Vectra AI Strengthens Continuous Security Controls Against Hybrid Attack Lifecycles

Strengthening Security Controls: Vectra AI's New Approach to Hybrid Attacks

In the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats, Vectra AI, a California-based cybersecurity firm, is stepping up its game. Known for using artificial intelligence (AI) to safeguard modern networks from the latest attacks, the company has recently unveiled a more robust platform designed to address the entire lifecycle of hybrid attacks—both pre- and post-breach. Founder and CEO Hitesh Seth emphasizes the need for integrated security controls that can adapt to a hybrid environment where cloud, on-premises systems, and software as a service (SaaS) intersect.

Why the Need for Enhanced Security?

The rise of hybrid environments complicates operational dynamics. Companies today face challenges such as fragmented visibility, an overwhelming number of alerts, and the need to provide resilience proof to executives and regulatory authorities. Traditional security tools often operate in silos, limiting their ability to detect, prevent, and report effectively. This fragmentation can lead to significant gaps, potentially allowing minor exposures to escalate into major incidents rapidly.

Recognizing this landscape, Vectra AI provides an operational model that empowers security professionals by validating continuous control across the entirety of the hybrid attack lifecycle. This model ensures a coordinated response that includes preventing attacks before they happen, responding swiftly during incidents, and verifying organizational resilience after incidents occur.

The New Operational Model for Hybrid Environments

Within a hybrid ecosystem, the complexity of operations has rendered pre- and post-breach security measures more challenging. Vectra AI addresses these issues by integrating visibility, investigation, containment, and resilience reporting across data centers, identities, multi-clouds, SaaS, and IoT/OT environments. This holistic approach allows security teams to act before threats materialize, respond expeditiously during breaches, and validate their resilience afterward.

Mark Wojtasiak, Senior Vice President of Research and Strategy at Vectra AI, points out the operational burden that many security professionals face due to increasingly complex environments and tool fragmentation. He states, “Our platform has evolved to enable a more consistent management approach to addressing attacks in hybrid environments. It’s critical that defenders have complete control of the hybrid attack lifecycle.” In addressing vulnerabilities rapidly through proactive exposure management, the platform fulfills modern organizational needs for an operational model that emphasizes resilience.

Three Key Components of Vectra AI's Approach

Vectra AI's strategy hinges on three interconnected components:

1. Proactive Exposure Management: This aspect focuses on identifying settings and vulnerabilities that attackers might exploit, enabling organizations to respond preemptively.

2. 360 Response: By offering automated containment across host, identity, and network environments, this element streamlines responses during security incidents.

3. Value Reporting: This feature provides key insights for both operators and executives regarding risk mitigation, posture improvement, and resilience status.

Unique Features and Market Positioning

The Vectra AI platform is distinguished by its comprehensive control framework that spans the entire hybrid attack lifecycle, offering features such as automated containment of hosts, accounts, and traffic; continuous risk visualization across hybrid networks; and executive-level value reports demonstrating resilience and maturity. Additionally, the managed detection and response (MDR) is aligned with the control model, enabling real-time insights and actions that are crucial in today’s threat landscape.

This evolution builds upon Vectra AI’s established strengths in network detection and response (NDR) across data centers, campuses, remote spaces, multi-cloud setups, and IoT/OT environments, all integrated into a singular platform.

Availability and Early Access

The new control framework is set to be released on December 16, 2023, as part of Vectra AI's forward-looking platform vision. Key functionalities such as 360 Response and Value Reporting are already available, while the Proactive Exposure Management feature will be rolled out incrementally through 2026.

Existing customers, including those in enterprise Security Operations Centers (SOCs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), have started leveraging this framework to reduce investigation times, expedite containment efforts, and clearly demonstrate security maturity to executives.

About Vectra AI

Vectra AI is committed to protecting modern networks from sophisticated cyber threats through its AI-driven cybersecurity solutions. With 35 patents in AI security and the most vendor references in MITRE DEFEND, Vectra AI actively monitors every attack vector, connecting the dots in real-time to deter intrusions. Organizations worldwide rely on Vectra AI to identify and block attacks that evade other tools. For more details, visit Vectra AI Website.

To experience a demo of Vectra AI's security products, sign up through their website. You can also stay updated on their latest information through their blog, X (formerly Twitter), or YouTube channel.