For years, the security industry has been captivated by the promises of new acronyms: EDR, XDR, CDR. Each wave has promised broader coverage, better detection, and faster responses. And although each of these tools provides value, recent research from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) reveals something the industry conversation often overlooks: When real threats emerge, organizations still turn first to the network.
According to ESG, 53% of organizations rely on network visibility and telemetry as their primary line of defense. In fact, nearly two-thirds use the network in some capacity to kick off their threat detection and response processes. Even more telling, 93% of SecOps and NetOps teams now share the same network visibility tools, which is a sign that the network has become the unifying language of operations.
So, why in an era dominated by extended detection and response (XDR) and cloud-native tooling does the network remain the first place security teams look? The answer is simple: Packets don’t lie.
Why packets still matter
Endpoints can be tampered with. Logs can be incomplete. Cloud providers can limit visibility. But network packets capture every transaction, every communication, and every anomaly, without bias. This is why, despite some vendors dismissing network detection and response (NDR) as “old-school” or “on-premises,” ESG found that 41% of organizations actually see network tools as the best-equipped technology for providing visibility across hybrid, multicloud environments.
The truth is that the network has evolved right alongside the environments it protects. It’s no longer just about physical appliances watching traffic at the perimeter. Today’s NDR solutions scale across data centers, virtual servers, and multicloud ecosystems, providing a single vantage point where everything converges.
Detection is only step one
But here’s where we believe the conversation needs to change. Detection, while critical, is just the first step. The real challenge, and the real value, lies in understanding a threat through the investigation phase.
Think about it: an alert tells you something happened. But only investigation tells you what it was, how it happened, and what to do about it. That’s the gap where attackers thrive and where security operations center (SOC) teams often lose valuable time.
And this is where network visibility proves its worth beyond being just a “first line of defense.” With full packet capture and deep network intelligence, security teams can pivot from “we detected something” to “we understand everything about it.” That shift is the difference between chasing alerts and actually stopping adversaries in their tracks.
Why NETSCOUT Omnis Cyber Intelligence
At NETSCOUT, we’ve seen this shift firsthand. Omnis Cyber Intelligence isn’t just about spotting anomalies; it’s about giving analysts the complete, packet-level context they need to investigate confidently. By unifying SecOps and NetOps on a shared foundation of visibility, Omnis Cyber Intelligence helps eliminate blind spots that attackers exploit.
Because at the end of the day, detection will always be table stakes. Investigation is where the real impact is made. Network packets provide the single source of truth across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments, serving as the foundation that makes it all possible.
Learn more about the ESG report.
Learn how NETSCOUT Omnis Cyber Intelligence can help by providing comprehensive network visibility with scalable deep packet inspection (DPI) to detect, investigate, and respond to threats more efficiently.
