Security Onion Solutions
Security Onion Solutions is a privately held U.S. company that creates and maintains Security Onion, a free open-source platform for threat hunting, network security monitoring, and log management. It serves government agencies, defense, Fortune 500 enterprises, and universities via Pro subscriptions, hardware appliances, training, and certification.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersEvans, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Security Onion Solutions does
Security Onion Solutions, LLC is a privately held U.S. company that creates and maintains Security Onion, a free and open-source Linux distribution for threat hunting, network security monitoring, and log management. The platform integrates best-of-breed open-source components including Suricata, Zeek, the Elastic Stack, Elastic Agent/osquery, and OpenCanary honeypots, and exposes them through a proprietary web-based Security Onion Console (SOC) with alerting, dashboards, case management, and a distributed Manager-of-Managers grid architecture that scales from a single appliance to 1000+ nodes. Security Onion has reached 2+ million downloads and is deployed in nearly every country across federal, state, and municipal government, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, defense industry, Fortune 500 enterprises, universities, and home offices.
The company monetizes the platform through a five-stream commercial model layered on top of the free community edition: Security Onion Pro enterprise subscriptions (quote-based, 1-5 year terms, with OIDC SSO, DoD STIG and FIPS compliance, AES-256 LUKS encryption, enhanced SLAs, and professional support), a hardware appliance line spanning models 500 through SNNV with Pro licensing bundled on larger units, official instructor-led and on-demand training courses, the SOCP professional certification exam ($199, three-year validity), and premium support services. Distribution combines self-serve open-source downloads on GitHub, listings on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud marketplaces, direct enterprise and federal sales, and a strategic partnership with IntelliGenesis that delivers GSA-scheduled pricing to U.S. federal customers. The team of approximately 23 staff operates from Augusta, Georgia, hosts the annual Security Onion Conference, and is led by founder and CEO Doug Burks, who began the project in 2008 before incorporating the commercial entity in 2014.
Security Onion Solutions firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Security Onion Solutions
- Legal name
- Security Onion Solutions, LLC
- Website
- https://securityonionsolutions.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Security Onion Solutions is a privately held U.S. company that creates and maintains Security Onion, a free open-source platform for threat hunting, network security monitoring, and log management. It serves government agencies, defense, Fortune 500 enterprises, and universities via Pro subscriptions, hardware appliances, training, and certification.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Security Onion Solutions industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Network Security Monitoring and Threat Hunting Platform
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Network Security Services (Firewall/VPN/ZTNA/SASE Integration) (BPAEAEAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Intrusion Prevention/Detection Systems (IPS/IDS) (HDADABAH)
Keywords
Where Security Onion Solutions is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Evans
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Security Onion Solutions business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Security Onion Pro Licenses: Enterprise-grade subscription licenses with 1-5 year terms providing advanced features including notifications, OIDC SSO, STIG compliance, FIPS, AES 256 encryption, guaranteed message delivery via Kafka, and enhanced SLA options. Standard license covers up to 10 nodes with additional node packs available.
- Hardware Appliances: Pre-configured hardware appliances optimized for Security Onion including models 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, MN, SN7200, and SNNV. Larger appliances include single-node Pro license at no additional charge.
- Training Services: Instructor-led and on-demand premium training courses for Security Onion administration, threat hunting, detection engineering, and analyst fundamentals. Includes premium on-demand modules (6-month access) and 32-hour instructor-led courses.
- Security Onion Certified Professional (SOCP) Certification: Professional certification exam at $199, valid for 3 years, testing knowledge across 5 domains: Design/Architecture, Grid Management, Grid Monitoring/Troubleshooting, Grid Tuning, and Analyst Tools.
- Premium Support Services: Professional support services including architecture planning, deployment assistance, tuning, troubleshooting, break/fix support, and parsing services with varying SLA tiers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Security Onion Community Edition - Free open-source version with core features |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Security Onion Pro - Enterprise features with standard 10-node license |
| One time/ perpetual license | Others | SOCP Certification Exam - Professional certification |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Instructor-Led Training - 32-hour comprehensive courses |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | On-Demand Training - Self-paced online courses |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Security Onion Solutions product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Security Onion Solutions creates and maintains Security Onion, a free and open-source Linux-based platform for threat hunting, network security monitoring, and log management that bundles best-of-breed open tools including Suricata, Zeek, the Elastic Stack, osquery, and OpenCanary into a single integrated console. The company monetizes this open foundation through Security Onion Pro enterprise subscriptions (OIDC SSO, DoD STIG/FIPS compliance, AES 256 encryption, Onion AI, enhanced SLAs), pre-configured hardware appliances, official training, the SOCP certification, and premium professional support.
