In short: Cisco Cyber Vision is Cisco's operational technology security platform. Sensors built into Cisco industrial switches and routers decode industrial protocols to build an asset inventory, flag vulnerabilities and detect threats. It feeds segmentation in ISE and Secure Firewall, integrates with Cisco XDR and Splunk, and now includes Secure Equipment Access for remote access.
What is Cisco Cyber Vision?
Operational technology (OT) networks run production lines, utilities, transport systems and buildings. They are full of PLCs, drives, HMIs and controllers that were never designed for modern threats, and IT security tools often cannot see them, or risk disrupting them by scanning. Many organisations simply do not have an accurate list of what is connected.
Cyber Vision addresses that. It discovers industrial assets and their communications, scores risk, detects intrusions and anomalies, and shares what it learns with IT security tools, so OT and IT teams work from the same picture. Cisco now presents it as its industrial security platform, covering visibility, threat detection, segmentation and, through Secure Equipment Access, zero trust remote access.
How it works
- Sensors in the network: software sensors run on selected Cisco industrial Ethernet switches, Catalyst enterprise switches and industrial routers, so in many sites there is no separate security appliance to install. Where that is not possible, sensors can run as virtual machines on VMware ESXi or in Docker on x86 or Arm compute, taking a copy of traffic from existing switches
- Passive discovery: deep packet inspection decodes industrial protocols to identify assets, firmware, communications and process events without touching the devices
- Active discovery: optional, protocol-specific queries that Cisco describes as non-disruptive, sent from embedded sensors so they are not blocked by firewalls or NAT
- Cyber Vision Center: aggregates sensor metadata and provides the interface, analytics, reports and API. It runs as a hardware appliance, a virtual appliance (VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V or Nutanix AHV) or in AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud
- Global Center: combines several local Centers for a multi-site view
Sensors send lightweight metadata rather than full packet copies to the Center, which keeps the load on industrial links low.
Key capabilities
- Asset inventory and communication maps, with OT tags that describe what each device does
- Vulnerability detection and risk scoring per device and per site, with remediation guidance
- Intrusion detection using Snort with Talos rules, plus behavioural baselines that flag changes such as a new connection or a PLC program download
- Segmentation support: control engineers group assets into zones and conduits in line with IEC 62443, which IT can enforce through Cisco ISE via pxGrid or through Cisco Secure Firewall
- Reports on inventory, security posture and remote access, useful for audits
- Integrations with Cisco XDR, Secure Network Analytics (which gains asset context for the flows it monitors), Splunk, ServiceNow OT Management, IBM QRadar and other SIEM or SOAR tools through syslog, CEF and a REST API
Cisco updates the Cyber Vision threat knowledge base each week with new vulnerabilities and detection signatures, and offers a FIPS 140-3 mode for organisations that need it.
Essentials vs Advantage
Cyber Vision is a term subscription counted on the number of monitored endpoints, on one, three, five or seven-year terms, managed through Cisco Smart Licensing (with a reservation option for air-gapped sites).
| Capability | Essentials | Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Asset inventory, communications and vulnerabilities | Yes | Yes |
| Activity and inventory reporting, REST API | Yes | Yes |
| Device and site risk scoring | No | Yes |
| Intrusion detection and behaviour monitoring | No | Yes |
| Security posture and remote access reports | No | Yes |
| Advanced integrations (XDR, pxGrid, SIEM, ServiceNow) | No | Yes |
| Secure Equipment Access (ZTNA remote access) | No | Included for the same endpoint count |
Advantage uses Talos community signatures for intrusion detection; Talos subscriber rules are an extra, licensed per IDS sensor on top of Advantage. Cisco also runs an offer under which selected Cisco industrial switches ordered with a Network Advantage licence include a limited-term Cyber Vision and Secure Equipment Access Advantage licence for a set number of endpoints at no extra cost; we check whether your hardware qualifies.
UK regulation: the NIS Regulations and IEC 62443
In the UK, operators of essential services in sectors such as energy, transport, drinking water and health fall under the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations 2018, overseen by sector competent authorities, with the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework widely used to measure compliance. The government's Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, introduced to Parliament on 12 November 2025, is designed to reform and add to the NIS Regulations. Cisco's own material often refers to the EU's NIS2 Directive, which matters to UK organisations with operations in the EU.
Cyber Vision does not make you compliant on its own, but it supplies the evidence those frameworks ask for: an asset register, known vulnerabilities, monitoring for security events, and segmentation based on IEC 62443 zones and conduits. It also fits alongside Cyber Essentials work on the IT side of the business.
How we help
OT projects fail when IT moves faster than operations is comfortable with. Forever Systems works with both teams:
- Survey sites, network equipment and protocols to decide where sensors can run in existing switches and where dedicated sensors are needed.
- Deploy the Center on-premises or in the cloud and start in passive mode to build the inventory.
- Review vulnerabilities and risk scores with operations, and agree zones and conduits.
- Enforce segmentation gradually through ISE or Secure Firewall, and connect alerts to XDR or your SIEM.
- Replace ad hoc remote access with Secure Equipment Access.
Pricing depends on endpoints, sensors and term, so ask us for a quote. Contact us to plan an OT visibility project.
Explore Cyber Vision (OT)
How Forever Systems supplies and supports Cisco Secure
We supply and support the whole Cisco security portfolio for UK organisations, alongside Cisco Meraki networking and Cisco voice.
- Architecture and sizing: the right mix of firewall, secure access, identity, endpoint, email, detection and response and OT security for your estate, whether as individual products or a Cisco security suite
- Licensing: Smart Accounts, subscription tiers, Enterprise Agreements and renewals, explained in plain English
- Deployment and migration, including ASA to Secure Firewall Threat Defense, AnyConnect to Secure Client, and Umbrella to Secure Access
- Integration across Cisco XDR, Splunk, Duo, ISE and Secure Access so products share telemetry and response actions
- Ongoing support: upgrades, policy reviews, end-of-life planning, licence management and renewals
Forever Systems Ltd is an independent IT and cyber security provider. We will always recommend what fits, Cisco or otherwise.
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Contact usFrequently asked questions
What is Cisco Cyber Vision used for?
OT and industrial control system security: discovering assets and their communications, finding vulnerabilities, scoring risk, detecting intrusions and anomalies, and feeding segmentation and security operations tools.
Does Cisco Cyber Vision need dedicated hardware?
Often not. Its sensors run on selected Cisco industrial and enterprise switches and industrial routers. Where that is not possible, sensors can run as virtual machines on VMware ESXi or in Docker on x86 or Arm compute. The Center needs a server, virtual machine or cloud instance.
Is Cyber Vision passive?
Passive discovery is the default, using deep packet inspection of industrial protocols. Optional active discovery sends protocol-specific queries that Cisco describes as non-disruptive, and you choose where to enable it.
How is Cisco Cyber Vision licensed?
As a subscription based on monitored endpoints, in Essentials and Advantage tiers, on one to seven-year terms. Advantage adds risk scoring, intrusion detection, advanced integrations and Secure Equipment Access. Ask us for a quote.
Does Cyber Vision help with the UK NIS Regulations?
It supports them by providing an asset inventory, vulnerability information, security monitoring and IEC 62443-style segmentation, which are things regulators and the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework look for. Compliance still depends on your wider processes.