Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs ExtraHop Reveal(x) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Feb 18, 2024

We compared Cisco Secure Network Analytics and ExtraHop Reveal(x) across 5 parameters based on our user reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

Cisco Secure Network Analytics users highly value its advanced threat detection capabilities, extensive visibility and control over network traffic, and proactive alerting system. They appreciate the commendable customer service and support provided by Cisco Secure Network Analytics. ExtraHop Reveal(x) also offers robust network visibility and real-time threat detection.

Initial Setup and Support: Cisco Secure Network Analytics has a relatively quick and simple setup process that typically takes one to two weeks for deployment. ExtraHop Reveal(x) setup can be more complex and time-consuming, often taking about a week to complete due to the involvement of network taps and packet brokers. Cisco Secure Network Analytics provides a range of management options and support services, including workshops for a better understanding of solutions. They also experience stability issues in new versions. ExtraHop Reveal(x) excels in efficiency and troubleshooting capabilities of their support team, although there are occasional sporadic support feedback.

Valuable Features: Cisco Secure Network Analytics is praised for its advanced threat detection capabilities, proactive alerting system, and effective security incident response. ExtraHop Reveal(x) stands out for its robust network visibility, comprehensive analytics capabilities, and data-driven decision-making features.

Room For Improvement: Cisco Secure Network Analytics could benefit from improvements in data processing speed, better visualization features, and advanced threat detection capabilities. ExtraHop Reveal(x) needs enhancements in user interface, accuracy, responsiveness, documentation, and customer support.

Setup Cost: Cisco Secure Network Analytics has been considered reasonable and competitive, yet with a potentially higher initial setup cost. ExtraHop Reveal(x) is praised for its relatively low setup cost, making implementation easy and cost-effective.

ROI: The ROI from Cisco Secure Network Analytics has been significant, providing improved network security, reduced risks, advanced analytics capabilities, and reliable support. ExtraHop Reveal(x) excels in network visibility, anomaly detection, and user-friendly interface.

The summary above is based on interviews we conducted recently with Cisco Secure Network Analytics and ExtraHop Reveal(x) users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"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.""The most valuable feature is integration.""The deployment was a breeze. It is a very innovative and robust platform that allows us to bi-directionally stitch together data elements from Netflow-enabled devices to provide a context for network utilization.""It has been pretty stable since we deployed it, and everything seems to be working fine.""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.""It is a good application, providing for real-time monitoring of the organization of data. It can basically identify points of peak traffic where possible issues are being caused.""The most valuable features of this solution are its reporting and mitigation capabilities.""The most valuable features of this solution are the logging, keeping threats under control, and keeping our data and environment secure."

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"The solution's initial setup process is easy.""Reveal X integrates seamlessly with CrowdStrike. If you see something sketchy on the network, you can quarantine devices through ExtraHop and it'll push to the CrowdStrike server.""The solution's ability to decrypt SSL traffic is its most valuable feature.""We had useful information within the hour of deployment. The ability to trace back for historical analysis, as well as the behavioral analysis done with the security information, puts the user in a position to make an informed decision to mitigate the performance or security incidents. Regarding the security incidents, Reveal (x) is able to create incident cards that guide your teams through the incidents and gives you the option to delve into the transaction detail to potentially view payloads as well.""It's a wire analytics tool. We use it for isolating and determining issues on our network or applications. It does a lot for crediting the network as opposed to discrediting the network. A lot of people come along and say that it's a network issue. It's always considered to be a network issue, but by using ExtraHop, we can quickly tell them that it's not a networking issue. It's something to do with your application or something at the other end. It could be a database issue. This tool gives us the ability to pinpoint with great accuracy the comings and goings on our network.""The most valuable features of ExtraHop Reveal(x) are the detection and alerting of network behavior and anomalies.""Setting up the solution is relatively easy.""With ExtraHop Reveal(x), it gives me more visibility into the packets. It doesn't provide the entire packet capture, but it offers more information on how connections are made at the network layer. This can be helpful for detecting network attacks. Additionally, I really like the customizable dashboards and reports. The incident dashboard and alerts provide a good summary initially, and diving deeper into them gives more detailed information. It's also great for analyzing specific attacks and victim logs. The feature that tracks the full attack chain makes it easier to monitor the progress of attacks. Plus, it's connected to the Netria.com app, which I find useful for certain tasks."

