What users are saying about

AlienVault USM vs Snort

AlienVault USM
712 Ratings
Snort
27 Ratings

AlienVault USM

712 Ratings
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Score 7.6 out of 100

Based on 712 reviews and ratings

Snort

27 Ratings
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Score 9 out of 100

Based on 27 reviews and ratings

Feature Set Ratings

    Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

    6.6

    AlienVault USM

    66%

    Snort

    Feature Set Not Supported
    N/A
    AlienVault USM ranks higher in 7/7 features
    AlienVault USM ranks higher in 7/7 features

    Centralized event and log data collection

    6.8
    68%
    5 Ratings
    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Correlation

    7.1
    71%
    5 Ratings
    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Event and log normalization/management

    6.7
    67%
    7 Ratings
    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Deployment flexibility

    6.0
    60%
    5 Ratings
    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools

    6.6
    66%
    3 Ratings
    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Custom dashboards and workspaces

    6.1
    61%
    7 Ratings
    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Host and network-based intrusion detection

    6.7
    67%
    4 Ratings
    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Attribute Ratings

    • Snort is rated higher in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend

    Likelihood to Recommend

    8.0

    AlienVault USM

    80%
    389 Ratings
    8.4

    Snort

    84%
    5 Ratings

    Likelihood to Renew

    7.1

    AlienVault USM

    71%
    19 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Usability

    6.7

    AlienVault USM

    67%
    35 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Availability

    6.4

    AlienVault USM

    64%
    6 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Performance

    7.3

    AlienVault USM

    73%
    6 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Support Rating

    7.3

    AlienVault USM

    73%
    51 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    In-Person Training

    4.5

    AlienVault USM

    45%
    1 Rating

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Online Training

    8.3

    AlienVault USM

    83%
    6 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Implementation Rating

    6.4

    AlienVault USM

    64%
    76 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Product Scalability

    6.3

    AlienVault USM

    63%
    3 Ratings

    Snort

    N/A
    0 Ratings

    Likelihood to Recommend

    AlienVault USM

    At this point I'm saying a 4. While the marketing material make it appear to be easy to use and it was relatively easy to set up, as previously mentioned, each event description is based upon the individual asset making it nearly impossible for the administrator to be a SME for each asset. For example, if one of the assets reporting is a router, the administrator monitoring alerts would need to know what the various events are that can be triggered as an event for the particular router; however, if the asset is a workstation, the administrator would need to know the various events that are triggered for workstations.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 389 answers on this topic

    Snort

    If a colleague was looking to tighten down their network I can easily recommend Snort to them. It gives you some more peace of mind knowing that its always scanning traffic for malicious looking code. Even things your major firewalls and security hardware might miss, Snort has picked up. Its an easy recommendation for me.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 5 answers on this topic

    Pros

    AlienVault USM

    • AlienVault USM is simple and easy to deploy. Sensors can be deployed in as little as 15 minutes through the setup wizard.
    • The USM UI is easy to understand. I've trained multiple analysts who are able to perform their duties on their first day, in part because of USM Anywhere's ease of use.
    • Top-notch built-in compliance templates and reporting features.

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    Matthew Stacks | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Matthew Stacks
    View all 389 answers on this topic

    Snort

    • IPS detection.
    • DoS detection.
    • Packet logging.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 5 answers on this topic

    Cons

    AlienVault USM

    • Personally, I've wished I could purchase a service that would configure AV for my environment. I get a lot of traffic on a daily basis and I almost need to hire an analyst that just works on AV.
    • Some of the filters when looking for a specific alert aren't that easy to use.

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    Christian Holton | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Christian Holton
    View all 389 answers on this topic

    Snort

    • At times can be unstable with Cisco bugs, require frequent upgrading.
    • FTD images that are being pushed for ASAs are less efficient from an administration standpoint, no CLI.

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    Alan Matson, CCNA:S, MCP | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Alan Matson, CCNA:S, MCP
    View all 5 answers on this topic

    Pricing Details

    AlienVault USM

    General

    Free Trial
    Yes
    Free/Freemium Version
    Yes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    Yes
    Entry-level set up fee?
    Optional

    Starting Price

    $1,075 per month

    AlienVault USM Editions & Modules

    Edition
    Essentials$1,0751
    Standard$1,6951
    Premium$2,5951
    1. per month
    Additional Pricing Details
    —

    Snort

    General

    Free Trial
    —
    Free/Freemium Version
    —
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    —
    Entry-level set up fee?
    No

    Starting Price

    —

    Snort Editions & Modules

    —
    Additional Pricing Details
    —

    Likelihood to Renew

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 7.1
    Based on 19 answers
    The centralized logging and retention for PCI compliance was our main driver, and it is meeting that need. Otherwise there has been enough frustration with the lack of documentation and the need to customize through the CLI that I would be open to alternatives.

