True to its name: Unified Security Management (and great at it!)
July 07, 2020
True to its name: Unified Security Management (and great at it!)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
USM Anywhere (SaaS)
Overall Satisfaction with AlienVault USM
Alienvault USM Anywhere touches all endpoints and networks of our organization. Is solves some big problems like:
1) Logging aggregation and actionable insights using log correlation.
2) Threat hunting & intel.
3) Vulnerability management and validation of our separate patch automation software.
4) Security orchestration.
5) Asset discovery and inventory management.
1) Logging aggregation and actionable insights using log correlation.
2) Threat hunting & intel.
3) Vulnerability management and validation of our separate patch automation software.
4) Security orchestration.
5) Asset discovery and inventory management.
- Log Correlation: The engineers at Alienvault/AT&T Cybersecurity have included a great integrated rule set (which continues to grow) to save analysts time on combing through logs and instead executing threat hunts, investigations, and remedial activities.
- Single pane-of-glass for all security activities from the convenience and efficiency of a SaaS web console, being that USM has deep integrations with over a dozen major software platforms (Office 365, GSuite, ZScaler, Box, etc.) and what they call plugins which interpret log and SIEM data from hundreds of vendors and platforms like Meraki, CrowdStrike, Aruba switches and AP's, etc.
- Great value! You can pay the same or more for other big name SIEM vendors that offer less features than this platform. Plus, even if you begin ingesting too much log data, you can filter specifics types of logs (for example, ones that have no impact to security) to bring data ingestion in line with your subscription level. The onboarding team did a great job in right-sizing our subscription plan, so this hasn't been a problem.
- Vulnerability scanning is currently done by authentication into the host over the network, even when the AlienVault USM agent is installed on an endpoint. It would be nice to have near-real-time vulnerability information provided via the agents. This would also delete the need for specially-configured remote-access admin service accounts on endpoints, which is just another account that has to be administered, namely password management and auditing for potential abuse and compromise.
- Endpoint agent support for ARM architecture is just starting to get going -- wide availability across Linux and MS Windows/Server platforms won't be available until possibly circa mid-2021. Fortunately, at least general asset scan info, authenticated vulnerability scans, etc. still provide a good deal of security inspection into these devices.
- Making some UI settings persist across logins on the web console is still lacking. Would also be nice to change a "detailed view" to icons/thumbnails/tiles. UI is very efficient in some aspects but frustrating in others.
AlienVault USM Anywhere provided the right gamut of features at the right price, with not a great deal of time or effort required to fully implement. As an added bonus, we can tick many checkboxes for various compliance standards, all from one solution. Complexity is an enemy of security, so being able to consolidate from several disparate platforms into one provides numerous business and ITsec advantages.