We have all heard of the risk that Web Analytics tools may pose to users and their data. We are always looking for ways to avoid those risks and build trust with our users. The more we can do this, the longer they will stay on our site and return to it. When your users find a profile and become loyal customers, metrics indicate you will earn their trust and be rewarded with conversion, which is synonymous with customer purchase.
What are Security Analytics Platforms?
Security analytics platforms are tools which provide proactive or exploratory network security via behavioral machine learning or analytics techniques. Alternately described as SA Tools or network traffic analytics software, these products collect, normalize, and analyze network traffic for threat behavior. Vendors specializing specifically in SA offer machine learning tools for applying security models to traffic across enterprise assets. While highly related to SIEM, security analytics software may provide more advanced tools for data mining or freeform analytics.
Security analytics software provides several benefits to organizations. Overall, it enhances the actionability of security data, especially at the enterprise level. These tools reduce the manual load associated with performing security analytics. They also prevent analyses graphically for less specialized users to make decisions based on the results. This improved accessibility and data centralization can improve event response times, threat visibility, and insider threat awareness. They can also provide proof of compliance in the event of an audit.
Security analytics platforms primarily consist of data ingestion pipelines, an analytics engine, and accessible next-step functions like data visualizations, alerts, or automated workflow triggers for threat remediation. The data pipelines are designed to intake data from a wide number of sources, including non-IT contextual data like HR or finance information. Security analytics software can then perform a range of analysis methods depending on the data being analyzed, such as behavior or traffic analysis. The AI foundations of many security analytics tools makes this process less manual than it would otherwise need to be, especially when coupled with updated 3rd-party threat intelligence resources.
Security analytics are sometimes found in other security data collection tools. SIEMs and IT Infrastructure Monitoring tools are common sources of security analytics capabilities. Since the tools collect the data directly, they can be better suited to handling certain kinds of data. Standalone security analytics platforms are likely to have more robust security analytics engines. They focus on advanced AI-driven analytics and rely on other security systems to collect the security data itself. This arrangement may be ideal for businesses that are adding a security analytics tool on top of preexisting security systems.
Features of Security Analytics Platforms
Security analytics software provide the following features or targets for analysis:
- Ingested data from SIEM or other sources
- User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)
- Automated or on-demand network traffic analysis
- Model observed behavior against threat intelligence
- Configure analytics to observe behavior against policy
- Application access and analytics
- DNS analysis tool
- Email activity
- Network packets
- Identity and social persona
- File access
- Geolocation, IP context
Security Analytics Software Comparison
When comparing different security analytics platforms, consider these factors:
- Data Source Integration: Does the tool have prebuilt ingestion pipelines for specific types of security data collectors, or even specific products? These factors will heavily impact the timeline and ease of implementation and long-term management as security tools are added or replaced over time.
- Scalability: How easily will the software handle analytics at volume? Consider aspects like analytics automation and the AI capabilities available. Also consider how scalable the next-steps from analytics results are, be they alert management, integrations with security controls for automated workflows, and other processes.
- Usability: Much of the value of security analytics engines are the ease of use and improved accessibility of results for non-specialists. Consider how usable and actionable each product is for less-specialized users.
Security Analytics Software Overview
Security analytics platforms are tools which provide proactive or exploratory network security via behavioral machine learning or analytics techniques. Alternately described as SA Tools or network traffic analytics software, these products collect, normalize, and analyze network traffic for threat behavior. Vendors specializing specifically in SA offer machine learning tools for applying security models to traffic across enterprise assets. While highly related to SIEM, security analytics software may provide more advanced tools for data mining or freeform analytics.
Security analytics software provides several benefits to organizations. Overall, it enhances the actionability of security data, especially at the enterprise level. These tools reduce the manual load associated with performing security analytics. They also prevent analyses graphically for less specialized users to make decisions based on the results. This improved accessibility and data centralization can improve event response times, threat visibility, and insider threat awareness. They can also provide proof of compliance in the event of an audit.
