SIEM Product Comparison
SIEM Technology Space SIEM market analysis of the last 3 years suggest: • Market consolidation of SIEM players (25 vendors in 2011 to 16 vendors in 2013) • Only products with technology maturity and a strong road map have featured in leaders quadrant. • HP ArcSight & IBM Q1 Labs have maintained leadership in SIEM industry with continued technology upgrade • McAfee Nitro has strong product features & road map to challenge HP & IBM for leadership 2011
2012
2013
HP ArcSight The ArcSight Enterprise Threat and Risk Management (ETRM) Platform is an integrated set of products for collecting, analysing, and managing enterprise Security Event information. • ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager (ESM): Correlation and analysis engine used to identify security threat in real-time • ArcSight Logger: Log storage and Search solution • ArcSight IdentityView: User Identity tracking/User activity monitoring • ArcSight Connectors: for data collection from a variety of data sources • ArcSight Auditor Applications: automated continuous controls monitoring for both mobile & virtual environments Strengths
Weakness
Extensive Log collection support for commercial IT products & applications
Complex deployment & configuration
Advanced support for Threat Management, Fraud Management & Behavior Analysis
Mostly suited for Medium to Large Scale deployment
Mature Event Correlation, Categorization & Reporting
Requires skilled resources to manage the solution
Tight integration with Big data Analytics platform like Hadoop
Steep learning curve for Analysts & Operators
Highly customizable based on organization’s requirements Highly Available & Scalable Architecture supporting Multi-tier & Multi-tenancy
IBM QRadar The QRadar Integrated Security Solutions (QRadar) Platform is an integrated set of products for collecting, analysing, and managing enterprise Security Event information. • QRadar Log Manager – turn key log management solution for Event log collection & storage • QRadar SIEM – Integrated Log, Threat & Risk Management solution • QRadar Risk Manager – Predictive threat & risk modelling, impact analysis & simulation • QRadar QFlow – Network Behaviour Analysis & Anomaly detection using network flow data • QRadar vFlow – Application Layer monitoring for both Physical & Virtual environment
Strengths
Weakness
Very simple deployment & configuration
Limited customizations capabilities
Integrated view of the threat environment using Netflow data , IDS/IPS data & Event logs from the environment
Limited Multi-tenancy support
Behavior & Anomaly Detection capabilities for both Netflow & Log data
Limited capability to perform Advanced Use Case development & analytics
Suited for small, medium & large enterprises Highly Scalable & Available architecture
McAfee Nitro The McAfee Enterprise Security Management (formerly Nitro Security) Platform is an integrated set of products for collecting, analysing, and managing enterprise Security Event information. • McAfee Enterprise Log Manager – turn key log management solution for Event log collection & storage • McAfee Event Receiver – collecting log data & native flow data • McAfee Database Event Monitor – database transaction & Log monitoring • McAfee Application data Monitor – application layer event monitoring • McAfee Advanced Correlation Engine – advanced correlation engine for correlating events both historical & real time Strengths
Weakness
Integrated Application Data monitoring & Deep Packet Inspection
Very basic correlation capabilities when compared with HP & IBM
Integrated Database monitoring without dependence on native audit functions
Limitations in user interface when it concerns navigation
High event collection rate suited for very large scale deployment
Requires a lot of agent installs for Application & database monitoring thereby increasing management complexity
Efficient query performance in spite of high event collection rate
No Analytics capability – both Big Data & Risk based Limited customization capabilities Limited support for multi-tier & multi-tenancy architecture
Splunk Splunk Enterprise is an integrated set of products that provide Log Collection, management & reporting capabilities using • Splunk Indexer – used to collect and index logs from IT environment • Splunk Search Heads – used to search & report on IT logs • Splunk App for Enterprise Security - used to collect external threat intelligence feeds, parse log sources and provide basic analytics for session monitoring (VPN, Netflow etc.) Strengths
