Organizations are finding security operations increasingly difficult due to several factors. Over half (52%) of security professionals believe that their security operations environment has become more challenging in the past two years. This is attributed to a rapidly evolving threat landscape, a growing attack surface, an increase in the volume and complexity of security alerts, and the proliferation of public cloud services.

SOC modernization is a key initiative for many organizations, with 88% planning to increase their security operations spending this year. This focus is driven by the need to improve the operationalization of threat intelligence, enhance risk and alert prioritization, and automate common security operations tasks to cope with the increasing complexity and volume of security alerts.

XDR is gaining traction within the industry, with 61% of security professionals expressing familiarity with the technology. However, there is still some confusion regarding its definition. Many view XDR as an extension of EDR or as a product that consolidates various security technologies, indicating that while awareness is growing, clarity around its role in security operations is still evolving.