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Cons
"We determined that Stealthwatch wouldn't provide the machine learning model that we required.""It's too complicated to install, when starting out.""We are continuing down the road of ACI and ISE with Cisco, so we would like to see the continuation of Stealthwatch integrating into ISE for exchange of information, and also, more into the ACI environment too.""Cisco could improve the administration for the customers.""Reliance on Java. Get away from that.""I would like to see it better organized when I'm looking at it.""There could be better integration on the programming side, which uses Python. StealthWatch could provide a template for Python to manage the switches. For example, it would be nice if StealthWatch bounced a port automatically it detected something anomalous.""One thing I would like to see improved is if it could automatically be tied through ISE, instead of you having to manually get notifications and disable it yourself."

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"Agent management could certainly use some focus. It should also be a little bit easier to work with collections. We should be able to nest collections within collections. There should be better nesting.""The solution's reporting part and GUI are areas with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.""I would like to see more cloud capability.""ExtraHop Reveal(x) could improve by allowing a longer look back in the feature. Right now you have a limit of 30 days to look back on your activity. I've used Darktrace before, and they allow you the ability to play back events. This would be a good feature to have in ExtraHop Reveal(x).""It needs integration with more security vendors.""The solution should include more support protocols.""They used to have the ability to decode Citrix sign-on, setup, and tear down. Unfortunately, Citrix has stopped sharing that knowledge. Citrix has continued to change its model of processing, making it harder and harder to troubleshoot.""The solution’s pricing could be improved."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It is worth the cost."
  • "Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside>in traffic."
  • "Pricing is much higher compared to other solutions."
  • "​Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."
  • "Today, we are part of the big Cisco ELA, and it is a la carte. We can get orders for whatever we want. At the end of the day, we have to pay for it in one big expense, but that is fine. We are okay with that."
  • "NetFlow is very expensive."
  • "One of the things which bugs me about Lancope is the licensing. We understand how licensing works. Our problem is when we bought and purchased most of these Lancope devices, we did so with our sister company. Somewhere within the purchase and distribution, licensing got mixed up. That is all on Cisco, and it is their responsibility. They allotted some of our sister company's equipment to us, and some of our equipment to them. To date, they have never been able to fix it."
  • "The licensing costs are outrageous."
  • More Cisco Secure Network Analytics Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I would rate the price a three out of five. It could be less expensive."
  • "I rate ExtraHop Reveal(x) six out of 10 for affordability. We pay for an annual license. It's always one of those trade-offs. You get a lot of value, but ExtraHop isn't exorbitantly priced. You can pay extra for additional features like the ability to decode HL7 traffic, which is crucial for EMR environments."
  • "The solution is based on an annual subscription model and is expensive."
  • "I rate the price of ExtraHop Reveal(x) a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."
  • More ExtraHop Reveal(x) Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is the Threat Intelligence integration.
    Top Answer:I would rate Cisco SNA as a nine out of ten in terms of costliness.
    Top Answer:Initially, I felt Cisco Secure Network Analytics lacked integration with Splunk. However, with Cisco's recent acquisition of Splunk, it seems this gap will be addressed. If this integration happens… more »
    Top Answer:We just did an assessment for our 47 datacenters around North America. The top two enterprise-level network monitoring solutions were ExtraHop first, Riverbed SteelCenter second. Their negotiated cost… more »
    Top Answer:One I am looking closely at is AppNeta. They have an appliance that can digest the flow and do a better job than Netflow The other one we are using is ExtraHop.  This has both a Datacenter… more »
    Top Answer:With ExtraHop Reveal(x), it gives me more visibility into the packets. It doesn't provide the entire packet capture, but it offers more information on how connections are made at the network layer… more »
    Ranking
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    8.4
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    8.6
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
    Reveal(x), Revealx
    Learn More
    Cisco
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    Overview

    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.”

