What is Endpoint Detection and Response?

Endpoint detection and response is a cyber technology that progressively monitors endpoints for threats that might have penetrated the digital perimeter. It also looks for suspicious behaviors from individual endpoints. EDR represents the most critical endpoint security capability and operates similarly to security information event management (SIEM).

If EDR detects a security event, it sends an alert to the security team, who can investigate and remediate the potential threat. Some EDR solutions can even halt suspicious activities, holding them for review until the IT team investigates, preventing further damage and allowing for a less stressful threat detection process.

How Does Endpoint Detection and Response Operate?

EDR is a set of capabilities that allow for continuous monitoring and analysis of endpoint activity to identify, detect and respond to advanced threats in real-time. A central database that stores information on suspicious activities and events that occur at endpoints is used to extract valuable insights for future threat response. EDR solutions use forensic tools and analytics to investigate other suspicious activities stored in the database, including rare processes, unrecognized connections, the volume of activity, data transfers, and many more.

EDR tools use this information to identify threat patterns, create alerts, and generate reports. IT security professionals can also use analytics and reports from EDR software to investigate past breaches and better understand how malware and other exploits reach their network, all from a centralized platform. EDR tools go beyond detecting suspicious activity and automatically respond to threats as they arise.

Preconfigured rules based on known types of attacks and threat patterns will trigger a response to block suspicious activity the moment it is detected. Such responses include signing out a user or sending an alert to the security team. Detecting anomalies will also trigger alerts. EDR software can compare endpoint activity to a baseline of normal behavior to identify potentially suspicious activity that may not have previously been identified as a threat pattern. Therefore, allowing IT professionals to take immediate action to remediate the issue.

Why do you need endpoint detection and response?

Endpoints are one of the most common means of access for network breaches. Ensuring every endpoint is protected is essential. Endpoint detection and response tools are valuable solutions to maintain an effective security posture. As such, using endpoint detection and response tools would help you in the following ways:

  • Unmasking attackers

EDR establishes detailed visibilities across every endpoint, thus, applying various behavioral analytics, which analyze several events simultaneously. This comprehensive analysis allows EDR tools to detect bits of suspicious activity.

  • Guided threat hunting 

Threat hunters can find, investigate and direct various threat activities in a specific environment.

  • Providing historical and real-time visibility

EDR tools give you detailed visibility into all that happens on your endpoints through a security lens. Some information you would see includes disk accessibility, registry modifications, network connections, and memory access.

  • Acceleration of investigation

EDR allows quick investigation based on the already collected pieces of information.

What is the difference between EPP and EDR?

Endpoint Detection and Response help to detect and investigate security various incidences. It remediates endpoints bringing them back to their original state before infection. On the other hand, Endpoint Protection Platform comprises conventional anti-malware scanning.

EDR adds a new element to the convectional EPP that is essential today. They serve EDR solutions like the black box in a cockpit or the city-based security cameras. Metadata is collected through these EDR solutions to search and detect potential threats or suspicious activity.

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