Top Cybersecurity Software

Enterprise connectivity is increasingly becoming more mobile and widely dispersed, as new remote users and devices access sensitive company resources. This widespread access to digital information is simplifying when, where, and how employees work. However, unfettered access also leads to new security problems that most companies have not fully protected against. 

A strong cybersecurity strategy can mitigate many of the potential security incidents a company will face, but this strategy cannot be successful without a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity software. Security companies frequently offer their customers specialized products that only cover one security need, such as firewall deployment and management or network segmentation. 

But a segment of companies packages cybersecurity software into suites, typically called network security or extended detection and response (XDR) solutions, to solve several different security issues through one software subscription. Read on to learn about some of the top enterprise cybersecurity solutions in the market and companies that are offering a full array of security features in a single product:

Choosing the Right Cybersecurity Software

• Features of cybersecurity software

• Benefits of cybersecurity software

• Cybersecurity software use cases

• Top providers of cybersecurity software

• • Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

• • Cynet 360

• • Trend Micro Vision One

• • Rapid7 Insight Platform

• • Check Point Quantum Network Security

• • Cisco SecureX

• • Crowdstrike Falcon XDR

• • ESET Protect Enterprise

• • Sophos Intercept X Endpoint

• • SentinelOne Singularity XDR

• Cybersecurity software: feature comparison table

• What to look for in cybersecurity software

Also read: Cybersecurity Market

Features of cybersecurity software

Cybersecurity products typically present one or two of the following enterprise security features, but many of the latest security software suites are bundling these features into a single subscription or making it easy for customers to integrate security needs into the suite.

• DNS security
• Firewalls
• Zero trust
• Endpoint detection and response (EDR) or extended detection and response (XDR)
• Managed detection and response (MDR)
• User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA)
• Security information and event management (SIEM)
• Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR)
• Identity and access management (IAM)
• Network access control (NAC)
• Virtual private network (VPN) and remote access management
• Cloud and workload security
• Secure web gateway
• Security monitoring and automation
• Compliance management
• Penetration testing
• Threat intelligence
• Log management
• Secure access service edge (SASE)
• Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS)
• Antivirus/antimalware
• Data loss prevention (DLP)
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Network segmentation
• Email and messaging security
• Internet of Things (IoT) security
• Password managers
• Cloud security posture management (CSPM)
• Network security policy management (NSPM)

Learn about top IAM solutions: Okta vs Duo: Product Comparison – Datamation

Benefits of cybersecurity software

• Increased administrative visibility: Administrative dashboards offer enterprise-wide security visibility.
• Automated administrative controls: Administrative controls are simplified, including for remote actions, through features like workflow automation and threat monitoring alerts.
• Improved security support for unsecure devices: Not all devices, especially newer IoT and edge devices, are inherently secure. Security suites and their widespread application of security policies can add protection for devices that are naturally less secure.
• Earlier detection of security incidents: Organizations can rely on security monitoring for earlier detection of suspicious activity from a rogue user or device.
• Greater regulatory compliance: Many security software suites incorporate features like data encryption and policy management and automation. Some specifically address the regulatory needs of different industries, such as health care or banking.
• Streamlined user life cycle management: Users and devices are constantly leaving and joining bigger networks. Both of these can pose problems, as users take important credentials and information with them or join a network without a proper security setup. Built-in user life cycle management in many security solutions helps administrators identify user life cycles and manage them.
• Enhanced user and customer experiences: Customers and employees feel more confident that their sensitive information is protected when a company invests in extensive cybersecurity infrastructure.

Learn more about compliance from Enterprise Networking Planet: Five Tips for Managing Compliance on Enterprise Networks

Cybersecurity software use cases

• University of North Carolina at Charlotte used cybersecurity software to improve file and account integrity, which consequently led to fewer help desk calls and complaints.
• The Southern Nevada Health District used security software to swiftly transition employees to secure work-from-home (WFH) setups, while still maintaining strict HIPAA compliance expectations, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Panasonic North America used cybersecurity software to ingest security data from a single location to simplify how security teams monitor and address security threats across divisions and business units.

Top providers of cybersecurity software

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR is a well-rounded security platform from one of the biggest and most trusted global security providers. Cortex XDR combines endpoint, cloud, third-party, and network data insights to improve the full spectrum of prevention, detection, investigation, and response.

