Cisco is integrating the technology of Splunk with the Cisco Extended Detection & Response (XDR) service, among other initiatives, in a bid to bolster enterprise Security Operations Center (SOC).

Cisco said its combination with Splunk “is the most comprehensive solution” for threat prevention, detection, investigation and response for organisations of any size, utilising cloud and endpoint traffic with Cisco’s network footprint for “unparalleled visibility”.

The Chuck Robbins-led company closed the $28 billion acquisition of the cybersecurity specialist in March to provide customers with enhanced security, visibility, and networking.

The integration will enable a seamless feed of high-fidelity alerts from Cisco XDR into Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) to “accelerate investigation and remediation”, said the network and security solutions maker, adding that organisations can utilise each solution to create a more comprehensive defence strategy to improve their digital resilience.

Further, Cisco is integrating Splunk Asset and Risk Intelligence which will proactively mitigate risk through continuous asset discovery and compliance monitoring.

“By harnessing the power of continuous asset discovery and compliance monitoring, we’re empowering security teams to stay ahead of threats and maintain a robust security posture,” said Mike Horn, SVP & GM of Security at Splunk, in a media statement.

In addition, Cisco’s unified AI Assistant for Security is now available in Cisco XDR, empowering security analysts at all skill levels to “make faster, more informed decisions about evolving threats” by offering contextual insights, guided responses, recommended actions and automated workflows.

Cisco said its Panoptica cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) now harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to detect and alert security teams to emerging threats within cloud applications in real-time, while GenAI Dynamic Remediation allows teams to resolve issues quickly by providing prescriptive guidance.

Cisco made the announcements at an ongoing cybersecurity conference, highlighting its in-house findings which state that nearly 90% of companies globally say a cybersecurity talent shortage is a real issue.

“By minimizing point-solutions, customers have realized better end-to-end visibility, uncovered actionable intelligence and automation with AI and simplified management with Cisco’s unified security infrastructure,” said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Security and Collaboration at Cisco.

“The XDR market is broad, one that includes many companies that promise to deliver a more complete view of the security stack beyond the endpoint. In doing so, XDR aims to detect cybersecurity threats across multiple domains,” said Will Townsend, VP & Principal Analyst, Moor Insights. “Observability is key, and with its successful acquisition of Splunk, Cisco is poised to enhance its XDR solution launched one year ago, now adding AI, unified threat detection, investigation, response and transformation capabilities aimed at enhancing security operations.”