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Introduction: A New Era for SOC Integrations
At Cisco Live San Diego 2025, Cisco Security demonstrated just how far their Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platform can go when tailored for real-world Security Operations Center (SOC) environments. The focus was on building practical, user-driven integrations, showcasing a new level of flexibility that can help security teams cut through the noise and act faster. From custom-built tools using Node.js to seamless integration with platforms like Splunk Attack Analyzer (SAA), Cisco is empowering its analysts to streamline threat detection and response. This article explores how the SOC team leveraged Cisco XDR to build custom, cloud-hosted integrations during the event and how these innovations will shape future security operations.
Cisco XDR in Action: Custom Integrations Powering SOC at Cisco Live 2025
Cisco XDR proved to be a highly extensible and adaptable platform for real-time security needs during Cisco Live San Diego 2025. In alignment with evolving SOC practices, Ciscoâs own event SOC team created customized integrations tailored to their environment. This initiative began back in RSAC 2025, where they first utilized Splunk Attack Analyzer (SAA) via a simple dashboard tile, marking their initial exploration of integrating with Cisco XDR.
At Cisco Live, the team elevated their approach. They aimed to give analysts the capability to look up threat artifactsâsuch as URLs, domains, and file hashesâdirectly within SAA, as well as to submit these artifacts for automated analysis. Within the first two days of the event, two distinct integrations were built: one to perform lookups of key indicators, and another to handle automated submissions.
These integrations were powered by Node.js and hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), safeguarded using Ciscoâs own Multicloud Defense. This setup allowed analysts to pivot quickly from detection to analysis without manual input, saving precious time during live investigations.
The interface was kept deliberately simple for rapid deployment and portability, ensuring it could be reused at future conferences such as Black Hat USA 2025. The result was a seamless operational enhancement where analysts could act on threat intelligence within seconds, improving the overall responsiveness of the SOC team. Cisco plans to continue this integration journey, building on the success of this deployment and encouraging community-driven innovation via newly published development resources.
What Undercode Say: Breaking Down the Power and Strategy Behind Cisco XDR
Tailored Flexibility Meets Operational Speed
Cisco’s custom integrations highlight a growing industry trend: the shift from monolithic security solutions to modular, flexible platforms. By leveraging Cisco XDR as a foundation and building tailored tools on top, the event SOC created a hybrid system that combines out-of-the-box capabilities with rapid customization.
From Manual to Automated Workflows
A key achievement was moving analysts away from manual tasks. Traditionally, analysts have had to toggle between tools, copy and paste indicators, and initiate scans by hand. With Ciscoâs custom relay module and pivot menus embedded directly into the SOC workflow, these manual actions are now fully automatedâallowing the team to move faster and focus on threat decision-making rather than repetitive input.
Cloud-Native Simplicity
By hosting these tools in AWS and shielding them with Multicloud Defense, Cisco underscored the growing importance of lightweight, cloud-native security deployments. The AWS-based deployment wasn’t just functional, it was designed with portability in mind, ensuring the system could easily travel from one event to another without requiring heavy configuration or local infrastructure.
Analyst-Centric Design
Perhaps the most important aspect of these integrations was the analyst experience. Ciscoâs goal wasn’t just to create new toolsâit was to improve how humans interact with them. By integrating lookup and submission features directly into their workflow, Cisco minimized friction and maximized usability.
Innovation at Speed
What stands out most is the pace of innovation. Creating and deploying two functioning integrations in just two days reflects a powerful DevSecOps culture within Cisco. This ability to innovate in near real-time sets a high bar for other security vendors and conference SOCs.
Community and Transparency
By publishing the resources used to build these integrations, Cisco is fostering a collaborative environment. Encouraging the broader security community to customize and expand on their XDR platform demonstrates a commitment to openness, knowledge sharing, and ecosystem growth.
Real-World Impact
In live SOC environmentsâespecially at large-scale events like Cisco Live and Black Hatâefficiency is everything. Delays of even a few minutes can create security blind spots. These new integrations help eliminate that risk by offering immediate context and automated triage.
Future-Proofing Through Modularity
As SOC environments evolve, modularity becomes crucial.
đ Fact Checker Results:
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Cisco did unveil custom-built integrations using Node.js and AWS during Cisco Live 2025
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The integrations work directly with Splunk Attack Analyzer for automated lookups and submissions
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Cisco intends to continue development and showcase innovations at Black Hat USA 2025
đ Prediction:
As cybersecurity becomes increasingly driven by automation and interoperability, platforms like Cisco XDR will play a dominant role in SOC evolution. Expect more vendors to adopt modular, cloud-hosted, analyst-friendly tools. Ciscoâs real-time integration model could soon become a standard for rapid-response operations in both public and private security sectors. đ
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Reported By: blogs.cisco.com
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