Palo Alto Networks has been recognized as a strong performer in the Forrester “Wave” for XDR in Q4 2021. They have also received top combined detection and protection scores on the MITRE ATT&CK evaluation and are considered a strategic leader by AV-Comparatives.

Differentiators

• Machine learning (ML)-powered behavioral analytics and anomaly detection
• Endpoint protection with next-generation antivirus (NGAV), host firewall, disk encryption, and USB device control
• Incident management with intelligent alert grouping and incident scoring
• Automated root-cause analysis with sequencing of events and other documented details
• Deep forensics available even for disconnected endpoints 

Pricing: Pricing is available upon request from the Palo Alto Networks sales team.

Cynet 360

Cynet 360 is a security platform from Cynet, a smaller security company that is gaining a following through their comprehensive XDR, MDR, and response automation offerings. Cynet uses the combination of tools available on Cynet 360 to simultaneously analyze and provide insights on endpoint, user, and network activities. The industry verticals that they focus on are health care, manufacturing, engineering, and law.

Differentiators

• Automatically triggered investigation flows for each attack attempt, determining scope and root case for automated remediation
• 24/7 availability of Cynet’s MDR team for security monitoring
• Cynet Response Orchestration with response automation through playbooks
• Anti-ransomware-specific protections with specified network detection rules
• Advanced deception technology

Pricing: Pricing information is available upon request from the Cynet sales team.

Trend Micro Vision One

Trend Micro Vision One is frequently considered one of the top XDR solutions on the market. With the help of Vision One’s offerings, Trend Micro was named a leader in the Forrester “New Wave” for XDR in Q4 2021, with top-performing scores in both current offering and strategy. Trend Micro’s specialized industry verticals include health care, manufacturing, oil and gas, electric utilities, and federal.

Differentiators

• Map of MITRE ATT&CK Framework techniques detected in an environment
• Lists with prioritized labeling of device, user, and cloud app usage risks
• Zero trust risk insights with event detection techniques and risk scores based on vulnerability, anomaly, and XDR detections
• Risk score comparisons with peers in your industry and region
• Early assessment of targeted attack indicators

Pricing: Pricing information is available upon request from the Trend Micro sales team. Prospective customers can also calculate their potential ROI for the tool here.

Rapid7 Insight Platform  

The Rapid7 Insight Platform focuses most heavily on risk management needs for ops teams, such as DevOps, SecOps, and ITOps. Their integrated data analytics solution intends to streamline data on critical threats and help IT and DevOps teams quickly identify which threats are legitimate and most serious. The Insight Platform also offers specific support for IoT security teams. Rapid7 is a member of The Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) and The Open Cybersecurity Alliance (OCA), which is an OASIS Open Project.

Differentiators

• InsightCloudSec for cloud security and compliance management
• XDR and SIEM support with embedded threat intelligence
• InsightVM for live vulnerability management and endpoint analytics risk scoring
• InsightAppSec for security management throughout software development life cycle
• Penetration testing with Metasploit, which is open source

Pricing: Pricing information is available upon request from the Rapid7 sales team.

Check Point Quantum Network Security

Check Point Quantum Network Security focuses their software on protecting against Gen V cyber attacks for networks, clouds, data centers, IoT devices, and remote users. They specialize in IoT security solutions in particular and advertise that these solutions best fit the needs of smart offices and buildings, industrial environments, and health care. Check Point was named a leader in the 2021 Gartner “Magic Quadrant” for network firewalls, and they offer several other leading network security solutions in their portfolio.

Differentiators

• SandBlast zero-day protection for VPN and IoT security needs 
• On-demand hyperscale threat prevention performance
• R81 unified security management control across security environments
• Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, automatically updated security policies designed to prevent against zero-day attacks
• User access management with multi-factor authentication, endpoint system compliance scanning, and encryption for transmitted data

Pricing: Pricing information is available upon request from the Check Point sales team. 

Cisco SecureX

Cisco SecureX is a native Cisco technology that helps Cisco Secure products to integrate with an enterprise’s existing application and data infrastructure. Cisco is considered one of the top global leaders in networking and security. The company focuses on more industrial verticals than any other competitors on this list: cities and communities, education, financial services, government, health care, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, retail, smart buildings, transportation, utilities, and sports media and entertainment. Although this platform really only works in conjunction with other Cisco Secure products, it was still labeled as a challenger in the Forrester “Wave” for XDR in Q4 2021.

