Corelight

Corelight is an enterprise Network Detection and Response platform that helps security teams monitor network activity, detect threats, investigate incidents, and respond to suspicious behavior. It provides detailed network visibility by turning traffic data into structured security information that SOC teams can analyze. Corelight is built around technologies such as Zeek, an open source network security monitoring framework, and Suricata, a signature based intrusion detection engine. Together, these technologies help security teams gain deeper context into network activity across on premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

How Corelight Works

Corelight works passively by monitoring copies of network traffic without sitting directly in the path of production traffic.

• Traffic Collection: Corelight sensors receive copies of network traffic through network TAPs, mirror ports, or cloud packet brokers.
• Traffic Analysis: The platform analyzes network packets and extracts useful security information from different protocols.
• Data Organization: Network activity is converted into structured logs that help security analysts understand connections, DNS requests, HTTP activity, TLS information, and other events.
• Threat Detection: Corelight uses detection technologies, behavioral analysis, and machine learning to identify potentially suspicious activity.
• Security Integration: The resulting logs, alerts, and selected packet captures can be sent to SIEM, XDR, and other security platforms for further investigation.

How We Rated Corelight

Corelight provides strong network visibility and detailed security data for enterprise security teams. Its combination of Zeek and Suricata gives analysts useful context for threat detection and investigation.
The platform works well with existing security tools and can help monitor unmanaged and difficult to protect devices. However, its cost, deployment complexity, and technical learning requirements may make it better suited to larger organizations.