Does XDR Replace SIEM?

Can XDR replace SIEM? Everyone in the security community has been asking this question ever since extended detection and response (XDR) was introduced to the market in 2018. 

Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer. 

Even as some XDR vendors claim that SIEMs are a thing of the past, the actual definition of XDR remains fuzzy. This is despite it being years since we first heard of XDR. In a recent survey of around 1,300 security leaders worldwide, about half said they couldn’t find a standard industry definition for XDR, and 75% said they’re still in the discovery phase of embracing this technology. 

Meanwhile, SIEM adoption is on the rise. In a 2022 SIEM report, more than half of surveyed organisations said they already use a SIEM, and 34% said they plan to implement it. 

Yet as our Director of Technology, Brad Freeman, wrote before, SIEMs are not without problems. 

So, if you’re debating between XDR and SIEM, which one should you choose? 

Read on to learn more about the difference between XDR and SIEM, plus a potential alternative to one of the buzziest cybersecurity acronyms today. 

What Is SIEM?

Security information event management (SIEM) is a security solution that can collect, aggregate, and analyse a ton of data from within an organisation's IT infrastructure, making it possible for security teams to search/alert/report on this data. It is the amalgamation of security event management (SEM) and security information management (SIM) technologies. 

Generally seen as an integral part of a security operations centre (SOC), SIEMs are useful for threat detection, forensic analysis (you can wade through a massive amount of data quickly) and compliance reporting. 

Where SIEMs often fall down is in failing to flag worrisome security incidents in real time. The reason why is twofold: 

• SIEMs provide siloed data, which means that security analysts frequently lack context when investigating alerts. 

• Fixed rules, on which SIEM alerts are based, are time-consuming and difficult to set up and require constant customisation and feeding. 

Learn more about this security solution in our comprehensive guide on SIEMs. 

What Is XDR?

Although we’ve yet to get a standardised definition for extended detection and response (XDR), the term generally seems to describe a security solution that natively integrates several security products for a more coordinated response.

As a result, XDR is supposed to be better placed to correlate events and alert on genuine cyber threats. Indeed, the biggest selling point of XDR is that it eliminates false positives and “alert fatigue”--a common problem with SIEMs. 

XDR also helps with threat response. In XDR, most or all of the components are part of a single platform, so there’s more “out-of-the-box” automation (but less customisation).

The biggest problem with XDR is that, right now at least, every provider seems to have a slightly different idea of what it is. This means that the capabilities of XDR or how it works can differ from one vendor to the next. 

Learn more about this technology in our in-depth guide on XDR. 

XDR vs SIEM: What’s the Difference?

Some of the main differences between SIEM and XDR include:

• XDR focuses almost entirely (at least for now) on threat detection, investigation and response. On the other hand, as per Gartner, SIEM also has other use cases, including compliance, operational monitoring, etc. 

• XDR solutions tend to retain data for shorter periods of time than SIEMs, which are seen as long-term log storage facilities. 

• Most XDR platforms (with the exception of “open XDR”) are created by one vendor with potentially minor integrations with third-party products, so, unlike in a SIEM, data normalisation is not part of the equation. 

Can XDR Replace SIEM?

Whether or not XDR can replace SIEM depends on your organisation and what you need a SIEM/XDR for.

If your main concern is improving threat detection and response, XDR may be a viable alternative. According to Gartner, XDRs may be the perfect solution for companies that are less mature and don’t have the resources to build out a constellation of point solutions with SIEM or SOAR platform overlay. 

But, to quote the security specialist Anton Chuvakin, for XDR to really be able to replace SIEM, there “needs to exist as a consensus reality among the “market makers” and customers (security leaders and professionals) first.” 

Are XDR and SIEM Complementary? 

Some organisations may choose to use both XDR and SIEM. 

For example, using a SIEM for compliance and operational risk requirements and XDR for threat detection and response. Additionally, some companies may use XDR to consolidate some of their security tools and reduce how much data is sent to a SIEM, thus making their SIEM tools more effective. 

SenseOn: An XDR Alternative 

SIEMs are a great tool, but study after study shows that they are not the best solution for real-time threat detection and response. 

On the other hand, while the concept behind XDR is solid, the market needs to agree on what it is (i.e., universal definition, features, etc.). However, with the threat landscape worsening and advanced threats growing more common, organisations shouldn’t wait for that to happen to improve their detection capabilities. 

XDR might still be evolving, but there are other solutions that have been built to do what XDR promises. 

One solution is SenseOn. 

Founded in 2017 before the introduction of XDR, SenseOn is a consolidated cybersecurity platform that was built to natively unify the capabilities of endpoint detection and response (EDR), network detection and response (NDR), security information and event management (SIEM), and security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR). At the same time, it can integrate with your existing controls, like EDR and SIEM solutions. 

By collecting and correlating security data from a company’s entire IT environment, SenseOn can provide 360-degree visibility into an organisation’s estate and, through proprietary AI technology, flag only genuinely malicious alerts. During time-critical cyberattacks, SenseOn can also take automated response actions like isolating infected devices.

Arrange a demo to try out SenseOn today.