Encryption vs Visibility: How to Regain Control Over Network Traffic

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Modern organizations invest enormous resources in protecting data and user privacy. As a result, an increasing portion of communication – both on the public internet and within corporate networks – is encrypted. According to the Zscaler ThreatLabz report, by 2024, more than 87% of all blocked attacks will use encryption to hide their activity. For security teams, this means one thing: loss of visibility in the area that requires it most.

Today’s SecOps teams face a key challenge: increasing data protection often means decreasing visibility into what is happening in the network. And where visibility ends, a space begins where attackers can operate unhindered.

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DATA ENCRYPTION

Encryption is not the enemy of security. It is the foundation of privacy, compliance (GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA), and user trust. However, the problem arises when encryption becomes a barrier to security analysis.

Cybercriminals exploit this perfectly. Increasingly, they conceal C2 communication, data transfer, and even administrative activities in TLS traffic, using legitimate processes as a cover. Attacks such as Living off the Land, which use authorized RMM tools or administrative protocols, are becoming more common.

Without access to decrypted data, security systems only see “network noise” – packets with correct structures but without context. And it’s the context that allows detection of whether logging into a database server was authorized or an attempt at intrusion.

EXTRAHOP REVEALX

With the advent of the TLS 1.3 standard and the Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) mechanism, the world of encryption entered a completely new era. Each network session now uses a unique, ephemeral key that is immediately deleted after the connection ends.

This is a huge step forward in privacy protection, but also a serious challenge for SecOps teams that need to analyze network traffic in real-time to effectively detect anomalies and security incidents.

Only analysis at the application layer (L7) level allows visibility into what is really happening on the network. It is here that you can see if someone:

attempts repeatedly logging in to the database server,
makes unusual SQL queries,
transfers files during nighttime hours,
deletes logs to cover tracks.

Only full transaction analysis, not just metadata, ensures incidents are detected in time. Thanks to the out-of-band architecture, the ExtraHop RevealX solution analyzes copied network traffic, decrypting it locally without interfering with data transmission.

This means:

no impact on network latency,
no risk of weakening encryption,
no exposure of sensitive data.

ExtraHop can analyze up to 100 Gbps of traffic in real-time, in both on-premise and cloud environments. Built-in machine learning and behavioral analysis mechanisms allow detection of subtle anomalies in encrypted traffic, which may indicate reconnaissance, privilege escalation, or data theft.

Visibility in encrypted traffic is a necessity in modern SecOps environments. Without it, an organization cannot distinguish an incident from normal user activity or react early enough to a real threat. ExtraHop RevealX™ provides SecOps teams with what they need most: full visibility, deep context, and the ability to respond before attackers can hide.

As an authorized distributor of ExtraHop solutions, we support companies in regaining complete visibility over encrypted traffic and building next-generation security architectures. Contact us to learn how ExtraHop RevealX™ can help your organization see what others don’t and stop threats before they cause damage

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