TechValidate Research on Cisco Secure Network Analytics


Case Study: McKee Foods

Introduction

This case study of www.mckeefoods.com is based on a December 2012 survey of Cisco Stealthwatch customers by TechValidate, a 3rd-party research service.

“We have used Cisco to consolidate several tools including replacing our IDS system and reducing costs and time to locate network problems. It provides much greater visibility across our network of anomalies and problems than we have ever had.”

Challenges

  • Solved the following operational challenges with Stealthwatch by Cisco:
    • Improved in network performance
    • Enhanced network security posture
    • Increased efficiency in the identification of security threats
    • Increased correlation of user identity and activity
    • Increased flow collection, monitoring and analysis

Use Case

  • Primarily uses Stealthwatch by Cisco in the following ways:
    • Network Forensics
    • Security Forensics
    • Application performance monitoring
    • Network performance monitoring
  • Used Stealthwatch to detect or prevent the following security threats:
    • Advanced persistent threats
    • Network malware or virus
    • Suspicious user behavior
    • External hacking attempt
    • Data loss/ exfiltration
    • Command and control traffic / botnets
    • Network reconnaissance
  • Is doing the following with Stealthwatch by Cisco deployment:
    • Monitoring a centralized network with a large number of satellite or retail locations
    • Monitoring traffic within a virtual environment
    • Monitoring traffic within a data center, physical and virtual

Results

  • Chose Stealthwatch by Cisco for the following capabilities:
    • Behavior-based security monitoring
    • Real-time flow monitoring capabilities
    • Internal visibility
    • Forensics
    • Scalability
  • Selected Stealthwatch by Cisco over the following vendors:
    • NetScout
    • In-house monitoring solution
    • Open source solution
  • Meets enterprise requirements by utilizing the following Stealthwatch by Cisco benefits:
    • Scalability and flexibility
    • Improved incident response and threat management
    • Enterprise-wide visibility into network activity
    • Deployment and support simplicity
    • Enterprise-wide user monitoring
    • Forensic analysis
  • Reduced the time it took to mitigate a security incident by 50% to 74% by deploying Stealthwatch.
  • Rated the following Stealthwatch by Cisco capabilities as compared to competing vendors:
    • Network Security: Much Better
    • Performance Monitoring: Much Better
    • Scalability: Much Better
    • Network Visibility: Much Better
    • Innovation: Better




About This Data

This data was sourced directly from verified users of Cisco Secure Network Analytics by TechValidate.

TechValidate verifies the identity and organizational affiliation of all participants that contribute to published research data. When research participants so desire, we also guarantee their anonymity so that they may share information honestly and freely.


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