NetWitness Platform vs Security Onion comparison

NetWitness and Security Onion Solutions, LLC are both solutions in the Log Management category. NetWitness is ranked #38 with an average rating of 8.0, while Security Onion Solutions, LLC is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.7. NetWitness holds a 0.3% mindshare in Log Management, compared to Security Onion Solutions, LLC’s 5.5% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of NetWitness users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of Security Onion Solutions, LLC users who would recommend it.

NetWitness Platform

Read 37 NetWitness Platform reviews

739 Views
465 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Security Onion

Read 3 Security Onion reviews

6,944 Views
5,988 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

NetWitness Platform

Security Onion

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

NetWitness Platform and Security Onion are both leading security solutions known for their distinct benefits in network security. Based on user data, Security Onion seems to have an advantage due to its user satisfaction and adaptability, aligning more closely with user expectations.

Features: NetWitness is recognized for advanced threat detection, offering deep insights and analytics. It also provides excellent threat intelligence, enhancing its security prowess. Meanwhile, Security Onion is valued for its open-source nature, allowing high customization and scalability. It caters to diverse security needs making it versatile for various environments.

Room for Improvement: NetWitness users suggest simpler management, intuitive navigation, and streamlined processes. Security Onion could improve in documentation, ease of configuration, and user guidance. Addressing these areas could enhance overall user experience and satisfaction.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetWitness users find deployment challenging without expert help and seek better customer support. Security Onion, with clearer installation paths, could still benefit from more responsive support. Thus, deployment is easier with Security Onion, but both need customer service improvements.

Pricing and ROI: NetWitness has high setup costs, impacting its ROI perception, despite its robust functionality. Security Onion offers a cost-effective approach with better ROI, viewed more favorably concerning value for investment.

To learn more, read our detailed NetWitness Platform vs. Security Onion Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

NetWitness Platform vs. Security Onion

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

NetWitness Platform

Ranking in Log Management

38th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (32nd)

Security Onion

Ranking in Log Management

18th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

AWS Marketplace (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of NetWitness Platform is 0.3%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Security Onion is 5.5%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Log Management

Featured Reviews

MdZaman

IT manager at a agriculture with 10,001+ employees

Really scalable for enterprise customers

The solution should have more integration capabilities with different platforms. The API is nearly open and scalable, so the solution can integrate with many platforms. The solution has more than 200 log sources in the scalability to support, but this is its limit. Installation is pretty easy. However, there are a couple of modules involved, so it is not as easy as it could be. We are talking about a distributed module, not a single-module type. This is what makes things a bit complex, instead of easier. I rate it as a seven out of ten on its installation and configuration capabilities.

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Jörg Kippe

Scientist at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees

A mature and affordable solution that is easy to install and easy to update

The product takes time to learn, it's not that easy. In the beginning we had a lot of questions. If you want to use such a tool in an real (industrial) environment, you have to ask how to get the network data. Can we do a full packet capture? Can we provide agents to our end systems? There are no simple solutions to these questions. It's a general problem when running such systems in an industrial environment.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the hunting ability to work in a CERT."

"The most valuable features are the packet decoder, log decoder, and concentrator."

"Setting up NetWitness is straightforward. There are multiple connectors, including standard and specialized connectors. One purpose of the connectors is the enhanced capability integrate the custom applications. NetWitness comes with E6 appliances and application images that we use for the initial configurations and for the OS stack information. From there, you can consider the correlation rules, integrate the different log sources, and easily create correlation rules and backlog reports."

"It gives the capability for the incident response team to correlate logs to identify any kind of problem like malware and incidents in a general sense, both for logs and packets."

"Incident management is its most valuable feature."

"The solution is really scalable for the high-end power, enterprise customer."

"It's fully scalable. There is no limit. Of course, the license limits per day the number of terabytes. In my opinion, it's very flexible."

"What we are mainly using are the RSA concentrator, RSA Decoder, Archiver, Broker, and Log Decoder."

More NetWitness Platform pros

"Security Onion is the most mature solution in the market."

"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."

"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."

Cons

"We have encountered issues with unresolved crashes."

"The system architecture is complex and sometimes it’s hard to troubleshoot potential problems."

"The system looks like it is a mix of a bunch of different systems, and nothing looked like it was quite together."