Weakness
Extensive Log collection capabilities across the IT environment
Pre-SIEM solution with very limited correlation capabilities
Log search is highly intuitive – like Google search
Even though easy to deploy, increasingly difficult to configure for SIEM related functions
Flexible dash boarding & analytics capability improves Log visualization capabilities Built-in support for external threat intelligence feeds both open source & commercial “App Store” based architecture allowing development of Splunk Plugins to suit monitoring & analytics requirements
RSA Security Analytics RSA Security Analytics is an integrated set of products that provide Network Forensics, Log Collection, management & reporting capabilities using • Capture Infrastructure • RSA Security Analytics Decoder – Real time capture of Network Packet and log data with Analysis and filtering capabilities • RSA Security Analytics Concentrator – Aggregates metadata from the Decoder • RSA Security Analytics Broker Server – For reporting, management and administration of capture data • Analysis & Retention Infrastructure • Event Stream Analysis – Correlation Engine • Archiver – Long term retention, storage, security & compliance reporting • RSA Security Analytics Warehouse – Big Data Infrastructure for Advanced Analytics Strengths
Weakness
Great Analytics using Event Log Data & Network Packet Capture
New Product release from RSA, hence advanced Security correlation support is poor
Network forensics, Big Data (Parallel Computing) are cornerstones in SIEM world
Security Analytics Warehouse is a new capability with very little real world use cases
Tightly Integrates with RSA ecosystem for Threat Intelligence, Fraud Detection, Malware Analysis etc. (each requires separate RSA Tools)
Suited only for large enterprises with need for complex deployment and management resources. Poor deployment options for small and midsize customers
LogRhythm The LogRhythm SIEM 2.0 Security Intelligence Platform is an integrated set of products for collecting, analysing, and managing enterprise Security Event information. • Log Manager – high performance, distributed and redundant log collection and management appliance • Event Manager – provide centralized event management and administration for a LogRhythm deployment • Network Monitor – provide full visibility into network traffic, identifying applications via deep packet inspection, providing real-time unstructured search access to all metadata and packet captures Strengths
Weakness
Well balanced log management, reporting, event management, privileged user monitoring and File integrity monitoring capabilities
Suitable for Security event data only, as Operational data sets cause slowing performance for searches and reports
Fast deployment with minimal configuration because of appliance form factor
No Support for Active Directory integration for RoleBased Access Control
Quarterly Health Check programs post-deployment offers great After sales-Service experience
Suited best for small and mid size companies with basic security, regulatory compliance and reporting needs. Not scalable for very large deployments.
SIEM Vendors – Critical Capabilities Score Card A Summary scoring sheet for SIEM Vendors based on their Core capabilities is given below:
Capability
RSA Security Analytics
Log Rhythm
Splunk
McAfee Nitro
IBM QRadar
HP ArcSight
Real-time Security Monitoring
3.1
3.2
2.5
3.9
4.2
4.4
Threat Intelligence
3.7
2.5
3.0
2.8
3.5
4.5
Behavior Profiling
2.5
2.3
3.0
3.0
5.0
4.0
Data & End User Monitoring
3.6
3.5
1.7
3.6
3.5
4.0
Application Monitoring
3.8
3.5
1.8
3.7
3.3
3.8
Analytics
2.5
2.5
3.8
4.5
3.5
4.0
Log Management & Reporting
3.5
3.8
3.5
3.8
3.9
4.0
Deployment & Support Simplicity
3.0
4.0
2.5
3.5
3.5
3.0
25.7
25.3
21.8
28.8
30.4
31.7
Total (Weighted Score) 1.0 – Low level of Capability
SIEM Vendors – Use Cases Score Card
Use Cases
RSA Security Analytics
Log Rhythm
Splunk
McAfee Nitro
IBM QRadar
HP ArcSight
Overall Use Cases
3.2
3.2
2.7
3.6
3.8
4.0
Compliance Use Cases
3.3
3.7
3.0
3.7
3.8
3.8
Threat Monitoring
3.1
3.1
2.9
3.8
3.7
4.0
SIEM
3.2
3.4
2.8
3.6
3.8
3.9
12.8
13.4
11.7
14.7
15.1
15.7
Total (Weighted Score)
1.0 – Low level of Capability
