Automate Forensics to Eliminate Uncertainty

At RSA Conference 2025, one theme echoed across the show floor: security teams don’t need more alerts—they need more certainty. As threats move faster and operations get leaner, organizations are shifting from reactive investigation to proactive, automated forensics. That’s why we’re excited to announce a major leap forward in Cisco XDR: automated forensics built into the detection and response workflow.

The Modern SOC Struggles with Confidence, Not Just Complexity

It’s no longer about just identifying suspicious activity. Today’s security tools can surface anomalies such as a rogue login, a strange process, or a lateral movement attempt. The real challenge? Proving what happened—and how far it went—before damage spreads.

Manual investigations delay action and critical questions go unanswered:

• What really happened?
• How far did it go?
• What’s next?

Without clear evidence, teams stall. Investigations drag on. And uncertainty becomes the greatest risk. Manual Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) has traditionally lived outside the core detection and response loop. That gap is no longer sustainable.

A New Mandate: TDIR and DFIR Must Work as One

Cisco’s vision is clear: Threat Detection, Investigation, and Response (TDIR) and forensics must be a unified motion.

Security teams need to validate threats and act with confidence—without waiting for manual processes or digging through disconnected logs. And now, Cisco XDR makes this possible by operationalizing forensics directly into the AI-assisted TDIR flow.

Best-in-class security operations doesn’t stop at detection; it closes the loop. Confident SOCs have embraced a continuous, connected workflow where detection, response, investigation, verification, and remediation are all part of the same motion.

Research firms agree that merging threat detection and response with instant, automated investigation is the future. According to a report from the SANS Institute, “64% of organizations have integrated automated response mechanisms, but only 16% have fully automated processes. This finding underscores a shift towards automation in threat detection and response.”

“64% of organizations have integrated automated response mechanisms, but only 16% have fully automated processes. This finding underscores a shift towards automation in threat detection and response.”

Cisco XDR is operationalizing this shift—making forensics an embedded capability, not an elite skill.

What’s New: Instant, Automated Forensics at the Point of Detection

In the future, Cisco XDR will be able to capture forensic evidence automatically when a suspicious event is detected—before analysts even begin their investigation.

Highlights:

• Automated Triggers —Real-time forensic snapshotting of memory, processes, and file data across impacted endpoints
• Incident Timeline Enrichment — Collected artifacts are integrated alongside the XDR storyboard for end-to-end visibility
• AI-Powered Summarization — Cisco XDR interprets forensic findings and suggests likely root cause and response actions
• Guided Analyst Workflow — Visual attack graphs and step-by-step remediation paths accelerate time to response

This is investigation without friction. Forensics without pivoting. Evidence without delay.

Designed for Every Team—from Lean IT to Global SOC

Whether you have a small team with limited staff or a global SOC supporting a hybrid enterprise, Cisco XDR adapts to your environment:

• For smaller teams — One-click forensics reduces dependency on specialists. Prebuilt AI workflows accelerate validation and containment.
• For enterprises with Splunk or other SIEMs — Cisco XDR enriches your SIEM with validated forensic data—improving correlation, compliance reporting, and post-incident documentation.

No third-party agent. No separate console. No learning curve.

The Outcome: Confidence at the Speed of SecOps

By embedding forensic capture into every validated threat, Cisco XDR helps security teams:

• Eliminate ambiguity with concrete, machine-captured evidence
• Accelerate decision-making by removing the guesswork from investigations
• Ensure consistency across shifts, roles, and teams
• Improve audit readiness with forensically backed incident documentation

It’s not just about responding fast—it’s about responding right.

Powered by Cisco’s Open Standards Architecture

This new capability is deeply integrated into Cisco’s broader security platform, leveraging native telemetry from:

• Cisco Secure Client
• Meraki MX
• Secure Access (SSE)
• Secure Endpoint
• Umbrella DNS and Cloud Firewall
• Public Cloud Logs

And it’s enriched by the global threat intelligence of Cisco Talos, along with pre-built integrations into 100+ other security products from Cisco and third parties. Together, this foundation gives Cisco XDR the deepest native visibility and broadest attack surface coverage of any XDR solution on the market.

Ready to Raise Your SecOps Confidence?

Only Cisco unifies real-time detection, AI-led investigation, and automated evidence capture in a single XDR solution. There is no third-party tool dependency. No delays. Just certainty at the speed of SecOps.

Ransomware, insider threats, and supply chain attacks move fast and leave little room for doubt. That’s where we have your back. Cisco XDR is built on deep visibility, enriched with Talos threat intelligence, and is ready to scale.

Now, instead of more alerts, you get prioritized incidents with the proof you need. With instant delivery, SecOps has evidence for regulators, not assumptions. And explanations for boards, not theories.

See how Cisco XDR delivers instant forensics and AI-guided investigation to help your team go from “We think” to “We know.”

Register for the RSAC Highlights webinar on May 20^th to learn about all the major Cisco XDR innovations announced at RSAC™ 2025.

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