NetApp and Cisco Expand Collaboration to Strengthen Defense-in-Depth for Enterprise Cyber Resilience

NetApp Japan GK (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Executive Officer and President: Chiharu Saito) - NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the intelligent data infrastructure company, announced an expanded collaboration with Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) to help enterprises strengthen their defense-in-depth strategies.

By combining NetApp Intelligent Data Infrastructure with advanced analytics and observability capabilities, NetApp and Splunk provide deep, real-time visibility into the health of storage and infrastructure. This transforms operational data into actionable insights, contributing to improved reliability, security, and business outcomes.

Through this expanded collaboration, featuring new NetApp Splunk Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) playbooks, the two companies are helping joint customers contain ransomware attacks at the storage layer and minimize data loss. This limits the blast radius of cyberattacks while enabling faster recovery and reduced costs.

Sandeep Singh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Platform business at NetApp, stated:
"With the advancement of AI, the speed and sophistication of cyberattacks are increasing, leaving less time than ever to respond. To mitigate the cost and impact of ransomware, threats must be addressed the moment they are detected, which makes it essential to extend security automation down to the storage layer where the data resides. As the provider of the world's most secure storage, NetApp enables storage to function as a core component of a defense-in-depth strategy. By collaborating with Cisco, Splunk SOAR workflows can now take direct action on data residing on NetApp ONTAP®, simplifying and supercharging defense-in-depth strategies."

To provide the resilience and flexibility customers need, Cisco and NetApp are introducing the NetApp Splunk SOAR playbooks. Splunk Enterprise Security is already integrated with NetApp's anti-ransomware capabilities, gathering analytics from the data layer to enhance incident triage and prioritization. With these new playbooks, Splunk SOAR users can automatically execute incident response actions on NetApp ONTAP storage, leveraging these signals alongside those from other solutions.

Specific response actions include blocking suspicious users, taking data snapshots, and taking data volumes offline to prevent further spread of infection. This enables customers to more effectively contain ransomware attacks and limit data loss at the storage layer. Furthermore, utilizing this as part of a defense-in-depth strategy fosters stronger collaboration between security and storage teams.

Automating the response and recovery to cyber threats via the NetApp Splunk SOAR playbooks improves metrics such as Mean Time to Contain (MTTC) and reduces the burden of manual tasks and specialized skills required for data protection. Consequently, NetApp and Cisco are helping enterprises achieve cyber resilience more quickly and efficiently.

David Dalling, Group Vice President of Splunk Security at Cisco, said:
"An effective security strategy requires visibility and action across the entire technology stack, including the data layer. The new NetApp Splunk SOAR playbooks transform ONTAP storage into an active participant in the security ecosystem, enabling the containment of threats that directly target corporate data. Integrating NetApp storage into Splunk SOAR workflows allows security and storage teams to collaborate seamlessly and execute incident response swiftly and reliably."

Dallas Olson, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at NetApp, commented:
"The partnership between Splunk and NetApp connects the operations of storage and security teams, helping customers run their businesses more safely and efficiently. By providing real-time visibility across entire environments, NetApp and Splunk enable enterprises to minimize the impact of disruptions, optimize performance, and deliver clear, data-driven business outcomes."

The NetApp Splunk SOAR playbooks are currently available for download from SplunkBase.

About NetApp
For over 30 years, from pioneering enterprise storage to navigating the intelligent era defined by data and AI, NetApp has supported leading global enterprises through transformation. Today, NetApp is an intelligent data infrastructure company that turns data into a catalyst for innovation, resilience, and growth.

At the core of this is the NetApp Data Platform. It is a unified, enterprise-grade intelligent foundation that connects, protects, and activates data across any cloud, workload, and environment. Built on the proven capabilities of NetApp ONTAP, the industry-leading data management software/OS, it incorporates automation powered by its AI Data Engine and AFX to deliver observability, resilience, and intelligence at scale.

By decoupling storage, services, and control, the NetApp Data Platform empowers enterprises to modernize faster, scale efficiently, and accelerate innovation free from lock-in. Moreover, as the only enterprise storage platform natively integrated into the world's largest clouds, it offers the freedom to run any workload anywhere with consistent performance, governance, and protection.

NetApp constantly keeps data 'ready'—ready to defend against threats, ready to drive AI, and ready to spark the next breakthrough. That is why the world's most advanced organizations trust NetApp as the partner to turn intelligence into a competitive advantage.

For more information, please visit https://www.netapp.com/ja/. NetApp Japan GK is the Japanese subsidiary of NetApp. Follow NetApp on X, Facebook, and Instagram.