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Introduction

Malicious software has become ever more sophisticated throughout the years. It seems like it used to be enough just to be worried about computer viruses and equipment failure. Now, organizations are being victimized by targeted cyber-attacks every day across the world. Emerging threats such as ransomware are deployed by dedicated teams of hackers that choose specific victims to target, and deploy sophisticated attacks at any sign of vulnerability.

Unfortunately, it seems the global market outlook for cybercriminals is only improving.

What's At Stake Anyway?

Nearly half of all cyber attacks are able to steal or destroy data, according to a study by the Ponemon Institute. As if that wasn't bad enough, companies who do not secure their data correctly risk being heavily fined according to GDPR regulations. In short, quite a lot.

Fortunately, there's a new system of advanced threat protection.

Endpoint Detection and Response

Among the response solutions that businesses have turned to in order to address these threats are Endpoint Detection and Response tools. Endpoint Detection and Response tools can detect, contain and eradicate threats with minimal disruption to the organization's workflow and productivity.

Along with a suite of other security measures, such as a strong antivirus solution, a Security Information and Event Management solution, and System Operations Center monitoring, Endpoint Detection and Response software is a key tool for organizations to protect themselves against hackers.

In this article we'll explore how EDR works and what kinds are available.

What Is Endpoint Detection and Response?

While many security solutions address and repair the damage after it's been done, Endpoint Detection and Response software constantly monitors the activities of the system even before any threat is discovered.

By monitoring various functions present in a system such as registry keys, process calls, drivers loading, and so on, EDR software will proactively detect and notify users about suspicious activities within their system. EDR monitors network traffic, memory access, disk access, and other security related events for unusual behavior.

Suspicious system behavior will trigger an alert, and appropriate actions will be taken to neutralize even advanced threats before they spread. EDR also includes the ability to understand content from emails, documents and databases to identify issues before they cause harm. It then creates an incident report on suspicious activity and sends it to the monitoring server for review, and actions are taken

Does My Business Really Need It?

Not every organization has EDR software, but every organization should.

After all, who wouldn't like to use a technology that makes it possible for security professionals to detect and contain attacks before they cause damage, as well as proactively monitor the entire environment so that cyber threats can be stopped before they impact a company's network? Unfortunately, many organizations find out about EDR software too late.

What about encryption and other security solutions? EDR software can work together with other data protection tools in its ecosystem to provide a complete defense against ransomware. EDR systems are agents that collect files from every endpoint on the network, providing detailed information about what happened during an attack to help bolster your incident response plan.

EDR Software Agents

EDR software requires EDR agents to be installed on the monitored systems. EDR agents perform EDR functions for EDR Software via several EDR communication protocols (for example, using email notifications).

EDR Hardware Appliances

Larger organisations often utilise dedicated hardware that serves a large office or system of offices. Endpoint Detection and Response hardware appliances offer a hardware solution that runs independently of a company's network.

EDR hardware appliances offer enterprises that need strong monitoring capabilities to handle high volume and data-heavy workloads a hardware solution that more effectively addresses their considerable EDR needs.

Cloud-based EDR

Of course, all businesses prefer to save money wherever possible, but some organisations may be better served by cloud-based Endpoint Detection and Response solutions.

Cloud-based EDR software allows clients to scale EDR solutions on demand as opposed to buying an expensive hardware-based EDR appliance that might not itself have all of the capabilities needed by the client.

Cloud EDR is a viable EDR tool for clients who do not have the hardware or capabilities needed for on-premises EDR tools.

What is SIEM?

SIEM, or Security Information and Event Management, is an essential element of Endpoint Detection and Response software. It's the part of EDR software that is able to log, store and monitor security events.

SIEM uses various data analytics techniques to analyse the data reported by the clients to monitor for suspicious behavior, including behavioral analysis.

The Security Operations Center

Ransomware and other types of cyberattack can be enormously complex threats. While automated response is important in order to address an incoming threat quickly, it is important to have human review of issues discovered as well.

A Security Operations Center, or SOC, is an important component of an endpoint security solution. The SOC is a security team available 24/7 to analyse complex issues as quickly as possible. After the system detects suspicious system behavior, a technician can then take the notification and a review process can begin. The response tools can provide remediation suggestions to help mitigate attacks in the future.

Is Endpoint Detection and Response Important?

Yes! Endpoint Detection and Response is an essential tool to stop cyberattacks.

EDR software protects your business in real-time when your system is being attacked and lets your security teams know what the attack vector is. The information provided by EDR enables security professionals to discover the nature of a compromise in order to determine how to respond, if any response should be made at all. EDR also helps with forensics, post-mortem examinations and other important security concerns.

The security capabilities of EDR prevent attacks from succeeding by blocking malware activities and dropping malicious data packets before they impact an organization. EDR software stops suspicious activities in their tracks and prevents breaches by increasing network visibility that enables your security team to analyze what is happening on the endpoint level. It doesn't just respond to threats after they happen, it actively goes threat hunting!

What About Antivirus Software? Isn't That Enough?

Don't forget antivirus software, it's still important!

While EDR does not replace antivirus software, EDR complements multi-layer security solutions. EDR has demonstrated its effectiveness by contributing to the reduction of many malware infections in organizations using EDR software when used in conjunction with other endpoint protection layers.

EDR works alongside antivirus because it detects unknown and known attacks that may "fly under the radar" of antivirus solutions, by monitoring for suspicious behaviors in real-time. In other words,EDR capabilities make it able to detect attacks that even the best antivirus software software solutions may not catch.

What About Network Intrusion Detection Systems?

Endpoint Detection and Response can also be a valuable partner for network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) because EDR provides much of the same functionality as NIDS yet can collect more information, including monitoring behavioral patterns.

That means that just like with antivirus software, EDR can see, and therefore block or alert on, activities that are invisible to NIDS. It also complements other security tools such as SIEMs and EPP solutions because EDR collects alerts faster than ECS software. This speeds up the process of triaging threats by allowing ECS teams to focus first on the most dangerous threats.

Can't I Just Restore From Backup?

Protect your central database! If your system falls victim to ransomware, Endpoint Detection and Response software provides a valuable record of the attack so that you can compare it with network logs to determine what was stolen. It will also restore affected systems and repair damaged files detected by ongoing monitoring.

Find Out What Happened

Endpoint Detection and Recovery data also enables security professionals to analyze security incidents after they happen, which is critical to understanding why attacks succeed and how to better block malicious activity in the future. Lightweight agents collect files from endpoint devices on the network, providing detailed information about what happened during an attack. This information can help bolster your incident response plan.

Endpoint Detection and Recovery - The Solution

EDR combines policy-based controls, file integrity monitoring, network behavior analytics, endpoint detection, malware protection, threat intelligence sharing, deep forensic analysis, incident response and other advanced security measures to protect what's important - your data and your business.

EDR solutions provide security teams the context they need to act quickly and decisively. EDR detects and alerts on suspicious activity no matter where it occurs in the network, while instantly correlating events across your enterprise for fast issue resolution - all without slowing down end-user experience or business productivity.

Your company can't risk an attack. Endpoint Detection and Recovery is the advanced security system that can combat advanced persistent threats, protect your endpoint data, and help your company comply with GDPR regulations.

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