Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. today announced that it has added ransomware detection and recovery support to its extended detection and response solution, bringing near real-time recovery for business operations after a ransomware attack.

Cisco announced its XDR service in April, introducing deep telemetry and visibility across network and endpoints. The addition of ransomware protection is centered on the ability to reduce the time between the beginning of a ransomware outbreak and the snapshotting of essential business information to nearly zero. The upgrade aligns with Cisco’s broader vision for a unified, artificial intelligence-driven, cross-domain security platform.

The exponential growth in ransomware and cyber extortion is said by Cisco to underscore the urgency for enhanced security protocols. To tackle these threats, Cisco has aimed to build a resilient and open cybersecurity platform with a goal to minimize impact and ensure uninterrupted business operations.

The growth in ransomware was highlighted in a recent report from the Cisco Talos Incident Response team detailing how, in the second quarter, the team responded to the highest ransomware engagements in more than one year. The enhanced capabilities in Cisco XDR, such as automatic detection, snapshot and restoration of business-critical data, are designed to respond to ransomware attacks at the earliest stages, often before lateral movement through the network occurs.

Cisco’s advancements are also claimed to go beyond internal improvements, with the expansion of third-party XDR integrations to include leading infrastructure and enterprise data backup and recovery vendors. One example is Cisco’s new integration with data management provider Cohesity Inc.’s DataProtect and DataHawk solutions.

“Cybersecurity is a board-level concern, and every CIO and CISO is under pressure to reduce risks posed by threat actors,” Sanjay Poonen, chief executive officer and president of Cohesity, said in a blog post. “To this end, Cisco and Cohesity have partnered to help enterprises around the world strengthen their cyber resilience.”

To develop the integration, Cohesity’s engineers worked with Cisco technical teams to dynamically adapt data protection policies for a stronger security posture. The integration complements Cisco XDR’s detection, correlation and integrated response capabilities and enables customers to benefit from accelerated response for data protection and automated recovery.

Jeetu Patel, executive vice president and general manager of the Security and Collaboration Business Units at Cisco, and Tom Gillis, senior vice president and general manager of security at Cisco, spoke with theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s livestreaming studio in July on Cisco’s broader vision, AI and superclouds:

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