Product overview
Security Onion Solutions offers Security Onion as its core free, open-source threat hunting and network security monitoring platform, which integrates Suricata, Zeek, Elastic Stack, Elastic Agent/osquery, and OpenCanary honeypots. The company provides Security Onion Pro as an enterprise add-on with OIDC/SSO, DoD STIG/FIPS compliance, AES 256 encryption, enhanced SLAs, and Onion AI capabilities. Supporting offerings include pre-configured hardware appliances (models 500 through SNNV), official instructor-led and on-demand training courses (from free essentials to advanced 32-hour programs), the SOCP professional certification, annual Security Onion Conference, premium support services, and academic licensing programs for higher education.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Security Onion Pro: Enterprise-grade version of Security Onion with advanced features including OIDC authentication, DoD-compliant protections, FIPS compliance, STIG compliance, enhanced SLAs, professional support, offline update services, and health checks.
Products and services
- Security Onion (Platform) Free and open-source threat hunting, network security monitoring, and log management platform that integrates Suricata, Zeek, the Elastic Stack, Elastic Agent/osquery, and OpenCanary honeypots behind a web-based Security Onion Console (SOC) for alerts, hunting, dashboards, case management, and grid management. Targets security teams of all sizes, from individual practitioners to large enterprise and government SOCs.
- Security Onion Pro Enterprise subscription tier of Security Onion adding OpenID Connect SSO, DoD STIG and FIPS compliance, AES 256 LUKS storage encryption, Kafka-backed guaranteed message delivery, the Onion AI security assistant with local model support, MCP Server access for AI/LLM platforms, Splunk ingest via the Security Onion API, enhanced SLAs (1 business day standard, 4 business hours available), professional support hours, and airgap update assistance. Sold as 1–5 year subscriptions with a standard 10-node license and additional node packs; included free with larger hardware appliances. Targeted at government, defense, and large enterprise security operations teams that need compliant, support-backed deployments.
- Security Onion Hardware Appliances Pre-configured, dedicated Security Onion appliances sold under models 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, MN (Manager Node), SN7200 (Search Node), and SNNV (NVMe Search Node), spanning 500 Mbps to 10 Gbps throughput and varying storage capacities. Larger appliances bundle a single-node Security Onion Pro license at no additional cost. Sold to enterprise and government customers who want pre-tuned, supportable physical infrastructure for Security Onion deployments.
- Security Onion Training Official training program with instructor-led 32-hour (4-day) courses — Fundamentals for Analysts & Admins, Fundamentals for Analysts & Threat Hunters, and Detection Engineering and Analysis In-Depth — plus on-demand modules (Security Onion Essentials free; Security Onion in Production 2h 30m; Practical Analysis 1h 45m; Detection Engineering 2h 30m; Three-Course Bundle 6h 30m). Premium on-demand courses are sold on 6-month access subscriptions; instructor-led courses include printed materials, cloud lab environments, and a Certificate of Completion. Targets security analysts, administrators, threat hunters, and detection engineers who need to operationalize Security Onion.
- Security Onion Certified Professional (SOCP) Certification Standalone professional certification exam validating skills across Design/Architecture, Grid Management, Grid Monitoring/Troubleshooting, Grid Tuning, and Analyst Tools. 50-question, 120-minute open-book exam at $199, valid for 3 years with no retake wait time. Targets Security Onion practitioners and SOC analysts seeking formal credentialing, often after completing the official training courses.
- Premium Support Paid professional support offering covering architecture planning, deployment assistance, tuning optimization, troubleshooting, break/fix support, and parsing services via a private ticketing system with priority response and remote assistance, complemented by Pro-tier SLA options (1 business day standard, 4 business hours available) and periodic health checks. Targeted at Pro licensees, hardware appliance customers, and government/enterprise buyers who need guaranteed response times and hands-on help running Security Onion in production.
Quantifiable outcome
- Saved organizations approximately $1 million in licensing costs by replacing commercial SIEM solutions
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Security Onion Solutions
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Security Onion Solutions technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability5 records
Feature8 records
Security Onion Solutions partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- ElasticcoreElastic is a core technology partner whose Elastic Stack is integrated into Security Onion as the foundational platform for log management, alerting, dashboards, case management, and grid management features.
- GigamoncoreGigamon provides network visibility solutions that work with Security Onion for enhanced traffic inspection and monitoring capabilities.
- IntelliGenesiscoreIntelliGenesis is a strategic partner providing GSA pricing for Security Onion Solutions products and services to eligible government organizations. Also provides specialized cyber security expertise.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Security Onion Solutions competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Graylog: Graylog is an open-source log management and SIEM platform with a commercial enterprise tier. It overlaps Security Onion's centralized log management and alerting use cases and targets similar mid-market and enterprise customers seeking cost-effective alternatives to commercial SIEMs.
