Cisco security solutions will be integrated with IBM's QRadar platform to protect organizations across networks, endpoints, and the cloud. Customers will also benefit from the extensive support IBM Global Services offers for Cisco products within its Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) offerings. Additionally, the agreement establishes a new relationship between the security research teams at IBM X-Force and Cisco Talos, who will begin collaborating on threat intelligence and coordinating their response to major cybersecurity incidents.
 
One of the biggest challenges for security teams is the proliferation of disparate security solutions that don't communicate or integrate with each other. According to a recent Cisco study of 3,000 Chief Security Officers, 65 percent of their organizations use between six and 50 different security products. Managing this complexity is a challenge for busy security teams and could lead to potential vulnerabilities. The collaboration between Cisco and IBM Security focuses on helping organizations reduce the time it takes to detect and mitigate threats by offering integrated tools that enable faster and more accurate threat response automation.
 
Integrated defense against threats across networks and the cloud
The cost of security incidents and data loss continues to rise for businesses. According to the Ponemon Institute, in 2016 the average cost per incident for surveyed companies reached a record high of $4 million (a 29 percent increase over the previous three years). A slow response to an incident can also increase this cost. Incidents that took more than 30 days to resolve cost an additional $1 million compared to those resolved in less than 30 days. Therefore, greater visibility into threats and the ability to block them more quickly are essential components of an integrated threat security strategy.
 
The combination of Cisco's next-generation security solutions, based on an integrated architecture, with IBM's Cognitive Security Operations Platform, will help customers more effectively secure their organizations from the network to endpoints and the cloud.
 
As part of the collaboration, Cisco will design new applications for IBM's QRadar security analytics platform. The first two applications will help security teams understand and control advanced threats and will be available on the IBM Security App Exchange portal. These new applications will optimize the user experience and help customers more effectively identify and remediate incidents when using Cisco's Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), Next-Generation Intrusion Protection System (NGIPS), and Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) and Threat Grid solutions.
 
Similarly, IBM Resilient Incident Response Platform (IRP) will integrate with Cisco Threat Grid to provide security teams with the visibility needed to respond to incidents more quickly. For example, IRP analysts can assess indicators of compromise using Cisco Threat Grid's threat intelligence division or block suspicious malware using its sandbox technology. This allows security teams to gain valuable insights into incidents at the time of response.
 
Threat intelligence and managed services
The IBM X-Force and Cisco Talos research teams will collaborate on security research to address the top cybersecurity challenges facing clients. For joint clients, IBM will offer an integration of X-Force Exchange and Cisco Threat Grid. This integration greatly expands the historical and real-time threat intelligence that security analysts can correlate for greater visibility.
 
For example, Cisco and IBM recently shared threat intelligence to combat the WannaCry ransomware attacks. The teams coordinated their response, and researchers exchanged knowledge about how the malware spreads. They continue to collaborate on this research to ensure that customers and the industry have access to the most relevant information.
 
Through this expanded collaboration, IBM's Managed Security Services team, which manages security for more than 3,700 clients globally, will work with Cisco to deliver new services that further reduce complexity. One of the first offerings is designed for the growing hybrid cloud market. As organizations migrate their security infrastructure to public and private cloud providers, IBM Security will provide managed security services that support Cisco's security platform on leading public cloud services.

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