Cisco and IBM collaborate to increase security effectiveness

On May 30, 2017, Cisco and IBM Security announced a key relationship to address the rising tide of security threats and the need to respond rapidly. Cisco and IBM Security will work together to offer specific product integrations, a managed security service provider (MSSP) roadmap, and threat intelligence collaboration programs.

The relationship focuses on making security simpler and more effective and is a reflection of each company’s commitment to openness and interoperability. Together, Cisco and IBM are focused on reducing the time to detect and mitigate threats, giving you integrated tools to automate threat response with greater speed and accuracy.

What are the offerings?

Here’s a closer look at the three pillars of the relationship:

1. Product integrations

Both organizations are building integrations among the product portfolios. Cisco is building new apps for the IBM QRadar SIEM platform, which helps security teams understand and respond to advanced threats. A variety of Cisco® security solutions will increase the effectiveness of IBM QRadar® over time, with data from networks, endpoints and the cloud. On the other hand, IBM is building extensions into Resilient and X-Force Exchange to include Cisco products and intelligence data.

The first three apps focus on integrations with Cisco Firepower® technology, Cisco Threat Grid and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), and will be available on the IBM Security App Exchange.

Meanwhile, IBM is building extensions into Resilient and X-Force Exchange to include Cisco products. Resilient and X-Force Exchange will be able to ingest Cisco Threat Grid content.

2. Services

The IBM End to End Outsourcing and Managed Security Services team is working with Cisco to deliver new services aimed at further reducing complexity. As enterprise customers manage their equipment on premise and in a datacenter, they are also looking to migrate their security infrastructure to public and private cloud providers. IBM Security will provide outsourcing and managed security services to support Cisco security platforms in leading public cloud services as well as legacy on premise and datacenter environments.

Cisco and IBM Security customers will be able to consume these solutions in a way that complements their existing architecture. Customers will be able to build and manage their own integration, working with a trusted channel partner common to both IBM and Cisco, as well as deploy a full turnkey managed solution supported by IBM Security Services.

3. X-Force and Talos research collaboration

We have also established a new relationship between the IBM X-Force and Cisco Talos security research teams, who now share threat intelligence research and coordinate around major cybersecurity incidents. Shared intelligence also means enhanced performance of security products, and richer outcomes such as reduced time to detect.

For example, Cisco and IBM threat research teams collaborated on defending against the WannaCry ransomware attack. IBM and Cisco researchers coordinated their actions and exchanged insights into how the malware was spreading. Afterward, they continued the joint investigation to provide clients and the industry with the most relevant information.

What’s new and what’s next?

Product integrations will become available in the coming weeks, starting with the Cisco Firepower NGIPS, NGFW and Threat Grid apps. The Cisco ISE app will follow in the late fall and additional apps will become available later in 2017 and beyond. We are excited that the IBM Security team is working closely with Cisco product teams, and we hope to highlight this collaboration in future promotions from both companies including blogs and webinars.

Another important announcement

Today, IBM announced its intention to stop selling its Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) solution, the IBM QRadar Network Security (XGS) product line. This decision will take effect on December 31, 2017. However, current customers will be supported for a full five years through December 31, 2022.

IBM’s decision was based on an analysis of market conditions, competitiveness, strategic fit and it also reflects IBM’s belief in the strength and value of our partnership. When IBM XGS customers look to refresh their network security defenses, IBM’s sales organizations will introduce Cisco’s Firepower NGIPS and Firepower NGFW solutions.

More information on the Cisco and IBM security alliance is coming soon.

Visit our Cisco Firepower page to learn more about Cisco’s industry leading NGIPS.