Security analytics platforms primarily consist of data ingestion pipelines, an analytics engine, and accessible next-step functions like data visualizations, alerts, or automated workflow triggers for threat remediation. The data pipelines are designed to intake data from a wide number of sources, including non-IT contextual data like HR or finance information. Security analytics software can then perform a range of analysis methods depending on the data being analyzed, such as behavior or traffic analysis. The AI foundations of many security analytics tools makes this process less manual than it would otherwise need to be, especially when coupled with updated 3rd-party threat intelligence resources.
Security analytics are sometimes found in other security data collection tools. SIEMs and IT Infrastructure Monitoring tools are common sources of security analytics capabilities. Since the tools collect the data directly, they can be better suited to handling certain kinds of data. Standalone security analytics platforms are likely to have more robust security analytics engines. They focus on advanced AI-driven analytics and rely on other security systems to collect the security data itself. This arrangement may be ideal for businesses that are adding a security analytics tool on top of preexisting security systems.
Best Security Analytics Software include:
McAfee Advanced Threat Defense, Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics (discontinued), Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Cofense Vision, Rapid7 InsightIDR, Cisco Secure Malware Analytics (Threat Grid), FortiAnalyzer, Trend Micro Deep Discovery, Cisco Endpoint Security Analytics, and Juniper Advanced Threat Prevention (JATP), formerly Cyphort.
Security Analytics Products
(1-25 of 62) Sorted by Most ReviewsThe list of products below is based purely on reviews (sorted from most to least). There is no paid placement and analyst opinions do not influence their rankings. Here is our Promise to Buyers to ensure information on our site is reliable, useful, and worthy of your trust.Search
IBM Security QRadar
27 reviewsStarting Price $800Save
IBM Security QRadar is security information and event management (SIEM) Software.
Key Features
- Centralized event and log data collection (27)94%9.4
- Event and log normalization/management (47)90%9.0
- Custom dashboards and workspaces (47)80%8.0
LogRhythm NextGen SIEM Platform
The LogRhythm NextGen SIEM Platform, from LogRhythm in Boulder, Colorado, is security information and event management (SIEM) software which includes SOAR functionality via SmartResponse Automation Plugins (a RespondX feature), the DetectX security analytics module, and AnalytiX…
Key Features
- Custom dashboards and workspaces (37)88%8.8
- Centralized event and log data collection (19)79%7.9
- Event and log normalization/management (37)69%6.9
Sumo Logic
15 reviewsStarting Price $3Save
Sumo Logic is a log management offering from the San Francisco based company of the same name.Compare
Cofense Vision
11 reviewsCustomer VerifiedSave
Cofense Vision stores emails offline and provides threat hunting analytics. Cofense Vision allows the user to search and quarantine emails in minutes — across an entire organization, and is designed to provide threat hunting at speed.CompareLearn More
Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Palo Alto Network’s WildFire is a malware prevention service. It specializes in addressing zero-day threats through dynamic and static analysis, machine learning, and advanced sandbox testing environments.Compare
Securonix Next-Generation SIEM
Securonix headquartered in Addison offers the Securonix Next-Generation SIEM deployment, combining log management as well as user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), for a complete SOC solution.Compare
Logz.io
Logz.io in Boston offers their enterprise-grade log analytics application, oriented towards providing data security and eliminating the need for capacity management.Compare
McAfee Advanced Threat Defense
McAfee Advanced Threat Defense enables organizations to detect advanced, evasive malware and convert threat information into immediate action and protection. Unlike traditional sandboxes, it includes additional inspection capabilities that broaden detection and expose evasive threats.…Compare
Forcepoint Insider Threat
Forcepoint Insider Threat is a security analytics tool for, searching, detecting and mitigating malicious or policy-violating employee behavior.Compare
Splunk User Behavior Analytics (UBA)
Splunk supplies security analytics as a standalone solution or priced as an add-on for users of its popular SIEM products, to protect enterprises against unknown threats and malicious behavior, via the Splunk User Behavior Analytics (UBA) application.Compare
