Government security operations (SecOp) teams face unique challenges as they grapple with relentless attacks in an environment that can shift unexpectedly. The pressure intensifies in the government, and budgets are often constrained. This combination of factors creates a perfect storm of stress and uncertainty. SecOps leaders must find ways to ensure their teams can protect the environment when the unexpected happens. US federal, state, and local agencies can use Stellar Cyber’s Open XDR platform in the Oracle US Government Cloud to help deliver consistent security outcomes.
Forward-thinking leaders are adopting a consolidated approach to cybersecurity. Unlike some fortunate private sector SecOp teams that eagerly add technology to their security stack to cover every case, government SecOp teams need a highly optimized security stack with limited redundant capabilities that require minimal manual maintenance. While specific security controls must exist in a security stack, such as firewalls, endpoint security, and identity management, there are various options for the primary platform security analysts to conduct investigations and incident responses. An emerging technology showing promise for security teams with limited resources is known as extended detection and response (XDR).
XDR solutions for cybersecurity
XDR solutions typically combine the best parts of next-generation security information and event management (SIEM), user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR), and more, into an easy-to-use platform. Unlike more complicated products, XDRs adopt an automation-first approach to cybersecurity, where automated processes replace many of the manual processes associated with tools delivered in the platform. With XDRs, you can significantly consolidate your security stack, replacing bulky, complicated tools with a single platform that reduces ongoing costs and streamlines the investigation process. While XDRs are promising, many vendors deliver variations of XDR products with different approaches and benefits.
XDR types
XDR products generally come in the following variations:
- Closed: A closed XDR requires a specific endpoint product from a particular vendor to deliver meaningful results. Without the endpoint product, the XDR product might not even be able to be deployed. Closed XDR products are good choices if the organization is committed to a single vendor while keeping its security stack technology the same for the foreseeable future.
- Open: An open XDR product works with any underlying security product with integrations to hundreds of popular products delivered with the product. Open XDR products ensure that your security teams maintain the flexibility to control your security stack technology, making changes when you want.
When given these two options, most organizations benefit from the flexibility inherent in an open XDR platform over a closed XDR because an open XDR works with the endpoint solution already deployed, and if a change is required, the primary SecOp investigation platform continues to function.
Stellar Cyber for government SecOp teams: Delivering continuous security outcomes
Now offered in Oracle Cloud Marketplace, Stellar Cyber Open XDR helps government SecOp teams improve their ability to deliver consistent security outcomes for on-premises and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure workloads without making wholesale changes to their existing security stack. The Stellar Cyber Open XDR platform offers the following compelling characteristics:
- Flexibility: Stellar Cyber Open XDR works with over 500 different security, productivity, and IT systems. This wide range of supported products means that you can easily integrate your existing tools into the platform, quickly ingesting critical security-relevant data, including data from Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The availability of these integrations eliminates the need for security teams to create and maintain their own custom set of integrations. For a government security team with limited resources, this benefit makes the Stellar Cyber Open XDR platform a great alternative to existing SIEM products.
- Security capabilities: Not all XDRs, even open XDRs, natively offer the same set of security capabilities. Stellar Cyber Open XDR includes SIEM, UEBA, file integrity monitoring (FIM), threat intelligence platform (TIP), intrusion detection system (IDS), Malware Sandbox, network detection and response (NDR), case management, operational technology (OT) security, and response capabilities in a single platform. This wide range of security capabilities allows your government security teams to rationalize your security stack over time and reallocate spending to improve your security posture.
- Automation: Government security teams must move from manual to automated processes wherever possible. Stellar Cyber Open XDR enables you to take advantage of automated processes across the cybersecurity investigation workflow, from data ingestion and processing through case creation and alert correlation to automated response. This broad range of automation enables security analysts to complete more investigations during a shift, reducing your case backlog and reducing the risk of a breach or potentially damaging attack going unnoticed.
The first step
Deciding to change the way a security team completes investigations significantly is no small decision. To ensure that any change leaves the security team in a better position than they are today, you must determine which problem to solve in which order. With your problem priorities set, now is the time to investigate potential solutions.
Stellar Cyber offers a complimentary 30-day proof of concept to any organization looking to improve your security teams’ daily lives by enabling them to do what they do best and eliminate threats to the organization. To learn more about the Stellar Cyber Open XDR or schedule a demo, visit Oracle Cloud Marketplace to try Stellar Cyber XDR Platform today, or contact Stellar Cyber today.
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