-privilege environment. Finally, it has a dedicated solution for safeguarding industrial control systems and critical infrastructure. Monitors communication patterns, device behavior, and physical access within OT environments, protecting against operational disruptions and cyberattacks.
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