Recorded Future Intelligence Cloud vs. SolarWinds Threat Monitor

If you want a platform that is covering thousands of sources, and that includes deep, dark web, clear web forums, blogs, newspapers, social media networks, etc. Recorded Future is the most complete solution that I have seen. On the other hand, if you are looking for a really advanced platform with lot of human added value, research papers, advanced investigations, etc. Recorded Future might not be the ideal solution.

Incentivized

Due to the high price that SolarWinds has, I do not recommend it for small companies. And if I recommend SolarWinds in large companies with complex infrastructures where constant monitoring and review of the network is required, this system is very complete and helps everyone in the technology team, both network administrators, database administrators, Security Administrators, and Server Administrators are all very happy with this system.

Incentivized

• Gives latest threat reports regarding an artifact (IP, domain or hash).
• Browser extension provides a real-time information about an artifact.
• Accurate in identifying malicious domains and IPs.

Incentivized

• monitoring
• notification systems
• virus attack monitoring
• ability to shut down systems when it senses an imminent threat

Incentivized

• E-Mail reports can show unrelated content, especially sometimes you'll see alerts popping up for articles which have been published years ago but for some reason were just recently discovered by RF.
• Yara rules from their insikt blog sometimes are not syntactically correct and need to be manually edited to actually work. There's some proper QA missing.
• Their global and 3rd party risk reports could be more tailored towards the industries of their client. There is entries for totally unrelated security incidents. Of course a global list aims to find incidents on a global view, but it doesn't add much value at that point.

Incentivized

• Steep learning curve.
• Usually takes a bit to get the scans to run easily in a new environment.
• Could have more reporting options.

Incentivized

I've had an issue with their browser-plugin which didn't want to authenticate correctly. RF's support could arrange for a session with me and identify and solve the issue. I was very pleased how serious they took my problems and also how knowledgeable they are.

If I have more general questions they quickly reply and most likely also have a solution at hand.

Incentivized

SolarWinds offers live chat support for all its products built-in. So if you are working on something you can just reach out to someone at that time, and usually get an answer pretty quick. If you are trying to get something done it's a lot better than submitting a ticket and waiting for the email response.

Incentivized

It is the most complete solution of these three, as the others are focused in specific areas and having really detailed analysis about threat actors, APT groups, etc. Recorded Future is not having this level of knowledge in really specific areas but doing a really good work covering thousands of sources and the most relevant forums.

Incentivized

Threat Monitor is very new on the scene. Its obviously not at the same level as some of the established vendors yet. We also deploy Alienvault for example and its nowhere near the same level as this, however the cost model between these two products reflects that. Alienvault however does have a physical footprint on the environment, whereas Threat Monitor doesnt. If you have the paitence to wait, Threat Monitor will surely only improve over time.

Incentivized

• Recorded Future crashes my web browser in cases I have to open a web page containing hundreds of IPs. A quick disable feature for a particular tab would be beneficial for someone like me.

Incentivized

• The positive impact that this system has on our company is that it has saved us a lot of expenses when it comes to investigating what the bank's network and systems are.
• This saving translates into administrators' time when it comes to finding the problem quickly, expeditiously, and effectively.
• It has helped us a lot and we have even required fewer hours from external providers when it comes to solving a problem.

Incentivized