Qualys CDR combines multiple telemetry layers into a unified cloud-native detection engine.

Control-Plane Monitoring

Agentless API integrations and cloud logs help monitor:

CloudTrail activity
IAM changes
Administrative actions
Resource provisioning
Identity misuse
Cloud configuration changes
Suspicious access patterns

Runtime Detection

Runtime monitoring helps capture:

Process execution
Syscalls
Malware behavior
File changes
Container activity
Kernel-level telemetry
Runtime exploit activity

Network and Flow Log Analysis

Network telemetry helps detect:

Lateral movement
Beaconing activity
Command-and-control traffic
East-west traffic anomalies
Data exfiltration attempts
Brute-force SSH and RDP activity
Port scans

Qualys specifically highlights detection of unauthorized activity such as SSH and RDP brute-force attacks and port scans that may indicate lateral movement.

Deep Learning Threat Analytics

AI-powered behavioral models help identify:

Unknown malware
Zero-day exploits
Ransomware activity
Cryptominers
ELF malware
Suspicious behavioral chains
Mutating malware variants

Qualys CDR product tours emphasize real-time protection against zero-day malware, ransomware, cryptominers, and mutations using AI/ML. (Qualys)

Risk-Centric Threat Prioritization with TruRisk

The SOC problem is not a lack of alerts. It is a lack of clear prioritization. Qualys CDR helps security teams prioritize active threats using runtime context and TruRisk-powered risk intelligence. This allows analysts to focus on the threats that matter most based on asset criticality, exploitability, exposure, and business impact.

Qualys CDR helps improve risk prioritization based on runtime data, including identifying assets that are actively probed and enabling teams to take necessary action to improve security.

This helps security teams:

Reduce alert fatigue
Prioritize high-risk threats
Improve MTTR
Focus on actively exploited assets
Report cloud risk in business terms
Align SOC action with enterprise risk

For ephemeral workloads, Qualys CDR can report threats across aggregate asset groupings, such as clusters and container environments, so teams maintain a stable operational view even when individual workloads disappear.

Proactive Risk Orchestration with QFlow

Detection without response creates operational bottlenecks. Qualys CDR extends beyond passive monitoring by enabling automated remediation and policy-driven response orchestration through QFlow. Security teams can automate actions such as:

Blocking malicious activity
Isolating compromised workloads
Modifying security groups
Revoking exposed credentials
Updating firewall policies
Suppressing known-good activity
Enforcing runtime policies
Triggering guided remediation workflows

This creates a “detect once, remediate forever” model. Instead of repeatedly triaging the same threat across thousands of short-lived workloads, SOC teams can apply response logic once and enforce it consistently across dynamic cloud environments. Because QFlow operates at the policy and infrastructure layer, mitigations can persist even as workloads scale, shift, or disappear.

Reducing Alert Fatigue in the SOC

Cloud environments generate massive volumes of alerts. Without context, every suspicious event can become another investigation. Qualys CDR helps reduce alert fatigue by combining:

Runtime activity
Asset context
TruRisk prioritization
Threat intelligence
Cloud configuration data
Vulnerability context
Network telemetry
Behavioral correlation

This gives SOC analysts a clearer answer to the questions that matter most:

Is this threat real?
What asset is affected?
Is the asset business-critical?
Is the workload exposed?
Is the activity tied to active exploitation?
What response should we take?
Can this be remediated automatically?

The result is faster triage, fewer duplicate investigations, and better alignment between cloud security operations and business risk.

SIEM and SOC Ecosystem Integrations

CDR should not operate in isolation. Modern security operations require tight integration with existing SOC workflows, SIEM platforms, SOAR tools, and incident response processes. Qualys CDR supports integrations with security ecosystems including SIEM platforms such as Microsoft Sentinel and Splunk, along with webhooks for broader workflow automation. Customer commentary on the Qualys CDR page also references SIEM integration as part of deployment across AWS and Azure environments.

These integrations help organizations:

Centralize cloud threat findings
Enrich SIEM alerts with risk context
Trigger automated response workflows
Accelerate incident investigations
Coordinate SOC and CloudSecOps response
Reduce manual triage effort

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