Splunk Enterprise Security (ES)
Splunk Enterprise Security (SIEM) is the company’s flagship SIEM product, offered as a premium service to subscribers of Splunk Cloud or Splunk Enterprise.Compare
FortiInsight
Fortinet offers user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) technology via FortiInsight, the company’s security analytics software.Compare
Mandiant Automated Defense
Mandiant Automated Defense is a cybersecurity investigation automation solution that connects the dots across disparate cybersecurity data to find real incidents fast. The Mandiant Automated Defense engine is built to accelerate investigations for security operations teams in defense…Compare
Picus Security
Picus Security, headquartered in San Francisco, offers Continuous Security Validation and Mitigation as the most proactive approach to ensure cyber-resilience. The Picus Platform measures the effectiveness of defenses by using emerging threat samples in production environments, providing…Compare
Cisco Secure Malware Analytics (Threat Grid)
Cisco Secure Malware Analytics (formerly Threat Grid) combines advanced sandboxing with threat intelligence into one unified solution to protect organizations from malware. With a context-aware malware knowledge base, the user can understand what malware is doing or attempting to…CompareLearn More
FortiAnalyzer
As part of the Fortinet Security Fabric, FortiAnalyzer provides security fabric analytics and automation to provide better detection and response against cyber risks.Compare
SonicWall Analytics
SonicWall Analytics provides real-time insights into correlated security data and supports forensic investigation, security policy calibration and control, enrichment of connected firewall data, and drill down analytics.Compare
Trend Micro Deep Discovery
Trend Micro Deep Discovery is a family of advanced threat protection products that enables users to detect, analyze, and respond to today’s stealthy, targeted attacks. Deep Discovery blends specialized detection engines, custom sandboxing, and global threat intelligence from the…Compare
Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics (discontinued)
Originally based on Aorato (acquired by Microsoft in November 2014), Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) was an advanced security analytics tool used to learn, analyze, and identify normal and suspicious user or device behavior with built-in intelligence. Mainstream support…Compare
Elastic Security
Elastic Security equips analysts to prevent, detect, and respond to threats. The free and open solution delivers SIEM, endpoint security, threat hunting, and cloud monitoring. The solution encompasses Elastic SIEM, which brings Elasticsearch to SIEM and threat hunting. The Elastic…Compare
Exabeam Fusion
Exabeam headquartered in San Mateo, Exabeam Fusion, a SIEM + XDR. The vendor states the modular Exabeam platform allows analysts to collect unlimited log data, use behavioral analytics to detect attacks, and automate incident response. The Exabeam platform can be deployed on-premise…Compare
Interset
Interset, developed by the company of the same name in Ottawa which was acquired by Micro Focus in February 2019, is a security analytics platform bringing artificial intelligence and machine learning to insider threat detection or related behavior-related security policy violations…
Symantec Network Forensics: Security Analytics
Symantec Network Forensics: Security Analytics aims to give users complete security visibility, advanced network traffic analysis, and real-time threat detection with enriched, full-packet capture.
Velociraptor, from Rapid7
Velociraptor is an open source security monitoring software tool developed by Velocidex and acquired by Rapid7 in April, 2021. Velociraptor works natively on Windows, macOS and Linux. An endpoint monitoring and forensics analysis tool, users can collect endpoint events such as event…
Gurucul Risk Analytics (GRA)
Gurucul Risk Analytics (GRA) is a behavior based security analytics platform from Gurucul headquartered in El Segundo.
CONCLUSION
These days, webmasters are getting more and more concerned about the security of data from their websites. Specifically, they are worried about information such as visitor’s IP address, etc. Here is a list of web analytics tool that are very secure when it comes to both the tracking of your website stats and user privacy:
Hundreds of companies and thousands of websites have been hacked recently including the websites of Wired, Intuit, Adobe, National Geographic, Forbes and many others. If you use web analytics tools like Google Analytics you should be especially concerned about cybersecurity.