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    Aaron Rothstein | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Aaron Rothstein
    View all 19 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Usability

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 6.7
    Based on 35 answers
    Once you are able to navigate the different panels, finding what you need is quite easily. Before getting used it it can be a bit of challenge .Each panel is quite well laid out and the filtering search capabilities are quite strong.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 35 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Reliability and Availability

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 6.4
    Based on 6 answers
    We do have issues with maintenance on the AlienVault USM as the disk fills up from time to time with other data sources. Sources for scanning logs and net flow data isn't calculated in regular disk maintenance and can easily fill up our disk if we do not keep an eye on it with some custom Nagios plugins. The system does properly trim logging data from logging sources properly.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 6 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Performance

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 7.3
    Based on 6 answers
    With the latest release of AlienVault USM overall performance has not been an issue. We have noticed single source events per second does not scale well with the overall system. 2,000eps on a vmware system with a single source produces delays of up to an hour for us. Pages, reporting and even raw log searches are rather quick though.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 6 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Support Rating

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 7.3
    Based on 51 answers
    The support we received from alienvault was excellent. They went above and beyond in making sure everything was working as it needed to be. They REALLY want their product implementation to be a success and our security goals be achieved. They are like a member of our security team.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 51 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    In-Person Training

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 4.5
    Based on 1 answer
    I did not have any experience with "in person" training directly. The free online classes offered for a half a day are based on the actual training offered. These little teasers are very good and well worth your time to learn a few quick and dirty ways of getting more information from your SIEM

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 1 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Online Training

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 8.3
    Based on 6 answers
    It was very well organized and helpful in using the product to the fullest extent. The instructor allowed time for folks who were involved with managed services to receive tuning tips in order to better support their customers. In addition, the course materials were automatically updated when the new version came out.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 6 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Implementation Rating

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 6.4
    Based on 76 answers
    AlienVault USM was a very simple to implement and get up and running. We started with a trial version and had that up and going within an hour of receiving email instructions from the sales engineer. We never had to contact support to get the system up and going. It was extremely easy to convert over to a full license once we started with a paid version.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 76 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Alternatives Considered

    AlienVault USM

    Splunk's ES is a paid add-on on top of an already pricey product. Finding a MSSP that supports Splunk and isn't a 6 figure annual commitment seems unlikely. LogRhythm did not have a cloud-based solution when we were considering SIEMs. Fantastic product though and have a good MSSP base.Devo did not have a MSSP partner base when we looked. Their product is fantastic too.AlienVault USM has good partners to choose from as well as an affordable cloud model, that's why we chose it.

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 389 answers on this topic

    Snort

    For our organization, the Cisco defense in depth concept works the best. While Cisco can be made to work with other vendors, we have found the best in depth protection by integrating Cisco products for maximum visibility. We had a Barracuda Web Filter, but it was difficult to maintain when you had limited scope on what you could block, so we created a whitelist only setup which required a lot of additional manpower. This wouldn't have covered new threats with DNS spoofing and the like.Sourcefire also integrated with our anti-malware platform (Cisco AMP) for even better visibility on what may be happening on the end users workstation. We are planning on adding in Cisco ISE to complete the approach and possibly stealthwatch to cover our bases in the future. The Palo Alto gear was interesting, but it was priced far out of our range.

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    David Myers | TrustRadius Reviewer
    David Myers
    View all 5 answers on this topic

    Scalability

    AlienVault USM

    AlienVault USM 6.3
    Based on 3 answers
    The AlienVault USM is not very scalable. Some scalability can be achieved by installing additional sensors, but this only offers 500eps per sensor and is still overall limited by the installation type of VM or physical. We have also noticed the EPS (events per second) is rated overall and not towards a single source. A single source on a very healthy VMware partition tops out at 2,000eps for us, no matter how we configure it. Maybe this is a problem of the 5.2 release?

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 3 answers on this topic

    Snort

    No score
    No answers yet
    No answers on this topic

    Return on Investment

    AlienVault USM

    • Compliance
    • Threat detection
    • Easy asset management
    • Save on vulnerability scanning

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    Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Verified User
    View all 389 answers on this topic

    Snort

    • Being open source, ROI on free is hard to beat for something that works.
    • I believe it greatly enhances the security of my network.

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    Curt Dickman | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Curt Dickman
    View all 5 answers on this topic

    Screenshots

    Snort

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