Network detection and response (NDR) products analyze network traffic using behavioral analytics to identify abnormal system behaviors. Through continuous raw network packets or traffic metadata across internal (east-west) and external (north-south) pathways monitoring, NDR detects threats such as ransomware, insider attacks and lateral movement. These systems often include automated responses like host containment or traffic blocking and are delivered through hardware or software sensors, with management via on-premises software or SaaS-based consoles.
Network Detection and Response complements rule- and signature-based security technologies by modeling normal network behavior and identifying anomalies through advanced analytics and machine learning. It’s a key component in broader security operations center (SOC) ecosystems alongside SIEM, SOAR, EDR and MDR tools. Its mandatory capabilities include monitoring cloud and on-premises traffic, detecting behavioral anomalies, aggregating alerts into structured incidents and supporting automated and manual responses. It also incorporates traditional detection techniques such as IDPS signatures and intelligence feeds for comprehensive threat detection.
Optional NDR features enhance usability and extend value for SOC operations. These features include IaaS traffic monitoring, SaaS API connectors and native integrations with EDR and SIEM platforms. Additional capabilities like log ingestion, metadata enrichment, forensic analysis via scalable full-packet capture and AI-based threat hunting tools allow analysts to use the NDR console as a primary interface. A low false-positive rate, once tuned, further supports trust in automated response workflows.
Let’s look at the leaders in this magic quadrant, so you can determine if they are a good fit for your needs.
Vectra AI Platform
Vectra AI has a platform focused on network attack protection, signal clarity, intelligent control and proactive security posture management. Serving finance, government and manufacturing clients globally, Vectra AI aims to enhance its established AI models by integrating GenAI principles to create smaller, faster models for improved detection, triage and prioritization.
Strengths: Product, Product Strategy & Sales StrategyÂ
Vectra AI offers a mature, user-friendly interface with AI-driven capabilities that simplify threat detection, triage and response. Its product strategy includes a migration program to support customers transitioning from competitor solutions, ensuring a smooth and efficient onboarding process. Additionally, Vectra AI’s sales strategy features an NDR education program designed to address market challenges like low awareness, which helps customers understand the value and role of NDR in their security operations.
Weakness: Sales Execution, Sales Strategy and Product Strategy
Vectra AI faces challenges in sales execution, with the lowest customer retention among NDR vendors in this research, highlighting the need for potential customers to assess its fit for their specific needs. Its indirect sales model may be a drawback for organizations that prefer direct vendor relationships. Additionally, Vectra AI’s historical marketing as an XDR product can create confusion about its core capabilities, focus on NDR and whether it intends to replace traditional SIEM solutions.
Darktrace: Active AI Security Platform
Darktrace offers its NDR solution, Darktrace / NETWORK, which leverages Self-Learning AI for advanced threat detection and autonomous response. With strong sales in North America and Europe and clients across financial services, manufacturing and utilities. Darktrace is advancing its platform to transform SOC workflows by automating Level 1 and Level 2 analyst tasks through agentic and investigative AI. The company is also enhancing its NDR capabilities to take on more preventive measures, including proactive network hardening, vulnerability prioritization, CTEM and breach simulation.
Strengths: Product, Market Understanding & Market Responsiveness
Darktrace offers a user-friendly, powerful UI with a robust detection model library and includes implementation services with all sales to simplify deployment. It supports full functionality for air-gapped environments, making it ideal for organizations with cyber-physical systems (CPS) or classified networks. Additionally, Darktrace actively gathers and incorporates customer feedback, ensuring its product evolves in line with market needs.
Weaknesses: Customer Experience, Operations and Sales Execution
Darktrace’s NDR product requires tuning during and after deployment to minimize false positives, and customers report that it can be complex to manage over time. Outside the EU, the absence of a service-level agreement (SLA) in contracts limits client accountability measures. Additionally, Darktrace’s preference for bundled offerings over itemized proposals often results in complicated and less transparent pricing.
ExtraHop: RevealX Platform
The ExtraHop RevealX platform combines NDR with network performance monitoring (NPM) to deliver threat detection and network intelligence in a single solution. Primarily operating in North America, ExtraHop serves clients in financial services, the federal government and critical infrastructure sectors. The company aims to unify NDR, NPM, IDS and forensics into one platform, focusing on asset visibility and attack surface identification across the network.
Strengths: Product, Market Understanding & Market Responsiveness
ExtraHop RevealX offers patented decryption, lookback search, packet storage and an IDS engine for signature-based detection, all within a single platform. It supports small and large networks with sensors capable of full line rate ingestion at 100 Gbps, enabling users to manage network health and detect threats. To enhance usability, ExtraHop has added a GenAI assistant with natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, allowing users to query network data and security events more easily, meeting market demand for AI-driven operational efficiency.
Weakness: Operations, Geographic Strategy and Sales Execution
Since transitioning to private ownership in July 2021, ExtraHop has experienced increased senior leadership turnover, making it important for prospective clients to assess ExtraHop’s strategic roadmap. Its limited reseller presence outside North America may also impact buyers who require localized sales and support. Additionally, ExtraHop’s bundled proposals can obscure the cost of individual components, posing challenges for customers looking for customized solutions.
Corelight: Open NDR Platform
Corelight’s Open NDR product delivers comprehensive threat detection across on-premises, ICS/OT and multicloud environments. Primarily operating in North America, Corelight serves clients in the public and finance sectors. The company aims to enhance the detection of living-off-the-land techniques and incorporate generative AI and large language models to automate and streamline security operations, while expanding into mid- and lower enterprise markets.
Strengths: Market Responsiveness, Product & Market Understanding
Corelight has evolved from a primarily on-premises IDS solution to a hybrid NDR offering, driven by customer feedback and a commitment to continuous feature updates. Its product includes high-performance sensors capable of ingesting 100 Gbps and a Smart PCAP feature that efficiently captures and stores only the most relevant network packets. With strong support for deployment across major cloud service providers, Corelight demonstrates a clear understanding of market needs and continues to expand its reach in hybrid and cloud environments.
Weakness: Vertical Strategy, Customer Experience and Geographic StrategyÂ
Corelight has historically concentrated on serving the U.S. government, which may limit the relevance of its threat detection content for customers in other verticals. Gartner considers its user interface dated and less intuitive, particularly for novice security analysts or those new to NDR. Additionally, Corelight has limited channel partner availability outside the U.S., so international buyers or those requiring local procurement and deployment support may need to invest extra effort into finding appropriate partners.
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