"Nowadays, their support is a little subpar compared to other solutions. I rate RSA support six out of 10."

"Its technical support could be better."

"An area for improvement would be better automation and more inbuilt use cases."

"More customizability is required, which is something that they need to improve on."

"The documentation is not as structured as I would like, personally, and I think that it can be improved and made much more user-friendly."

More NetWitness Platform cons

"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."

"The product is not easy to learn."

"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In comparison to other SIEM solutions such as Splunk, NetWitness is less costly."

"Our license is for one year."

"It provides tools to assist in selecting the appropriate license and usage scenarios."

"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets do not have a subscription model, it's a one-time purchase. There is only a perpetual license."

"Many clients are not able to purchase the packet capability because there is a huge amount of data, and the cost depends on the number of EPS (Events per second), as well as the number of gigabytes of data per day."

"It is cheap."

"The licenses are good but the cost is very expensive."

"There is a licensing fee and the customer can choose whether he wishes this to be subscription-based or perpetual."

More NetWitness Platform pricing and cost advice

"Security Onion is a free solution."

"Security Onion is an open-source solution."

"It is an open-source solution."

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Comparison Review

Vinod Shankar

Manager, Enterprise Risk Consulting at Deloitte & Touche

Feb 26, 2015

HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm

We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

17%

Government

Insurance Company

University

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?

The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?

The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to me.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?

There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.

See all answers

What do you like most about Security Onion?

The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Security Onion?

Security Onion is an open-source solution. On a scale from one to ten, where ten is expensive and one is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Security Onion?

The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult.

See all answers

Comparisons

Splunk Enterprise Security vs NetWitness Platform

Compared 23% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs NetWitness Platform

Compared 17% of the time

Elastic Security vs NetWitness Platform

Compared 13% of the time

Trellix Network Detection and Response vs NetWitness Platform

Compared 10% of the time

RSA enVision vs NetWitness Platform

Compared 9% of the time

More NetWitness Platform Competitors

Wazuh vs Security Onion

Compared 60% of the time

Elastic Stack vs Security Onion

Compared 11% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Security Onion

Compared 9% of the time

Graylog vs Security Onion

Compared 6% of the time

Kali Linux vs Security Onion

Compared 3% of the time

More Security Onion Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

NetWitness Platform

May 2025

Download NetWitness Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

Log Management

April 2025

Download Security Onion product report

Also Known As

RSA Security Analytics

No data available

Overview

NetWitness Platform is an evolved SIEM and threat detection and response solution that functions as a single, unified platform for ALL your security data. It features an advanced analyst workbench for triaging alerts and incidents, and it orchestrates security operations programs end to end. In short: NetWitness Platform is all you need to run an intelligent SOC.

NetWitness

Security Onion is an open-source Linux distribution for intrusion detection, network security monitoring, and log management. It offers comprehensive solutions for enterprises seeking to enhance their cybersecurity infrastructure.

Security Onion provides a full suite of tools to detect and respond to cybersecurity threats efficiently. As a robust and versatile distribution, it includes capabilities for real-time analysis, network visibility, and threat detection, making it indispensable for security operations centers. Users value this tool for its integration of open-source software with advanced analytics, affording professionals a detailed overview of network traffic and potential intrusions.

What are Security Onion’s most important features?

Intrusion Detection: Utilizes Suricata or Zeek for effective threat monitoring.
Network Security Monitoring: Offers powerful visualization tools for network analysis.
Log Management: Centralizes log collection and analysis.
Comprehensive Dashboards: Provides integrated dashboards for threat visibility.

What benefits or ROI should you look for in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Reduced cybersecurity costs due to its open-source nature.
Improved Threat Detection: Enhanced ability to identify and respond to threats quickly.
Integration Capability: Seamless integration with existing security infrastructures.
Scalability: Support for scaling network security operations as needed.

Security Onion finds extensive application in industries such as finance, healthcare, and government sectors, where robust network monitoring is critical. Its ability to integrate with existing security tools makes it a preferred choice for organizations looking to strengthen their cybersecurity posture.

Security Onion Solutions, LLC

Sample Customers

Los Angeles World Airports, Reply

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

NetWitness Platform vs. Security Onion

April 2025

Free Report: NetWitness Platform vs. Security Onion

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