Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping Security Operations Centers (SOCs), helping security teams investigate incidents faster while reducing alert fatigue. But as AI becomes more capable, what role do human analysts and packet data play in an increasingly automated SOC?

Artificial intelligence is changing how security teams identify vulnerabilities, prioritize threats and respond to attacks. But as AI takes on more of this work, how can organizations trust its recommendations and ensure that faster decisions lead to better security?

In this episode of Packet Forensic Files, I sit down with Traci Byrne, Founding Head of Global Channels, Alliances and Partnerships at Cogent Security, to explore vulnerability management, autonomous remediation and human oversight. With around 15 years in cybersecurity, including leading global cyber strategy and go-to-market at World Wide Technology, Traci brings a practical perspective on putting AI to work.

Our conversation explores the pressure defenders face as attackers adopt new capabilities with far fewer organizational constraints. For security teams coordinating multiple tools and responding across complex environments, AI offers considerable potential. Realizing that potential requires understanding how a solution reaches its conclusions and what happens when it acts on them.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping Security Operations Centers (SOCs), helping security teams investigate incidents faster while reducing alert fatigue. But as AI becomes more capable, what role do human analysts and packet data play in an increasingly automated SOC?

In Packet Forensics Files Episode 67, Michael Morris sits down with Cisco Security Sales Engineer and incident response expert Erik Dove to discuss how Agentic AI is changing incident response, where packet data fits into modern SOC workflows, and why both experienced analysts and packet data remain essential.

If you're interested in how AI, automation and packet capture are shaping the future of security operations, this episode is highly recommended. It's a fascinating discussion with plenty of practical advice for organizations looking to build more effective SOCs.

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic Files, Michael chats with with Cody Spooner, Principal Sales Engineer and DFIR expert at Corelight, about an interesting topic: the subtleties and differences of “Enablers" vs "Behaviors” of a cybersecurity compromise.

Cody explains that when most people think of threat hunting or incident response investigations, they picture analysts looking for signs of malicious activity. In reality there are critical subtle differences between the “behavior of a compromise” and the underlying “enabler of a compromise” that often go unnoticed or overlooked. He highlights how organizations tend to focus heavily on detecting malicious behaviors - such as data exfiltration or unauthorized logins - but often miss identifying the enabling conditions - such as misconfigurations or legacy protocols - that led to those compromises in the first place.

Cody shares examples of seemingly harmless issues that can become the doorway to a full compromise, such as configuration issues or outdated or deprecated protocols like NTLMv1 and SMBv1. These often persist in modern environments and Cody suggests that incident responders and threat hunters can usefully focus on identifying and eliminating these enablers to reduce the organisation's risk profile.

Cody gives advice for security teams on how to shift their mindset from focusing only on behaviors to focusing on enablers as well in their threat hunting activity. He also provides insights into how IR teams should interpret and contextualize indicators of compromise and discusses how the “why” behind an attack can often change or influence the response strategy.

ABOUT ENDACE
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Endace (https://www.endace.com) is a world leader in high-performance packet capture solutions for cybersecurity, network and application performance.

EndaceProbes are deployed on some of the world's largest, fastest and most critical networks. EndaceProbe models are available for on-premise, private cloud and public cloud deployments - delivering complete hybrid cloud visibility from a single pane-of-glass.

Endace’s open EndaceProbe Analytics appliances (https://www.endace.com/endaceprobe) can be deployed in on-premise locations and can also host third-party security and performance monitoring solutions while simultaneously recording a 100% accurate history of network activity.