Differentiators

• Orchestration with prebuilt workflows and low-code/no-code self-developed automation
• Contextual device inventories
• Threat response with aggregated global intelligence and local context
• Platform accessibility through dashboard ribbon and SSO
• Free access to SecureX with Cisco credentials from other Cisco products

Pricing: SecureX is free to use for some customers with existing Cisco credentials and subscriptions. More information about pricing and features is available upon request from the Cisco sales team.

Crowdstrike Falcon XDR

Crowdstrike Falcon XDR is an XDR solution that comes from one of the strongest endpoint protection vendors in the market. Crowdstrike’s long list of awards includes being named a leader, with the strongest completeness of vision score, in the 2021 Gartner “Magic Quadrant” for endpoint protection platforms (EPP). The XDR platform also received recognition as a strong performer in the Forrester “Wave” for XDR in Q4 2021. Crowdstrike’s main industry verticals include finance, retail, election security, public sector solutions, and health care.

Differentiators

• Multi-platform telemetry for threat correlation and improved attack response times
• Full-stack remediation access, with automation capabilities, for security teams
• Advanced Falcon XDR analytics
• Prioritized alerts, rich context, and detailed detection information are mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK Framework
• Custom scheduled queries and detections for company-specific behaviors

Pricing: Pricing information is available upon request from the Crowdstrike sales team.

ESET Protect Enterprise

ESET Protect Enterprise is one of the few solutions on this list that offers comprehensive security solutions for businesses as well as the home. It’s a smaller player in cybersecurity, but several reviewers indicate that their size and scope make them friendlier to smaller business needs. ESET has been named a major player in the IDC “MarketScape” vendor assessment on worldwide modern endpoint security for enterprises in 2021.

Differentiators

• Cloud-based sandboxing for protection against ransomware and zero-day threats
• Full disk encryption available on Windows and macOS
• LiveGrid solution for behavioral and reputation-based detection
• ESET Enterprise Inspector with API integration available for SIEM, SOAR, and ticketing solutions
• 170+ native reports and simple custom report design available

Pricing: A 30-day free trial is available for all ESET Protect packages. Further pricing information is available upon request from the ESET sales team.

Sophos Intercept X Endpoint

Sophos Intercept X Endpoint is an EDR designed for security analysts and IT administrators. The XDR platform synchronizes native endpoint, server, firewall, email, cloud, and O365 security. Sophos was designated as a challenger in the Forrester “Wave” for XDR in Q4 2021. The main industries they work with include education, finance and banking, public sector, health care, U.S. government, and retail.

Differentiators

• Anti-ransomware features include ransomware file protection, automatic file recovery, and behavioral analysis
• Artificial intelligence and deep learning for known and unknown malware detection
• Active adversary mitigation with malicious traffic detection
• Intercept X antivirus to prevent file-based and master boot record ransomware
• Encrypted file rollback for business continuity needs

Pricing: Pricing is available upon request from the Sophos sales team.

SentinelOne Singularity XDR

SentinelOne Singularity XDR has attained several recognitions and top scores across industry evaluations. The company was awarded strong performer status in the Forrester “Wave” for XDR in Q4 2021. They were also called a leader in the 2021 Gartner “Magic Quadrant” for endpoint protection platforms. Their specialized industry focuses include energy, federal government, finance, health care, higher education, K-12 education, manufacturing, and retail.

Differentiators

• SentinelOne workload protection for public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises data centers
• Ranger IoT for active and passive network mapping and asset inventories
• Mobile threat defense
• Real-time data ingestion for structured, unstructured, and semi-structured security data
• Single dashboard without contextual switches for EPP, EDR, firewall, and device control

Pricing: Pricing information is available upon request from the SentinelOne sales team.

Also read: Data Management Market

Cybersecurity software: feature comparison table

What to look for in cybersecurity software

Nearly all cybersecurity suites offer some kind of threat monitoring and automated workflow management, but only some of the top players in the space incorporate AI, ML, and deep learning to provide deeper real-time insights. 

And while most security suites offer administrative controls through dashboards and real-time performance insights, not all solutions give administrators the power to automatically deploy policies or manage users and devices at different points in their life cycles.

The three main areas that companies should focus on when looking for cybersecurity software are supported industry verticals, frequency of product updates and road maps, and user reviews. These resources will help prospective customers determine if a solution is a good fit for their needs and if it is likely to grow with their needs over time.

Read next: Top Cloud Security Companies & Solutions