- Elastic Security: Elastic Security provides SIEM, endpoint security, and threat hunting on the Elastic Stack that Security Onion is itself built on. As Security Onion's foundational partner and a competing security analytics product, Elastic is both the underlying platform and the most direct adjacent competitor.
- Wazuh: Wazuh is an open-source SIEM/XDR platform offering intrusion detection, log analysis, and compliance monitoring. It directly overlaps Security Onion's free community edition positioning and competes for the same budget-constrained, open-source-friendly enterprise buyer.
- Corelight: Corelight is the most direct competitor: a commercial network detection and response (NDR) platform built on Zeek (a core component of Security Onion). Both target SOC analysts with open-source-rooted NSM solutions, though Corelight is venture-backed and focused on enterprise/hardware SKUs.
Broad incumbents
- Exabeam: Exabeam is a venture-backed SIEM and security analytics vendor using AI-driven behavioral analytics. It competes with Security Onion's newer AI assistant capabilities (Onion AI) at the enterprise SIEM layer, particularly for SOC modernization deals.
- IBM QRadar: IBM QRadar is a long-established enterprise SIEM, particularly entrenched in regulated industries and government accounts. It overlaps with Security Onion's enterprise/government use cases and represents the legacy incumbent Security Onion competes against in federal procurement.
- Microsoft Sentinel: Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM/SOAR with native integration into the Microsoft security ecosystem. As enterprises consolidate onto Microsoft security stacks, Sentinel becomes a default alternative that competes head-to-head with Security Onion Pro in enterprise evaluations.
- Sumo Logic: Sumo Logic is a cloud-native log management and security analytics platform. It targets similar enterprise use cases for centralized log management, threat detection, and compliance monitoring, often competing with Security Onion on cloud-first deployments.
- Splunk Enterprise Security: Splunk is the market-leading commercial SIEM that Security Onion explicitly displaces (documented ~$1M customer savings). It serves the same enterprise SOC buyer with a broader analytics platform but at significantly higher price points that drive the displacement narrative.
- LogRhythm: LogRhythm is an established SIEM vendor serving mid-market and enterprise customers, with a strong presence in regulated verticals. It competes in similar procurement cycles as Security Onion Pro for SOC and compliance-driven buyers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Security Onion Solutions social profiles
Digital presenceSecurity Onion Solutions compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Security Onion Solutions financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Security Onion Solutions leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
Security Onion Solutions funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Security Onion Solutions M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Security Onion Solutions
What does Security Onion Solutions do?
Security Onion Solutions creates and maintains Security Onion, a free and open-source Linux-based platform for threat hunting, network security monitoring, and log management that bundles best-of-breed open tools including Suricata, Zeek, the Elastic Stack, osquery, and OpenCanary into a single integrated console. The company monetizes this open foundation through Security Onion Pro enterprise subscriptions (OIDC SSO, DoD STIG/FIPS compliance, AES 256 encryption, Onion AI, enhanced SLAs), pre-configured hardware appliances, official training, the SOCP certification, and premium professional support.
Is Security Onion Solutions a public or private company?
Security Onion Solutions is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Security Onion Solutions founded?
Security Onion Solutions was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Security Onion Solutions based?
Security Onion Solutions is headquartered in Evans, United States, in the North America region.
How does Security Onion Solutions make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Security Onion Pro Licenses are the primary driver. The others are hardware Appliances, training Services, security Onion Certified Professional (SOCP) Certification and premium Support Services.
Who are Security Onion Solutions's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Graylog, Elastic Security, Wazuh and Corelight. Broad incumbents are Exabeam, IBM QRadar, Microsoft Sentinel, Sumo Logic, Splunk Enterprise Security and LogRhythm.
Does Security Onion Solutions have an API?
Yes. Security Onion includes a REST API that allows integration with external systems for automating security processes. The Pro license enables automated, periodic ingest of Security Onion alerts into Splunk via the Security Onion API. MCP Server is also available, allowing AI/LLM platforms to interface with the Security Onion grid to query alerts, playbooks, and more. Developer documentation is at securityonion.net/docs.
What industry is Security Onion Solutions in?
Security Onion Solutions's product category is Network Security Monitoring and Threat Hunting Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAEAG, Network Security Services (Firewall/VPN/ZTNA/SASE Integration), with a secondary code of HDADABAH, Intrusion Prevention/Detection Systems (IPS/IDS). Its NAICS code is 5415 and its SIC code is 7373.