    ExtraHop Reveal(x) is a highly effective network traffic analysis (NTA) solution that leverages a cloud-native architecture to empower organizations to overcome a world filled with increasingly sophisticated threats. It identifies 25% more threats than its competitors. Additionally, organizations that employ Reveal(x) say they resolve issues 77% percent faster than they would if they were using other similar solutions.

    ExtraHop Reveal(x) Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy ExtraHop Reveal(x) include:

    • Total network visibility. Reveal(x) gives users the ability to view every component of their network and devices connected to it in real time. It can automatically recognize and classify the devices that are communicating across an organization’s network. These devices are scanned by powerful decryption software that reveals hidden threats and the details of critical transactions without compromising privacy or compliance rules. Organizations are given full East-West visibility across both physical data centers and cloud environments. Threats that are on the periphery are brought to the attention of the administrators tasked with watching out for them.
    • Identify threats in real time. Reveal(x) extracts more than 5,000 features from the L2-L7 security layers at any given time, feeds them into its machine learning engine, and presents them to its rule-based detection feature. These features make it possible for the solution to identify the most severe threats. Users can conduct a threat triage and address the threats that their system detects in the order of severity that these threats represent.
    • Ease of use. Users of Reveal(x) can easily make full use of its event remediation features without expending long periods of time learning them. Its workflows are designed so that administrators can go from a security event to the cause of the event in only a couple of clicks. What would normally take hours can be completed in moments.

    ExtraHop Reveal(x) Features

    • Integration suite. Reveal(x) enables users to utilize a robust suite of integrations. If users feel they are missing important capabilities, they can bolster their security feature toolbox with those offered by third-party solutions. Phantom, Splunk, and Palo Alto are three examples of solutions that Reveal(x) enables users to connect to in order to fill in a gap in their security capabilities.
    • Automated inventory. Reveal(x) automatically creates a detailed inventory of all of the devices that it discovers and classifies. This keeps an always up-to-date record of all of the devices that are communicating in a given network.

    • Machine learning. Reveal(x)’s real-time application analytics is driven by a machine learning engine. It detects anomalies in an organization’s network traffic, thus enabling users to keep ahead of any and all threats while reducing the number of false positives that administrators have to sort through.

    Reviews from Real Users

    ExtraHop Reveal(x) is a solution that stands out when compared to many other similar solutions. Two major advantages that it offers are its versatility and its ability to quickly identify the root cause of an application’s issues.

    John B., the senior monitoring engineer at a financial services firm, says, “It's useful for different teams in our organization. The cybersecurity team uses it because it has got great analytics for anomaly detection, malware detection, and ransomware. It's used by the networking people because it's great to be able to get the three-way handshake between systems to see how your network is doing. The microservices for DNS use it because they like to be able to see how their DNS services are operating and how many DNS requests are being rejected, denied, or dropped. Application people love it because it fully decrypts their traffic.

    Henry S., a systems engineer at LifePoint Health, writes, "When there are performance issues with an HTTP app, ExtraHop enables us to identify the causes within a few minutes. We can see what transactions are being impacted by something that may be happening within the server environment."

    Sample Customers
    Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
    Wood County Hospital
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Healthcare Company23%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Government7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company27%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company5%
    REVIEWERS
    Security Firm22%
    Computer Software Company22%
    Financial Services Firm22%
    Educational Organization11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Government7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise76%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise73%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise54%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise66%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x)
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Secure Network Analytics is ranked 4th in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) with 57 reviews while ExtraHop Reveal(x) is ranked 5th in Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) with 12 reviews. Cisco Secure Network Analytics is rated 8.2, while ExtraHop Reveal(x) is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Network Analytics writes "Increased the visibility of what is happening in our network". On the other hand, the top reviewer of ExtraHop Reveal(x) writes "It helps you visualize how data moves across your network". Cisco Secure Network Analytics is most compared with Darktrace, Cisco Secure Cloud Analytics, ThousandEyes, Vectra AI and Cisco Umbrella, whereas ExtraHop Reveal(x) is most compared with Darktrace, Vectra AI, Corelight, Arista NDR and Trend Micro Deep Discovery. See our Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. ExtraHop Reveal(x) report.

    See our list of best Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) vendors and best Network Detection and Response (NDR) vendors.

    We monitor all Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.