Organizations require more than essential antivirus protection – that’s where endpoint detection and response (EDR) comes in.
EDR stands out from traditional antivirus solutions by employing non-signature-based detection to identify threats and attacks quickly. Furthermore, it gives complete visibility into user processes, applications, files, networks, and devices.
Antivirus
Antivirus (AV) software serves as the initial defense line against viruses, spyware, and other forms of malware for employee devices in the office or at home, servers, and cloud workloads. Antivirus can protect against such threats by either restricting access to files containing malicious code or eliminating them from the system; additionally, it may offer extra safety features like VPN connection security, identity theft protection, or parental controls.
Antivirus (AV) software has its limitations; specifically, it relies on signatures and patterns to identify cyberattacks reactively, making AV less effective as the digital network perimeter expands as it cannot protect all endpoints simultaneously. EDR monitoring tracks all devices and activities in real-time to detect advanced threats that have bypassed antivirus protection software.
EDR allows a device’s owner to quickly identify and mitigate cyber-attacks by monitoring all activity on a device – processes, driver installations, registry modifications, disk access, and memory usage among them – in real-time and recording security-related data to the cloud for faster analysis, reduced dwell time and expedited remediation processes.
EDR differs from antivirus by automatically responding to threats by blocking their execution, deleting them completely, and clearing up any evidence left by them without needing IT staff intervention. As a result, EDR makes an ideal security tool for businesses that seek more than simply protection against known threats.
EDR
EDR is an endpoint detection and response solution that integrates endpoint forensic analysis and threat-hunting tools to provide organizations with comprehensive visibility of potential threats. EDR allows organizations to detect indicators of compromise and understand what actions attackers are taking against endpoints – whether that means stealing sensitive data, destroying devices, or gaining entry to networks.
An EDR program differs from antivirus in that it monitors endpoints in real time and records events, alerting security teams of any threats in real-time as they occur and providing a detailed investigation workflow to them, allowing them to isolate a path of an attack and prevent its spread across networks.
An effective EDR program integrates threat intelligence in order to compare observed endpoint behavior against that of known malicious actors, aiding security professionals with early detection and improving detection rates while decreasing false positives that cause alert fatigue and waste time and resources.
Xcitium stands out as an EDR platform by offering complete visibility into endpoint activity to detect advanced cyberattacks that bypass traditional antivirus. Acting like a digital DVR on an endpoint, CrowdStrike records activities like driver loads, process creation, registry modifications, disk access, and memory usage to help analysts keep an eye out for sophisticated attacks targeting their organization. Xcitium allows analysts to “shoulder surf” an adversary’s activity – seeing which commands are running and techniques they are employing against an organization – helping analysts “shoulder surf” their activities in real-time!
Incident Response
An attack on just one endpoint can quickly spread malware across an organization’s entire network, which is why taking proactive steps against lateral movement within your business is vitally important. This may involve methods like restricting new processes or files from being launched, restricting incoming and outgoing network traffic, or prohibiting compromised user accounts from accessing files or services.
Implement a comprehensive incident response plan that includes short-term containment, eradication, system backup/recovery, and documentation of lessons learned as soon as an attack occurs in order to minimize its effect on business operations, customer loyalty, and brand value.
Incident response tools should offer complete visibility into your environment while collecting unfiltered telemetry and threat intelligence data, which is critical for investigating how attackers gained entry and mitigating existing access issues. It also reduces the time to detect unknown attacks while speeding up remediation actions by providing teams with external threat intelligence sources.
EDR solutions can be an invaluable addition to your security arsenal when combined with antivirus programs. While EPP protects against threats before they breach a system, an effective EDR solution monitors in real-time to detect and stop advanced attack techniques that bypass first line defenses. It also analyzes massive amounts of telemetry to look for indicators of compromise or other behavioral patterns that indicate compromise or threat.
Detection
EDR security tools monitor endpoints to detect and eliminate malicious cyber threats. While traditional antivirus flags suspicious activity, managed EDR solutions take a more in-depth approach by investigating each attack’s full lifecycle and discovering how it entered their network.
EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response) systems primarily function to detect and respond to attacks; however, they also serve other critical purposes. A strong EDR tool can help organizations protect themselves against expensive data breaches by stopping attackers before they cause critical losses or compromise systems – something precious as attackers target remote employees using personal devices outside the corporate network.
An employee could launch a threat from their home computer and use the digital perimeter as a stepping stone into their network resources. Still, an EDR solution can prevent this by safeguarding teleworkers’ devices against malware and cyberattacks.
EDR solutions can also reduce the dwell time of breaches by isolating threats on individual machines and decreasing overall vulnerability in an environment. This is accomplished by providing information about how the threat was initiated, its path through space/time, and what its current activities are.