Four Ways Network Detection & Response Strengthens Security Teams

Digital transformation is reshaping how businesses operate. At the same time, cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated. Together, these forces are driving IT security teams (SecOps) and network teams (NetOps) to work closer than ever – hence NetSecOps.

The reason is simple: as companies scale data centers, expand branch offices, move workloads to the cloud, adopt virtualization, they create new blind spots. Traditional, security tools weren’t designed for this complexity.

The result? Data silos, tool sprawl, alert overload, and lots of data but little actionable insight. And the cost of a breach? Massive. Investigations, remediation, legal exposure, higher insurance premiums, not to mention lost revenue and brand damage. Attacks aren’t a question of if, but when.

This is where Network Detection and Response (NDR), once called Network Traffic Analysis (NTA), comes in. Even Gartner has rebranded the category to reflect its critical role in security.

Here are four ways NDR improves organizational cybersecurity by giving SecOps better Network Visibility:

1. Smarter, Behavioral-based Threat Detection

Signature-based tools like antivirus and firewalls only catch threats they already recognize. Modern attackers design malware to slip past these defenses. More than two-thirds of malware samples could evade signature-based tools. NDR such as NEOX Clear NDR changes the game. It uses analytics and machine learning to study real network traffic and establish what “normal” looks like. When abnormal activity happens—whether in data center north-south traffic, east-west traffic, or the cloud traffic—SecOps gets an alert. That means new or obfuscated threats that bypass traditional defenses can still be caught.

2. Actionable Data for Analytics, Compliance, and Forensics

Security teams (such as Blue teams) need solid network visibility not just to stop threats, but to understand and prove what happened. For compliance audits or forensic investigations, access to packet data and metadata across branches, data centers, and multi-cloud environments is critical.

NDR solutions, such as Clear NDR capture, store, and correlate this data so teams can quickly investigate breaches, trace the attack path, and adapt defenses for the future. Think of it as building a searchable library of network evidence.

3. Enabling Better Security Automation

With skilled analysts in short supply, automation is a must. But automation is only as effective as the data it relies on. Too little data? Blind spots. Too much noise? False positives. Both waste valuable time.

By feeding automation with high-quality network visibility data, NDR such as Clear NDR reduces false positives and ensures that automated responses are both fast and accurate. That means fewer distractions for the SOC (Security Operations Center) team and quicker resolution of real threats.

4. Cutting Down Malware Dwell Time

Even when not deployed inline, NDR such as Clear NDR plays a huge role in reducing malware dwell time—the critical window between compromise and detection. By spotting unusual traffic quickly, NDR helps downstream tools isolate and neutralize threats before attackers can do serious damage.

The results are clear: Few years ago, most breaches went undetected for months. Later, 87% of incidents are contained in days. Faster detection and response, powered by NEOX Next-Generation Network Visibility and Clear NDR, is changing the security game.

Final Thoughts

Network Visibility is no longer optional. For IT security teams, it’s the foundation of effective defense in on-prem and hybrid-cloud environments. By working together, NetOps and SecOps can:

• Detect threats using behavioral analysis,
• Capture data for compliance and forensic investigations,
• Drive smarter automation, and
• Shorten incident response times.

In a world where cyberattacks are inevitable, solutions like Clear NDR gives security teams the visibility and intelligence they need torespond with confidence.