As cyberattacks become increasingly sophisticated and AI-driven, organizations require advanced AI threat detection to stay ahead. NetWitness, specializing in threat detection, forensics, and incident response, strengthens cybersecurity foundations by combining SIEM, NDR, EDR, and full network visibility into a unified platform.
In a conversation with TECHx Media, Halim Abouzeid, Senior Presales Manager at NetWitness shared insights on how the company helps organizations detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats with speed, accuracy, and deep forensic visibility.
Delivering End to End Visibility Across Cloud, Network & Endpoints
Halim explains that organizations typically rely on three categories of data when monitoring their environments: logs, endpoint data, and network traffic. While logs provide essential information about known events, such as logins or signature-based detections, they often fall short when threat actors disable logging or leverage unknown attack patterns. Endpoint agents provide valuable behavioral data but cannot always be installed on devices like routers, switches, or VPN gateways. Additionally, attackers are increasingly capable of disabling endpoint agents. This is where network visibility becomes critical. “Network forensics is like having a CCTV system for your entire digital environment,” Halim explains. “But not all ‘cameras’ are equal.” He uses an analogy to distinguish between basic and advanced visibility:
- Smart cameras that record motion offer partial visibility but often miss crucial activity.
- A real CCTV system continuously records everything, enabling analysts to review events, even those that were not flagged by automated detection.
NetWitness provides this full packet capture capability. By integrating SIEM, NDR, EDR, and continuous network forensics, organizations gain a unified, real-time view across their entire infrastructure, on premises, cloud, multi cloud, SASE environments, and OT networks.
“With NetWitness, customers always have the full recording of what happened, even if a threat wasn’t detected initially.”
Responding to Complex Threats with Technology and Expertise.
Investigating modern attacks requires more than tools; it requires expertise. Even with complete data, organizations may lack the in house skills to analyses sophisticated threats.
“Technology gives you the visibility, but skill accelerates the investigation,” Halim says. NetWitness augments customer teams with its global Incident Response (IR) experts who support:
- Advanced threat hunting
- Full forensic analysis
- Rapid incident response in high severity attacks
- Deep investigation of lateral movement, malware activity, and exfiltration
The combination of full environment visibility and expert analysts significantly reduces investigation time, an essential factor given that longer investigations mean higher impact and higher cost.
Simplifying Forensics Through Real Time Enrichment
Traditional forensic analysis often requires analysts to export PCAP files and manually sift through binary data, time consuming and technically demanding processes. NetWitness removes this complexity by analyzing and enriching data at capture time.
“We index everything immediately when traffic hits the system,” Halim notes. “This transforms raw packets into human readable insights.”
This means analysts can:
- Reconstruct sessions without manually exporting raw PCAPs
- Extract files, payloads, audio, or video directly within the platform
- Navigate events easily through enriched context, threat intelligence, and indexed metadata
The result is faster, more intuitive forensic investigations, crucial when responding to evolving threats.
Autonomous AI Defenders for a Smarter SOC
Using AI to Strengthen Detection, Forensics & Operations
AI continues to reshape cybersecurity, but Halim cautions that it must be used purposefully, not as a buzzword.
“AI is a wide toolkit. We want to use the right AI capabilities for the right outcomes,” he explains.
NetWitness leverages AI in multiple ways:
1. Machine Learning for Hard to Detect Threats
Machine learning helps identify subtle or emerging behaviors that aren’t easily detected manually.
2. AI Driven Natural Language Queries
Analysts can interact with the platform using natural language instead of writing complex queries.
This lowers the barrier for junior analysts and accelerates investigations.
3. Generative AI for Automatic Content Creation
NetWitness uses AI to convert analyst instructions into platform ready content:
- Detection rules
- Reports
- Threat hunting queries
4. Predictive Intelligence
One of the most powerful applications is predicting indicators of future attacks:
“We can predict that a specific IP, domain, or IOC will be used in an upcoming attack, even before the attack begins.”
This early warning capability helps organizations prepare proactively.
Fighting AI Driven Cyberattacks with AI
Threat actors are also adopting AI and automation, making attacks faster, more adaptive, and more scalable. Halim notes that the industry has already seen attacks fully executed by AI agents.
“We need to fight AI with AI,” he says.
However, rapid AI adoption introduces new risks. Many organizations deploy AI tools quickly, and security becomes an afterthought.
“AI agents must be treated like automated users, subject to Zero Trust principles.”
NetWitness is working on capabilities to:
- Monitor AI and ML systems
- Detect abnormal AI agent behavior
- Secure LLM interactions
- Identify misuse of autonomous capabilities
Extending Visibility Across on Prem, Cloud, OT & SASE
Cybersecurity teams today operate in distributed environments that span:
- On premises data centers
- Public & private clouds
- Hybrid and multi cloud architectures
- SASE platforms
- OT/ICS environments
NetWitness is enhancing integrations with major SASE providers and cloud platforms to ensure consistent, deep visibility regardless of where data resides. “Analysts should have the same level of visibility whether traffic comes from on prem, cloud, or OT.” This unified approach simplifies operations and accelerates response.
Looking Ahead: Full Visibility & Analyst Centric Security Operations
As the discussion concluded, Halim emphasized the mission that ties everything together:
- Complete visibility
- Faster investigations
- AI enhanced operations
- Stronger forensics
- Seamless coverage across all environments
“Time is of the essence. The longer we take to detect and respond, the higher the impact.” NetWitness aims to continue modernizing the analyst experience, making threat detection intuitive, predictive, and fast.
Source Credit – NetWitness on AI Threat Detection & Cybersecurity
Unmask GenAI Threats — Get Ahead of the Curve
