EDR cybersecurity provides IT teams with valuable insights that they can use to prevent further attacks through its EDR data capture capability. Just like an aeroplane has an onboard black box that records raw telemetry from endpoints during cyberattacks, EDR cybersecurity provides similar data capture. IT teams gain insight to prevent similar future attacks by gathering all this raw telemetry during a cyberattack.
An effective EDR solution goes beyond signature-based analysis to detect indicators of attack (IOAs) and detect threats that bypass antivirus protection, automating incident response and remediation as necessary.
Detection
EDR cybersecurity stands apart from traditional antivirus software in that it monitors endpoints for suspicious activity – from threats already infiltrating the network, such as the detection of fileless malware or advanced threats bypassing antivirus protection, through to any lateral movement within it and any fileless threats or fileless variants that bypass its security.
EDR allows organizations to detect malicious activity in real-time that might have gone undetected and provide more comprehensive telemetry and threat intelligence from detected activity – an essential step for alert triage and response activities.
EDR tools often integrate with global cyber threat intelligence databases to quickly access indicators of compromise (IOCs). This enables rapid detection of the tactic, technique, and procedure (TTP) used to attack an organization’s endpoints; typically, this data is compiled in kill chain progression reports or MITRE ATT&CK mappings and visualizations as an aid for investigation and response activities.
Containment
Once an attack has penetrated your system, detection is essential to protecting it. EDR software collects all endpoint devices’ data into a central repository for analysis. Threat intelligence feeds may provide context; for instance, by comparing network and endpoint behaviour against known attacks.
Once EDR solutions detect an infection, they immediately neutralize its threat. For instance, they could quarantine malicious files or reroute traffic to stop unauthorized access; alternatively, they might alert IT teams that specific devices on the network are especially susceptible – providing valuable insight into how an advanced threat managed to get past security measures.
EDR solutions often incorporate sandboxing technology to examine files safely in isolation, providing analysts with vital insights into the nature and operation of any attacks and enabling them to create better protections against similar threats in the future.
Investigation
EDR security solutions work proactively to detect and investigate threats on your endpoints, providing greater visibility into their state and helping you detect incidents that evaded prevention tools like antivirus software. By collecting and monitoring events like process creation, driver loading, disk access, memory access, and network connections, among others, on individual endpoints, the right solution can quickly investigate an incident and take appropriate action against it.
EDR solutions employ advanced analysis techniques to detect modern cyber threats, such as machine learning and AI, to spot suspicious activities and flag them for further investigation. Others utilize the process known as sandboxing – isolating offending files into a virtual environment to examine their nature without risking the integrity of production systems. EDR security may also offer per-incident reviews to understand why an attacker managed to gain entry and infiltrate your network.
Elimination
EDR cybersecurity goes beyond preventive measures like antivirus software that scans for and looks for known computer viruses. Instead, EDR cybersecurity monitors for malicious behaviour on endpoint devices – physical workstations, servers, or cloud systems – and takes swift action against threats by wiping, reimaging, or remotely controlling these systems to neutralize them before any attack can take place.
This process may be automated or manual and involves gathering vital information about the threat: its source, impact on networks and systems, and what it’s trying to achieve. Combining threat intelligence with this data allows a security team to identify the origin of any threat and block it in the future quickly and precisely. With hackers increasingly developing sophisticated tools for accessing networks, next-generation technologies like EDR are an absolute necessity – thanks to Cybereason Open EDR, you can get this technology right now – its creators believe this fundamental piece of your cybersecurity stack should be accessible to everyone, not only wealthy individuals.