OpenXDR is one of the most cost-effective SIEM alternatives that help businesses detect and mitigate threats within hectic modern architectures.

A single cyber incident impacts every aspect of a business—from system downtime, revenue losses, and reputation damage to disrupted operations.

One tool that promises to log all suspicious activity within the network and issue a correct response is Security Information and Event Management (SIEM).

However, after using the SIEM technology for years, security analysts have realized that this solution doesn’t work as promised. Many alerts are irrelevant, and it comes at a high cost for the company.

One of the strongest SIEM alternatives is OpenXDR (Extended Detection and Response).

This solution integrates the functionality of various security solutions. Plus, it pairs with AI to improve threat detection and speed up response to threats.

Let’s discover the different ways in which OpenXDR is making the traditional SIEM obsolete.

From False Positives to Accurate Threat Detection

The main disadvantage of SIEM is the high number of alerts that come from the tool. Over time, security teams learned that most of them are false positives, i.e., don’t indicate critical threats to the system.

SIEM requires manual analysis of incoming alerts that are logged from devices. With as much data as a typical business has to manage nowadays, this quickly becomes unsustainable. The fact is, teams just don’t have the time to look into every single alert.

Overworked and tired of the continual unrelated notifications from SIEM, security teams have learned to ignore most of the alerts that come from SIEM. They discard them as false positives. However, that can lead them to miss critical security gaps or an ongoing cyber attack.

How can you tell which threat presents a high risk?

OpenXDR relies on AI and machine learning to analyze and log all of the data that is generated from versatile security solutions.

Integrating the security stack and gathering all of the findings in a single solution, OpenXDR accurately portrays the current state of the security.

Machine learning helps it discern between the events that pose a major risk from those that do not.

The platform correlates the data to detect suspicious activity based on what presents an anomaly in the environment of a company. As a result, this reduces the number of false positives and helps teams to respond to actual threats before they escalate into incidents.

Threat detection and responses are automated as well as applied at all times to decrease the number of false positives.

Overview of the Entire Attack Surface

SIEM can only present a limited glimpse into the network and its activity. It’s not equipped to detect all of the critical risks or even to cover the entirety of the ever-growing attack surface.

For example, it might detect that certain data storage lacks security or that a device has not yet been patched following the discovery of a fatal flaw. But it can’t uncover the lateral movement of the bad actor that already has access to crucial credentials.

The SIEM solution has plenty of blind spots. It cannot keep up with an increasing surge of breaches and cyber-attacks. What’s more, it doesn’t have an effective, intuitive way to present the state of the security posture.

OpenXDR integrates the functionality of versatile security solutions in one platform. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the complete attack surface.

Essentially, Extended Detection and Response technology is designed to increase the visibility of the company’s security posture.

It scours the entire attack surface, collecting data from versatile applications and security tools that a company uses for work.

After collecting insights from all of the protective solutions, it provides its findings in a comprehensive report that shows the state of the security posture as it is at that exact moment—without overwhelming the teams.

This means that security teams have all the data they need, depicted in a single resource that is updated in real-time.

Most businesses can’t afford to detect threats weeks or months after the hacker compromised a network—especially if it ends with a data breach.

A Cost-Effective Platform

The cost of SIEM adds up rapidly. The tool is known to be a major investment for businesses. Monthly, you’re looking at a price point between $1,000 to $10,000.

This is without accounting for the cost of a possible cyberattack that is not detected on time.

The price varies depending on the size of the business, how much data has to be processed, and which features an organization will choose to integrate into its SIEM solution.

OpenXDR integrates the security product that the company already has with additional solutions that the business needs. It enables the company to scale its security with ease, regardless of which software the business might add to the infrastructure next.

That means that a company can retain many solutions they have been using over the years.

The cost of OpenXDR will also vary significantly depending on the number of IP addresses, an organization’s data consumption, etc.

The Necessity for Effective SIEM Alternatives

SIEM was designed for the business of yesterday.

Modern organizations, however, are facing the largest number of cyber threats recorded yet. Their networks are built by combining legacy applications and versatile cloud-based structures. Companies have workers who connect to the network from their homes.

All of that expands the attack surface and requires a better security posture that can scale as the company grows—without costing an arm and a leg.

OpenXDR, on the other hand, is made to solve problems that businesses face today. It leverages AI and machine learning for rapid threat analysis and detection across the entire attack surface.

The platform is designed to correlate findings and analyze large volumes of data that stem from security tools and applications.

As a result, it can provide insights into the state of the entire security posture and any possible threats before they can affect the company.