Endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools detect threats that manage to bypass your EPP or other security measures. It helps reduce the time and damage of a breach.
Typically, EDR solutions flag suspicious activity and then, either automatically or with the help of security analysts, take action. The three primary functions of EDR are real-time threat detection, automated incident response, and analysis and forensics.
Real-time Threat Detection
As threats become more sophisticated and frequent, CISOS must have ironclad cybersecurity solutions. One of the best ways to fight attacks proactively instead of reactively is with an endpoint threat detection and response solution.
An EDR solution is a platform that monitors endpoints for suspicious activity to detect cyber attacks as they happen and alerts security teams. It enables them to eliminate the threat before it causes significant damage.
The right solution should offer total visibility into all data on an endpoint and prevent adversaries from hiding in the noise by providing accurate detections, not false positives. Choosing a solution that only requires a little computing power is also essential. Those that are resource-hogs will eat up bandwidth and can bog down the performance of the endpoints they’re monitoring.
Look for an EDR tool that offers integration with other security systems to streamline the process of tracking and responding to incidents. It can help reduce workload and improve efficiency for IT/security teams.
With today’s “anytime, anywhere” workplace model, ensuring that all devices that handle company information are secure is essential. It means ensuring that tablets, smartphones, and laptops are protected against potential cyberattacks. An EDR and EPP solution will keep all the devices in your organization safe. The best ones have robust, layered cybersecurity that can block exploits by technique and stop malware files using machine learning to avoid evasion techniques.
Automated Incident Response
A well-functioning digital operations team needs to be able to resolve issues as quickly as possible. However, many groups are overwhelmed with manual alerts, leading to burnout and decreased productivity. Automated incident response can help by using machines to take some of the toils away from teams so they can focus on the most critical tasks at hand.
Choosing the right EDR tool is vital to ensure it can detect and analyze events, prioritize them by severity, and automatically send them to the appropriate people for immediate action. The tool should also be able to integrate with SIEM and other existing security tools to be a central hub for incident management.
With automation, teams can also sift through the noise of alerts and avoid “alert fatigue” — when employees become desensitized to alerts due to their volume. It allows them to stay focused on the most pressing threats and improve their response times by reducing MTTD and MTTR.
The best EDR tools provide robust live response capabilities, which allow them to remotely drop into a compromised machine and run scripts or commands on the device to identify and remediate issues. This functionality isn’t available in every tool, but it’s an essential feature to look for. The most effective tools will also let you monitor the performance of your system to determine if it’s running efficiently and at a good CPU or memory usage level.
Convenience
A good EDR tool needs to be easy to use and manage. Otherwise, IT and security teams may use it sparingly. Look for agencies with a user-friendly interface and automation capabilities to simplify the work involved.
The ability to weed out false positives is essential as well. For example, if your tool finds malware that isn’t malicious, you need to be able to identify and remove it quickly. Additionally, look for a solution that provides alerts to help your security team investigate suspicious activity.
Finally, an effective EDR solution should offer robust live response capabilities. These allow you to remotely drop into a compromised endpoint and run scripts or commands to fix problems or triage the situation. It reduces the number of breaches you need to handle manually.
One final thing to consider is whether or not your EDR solution supports all of your operating systems. Agentless solutions can be helpful in this case, as they are quick to deploy and can be used on devices you would generally be unable to install an agent on. It combines multiple IT and security management tools in one unified view without cutting corners on end-user productivity or enterprise security.
Capabilities
When selecting an EDR solution, focusing on the capabilities and features is crucial. EDR solutions can provide many benefits, including faster detection and response to threats. EDR tools can also help reduce damage from attacks, making it easier to meet compliance requirements.
The workhorse of an EDR solution is the sensor, which provides on-device visibility and response actions. Look for a sensor that can perform a broad spectrum of functions, such as killing processes, removing registries, restoring encrypted files, and more. The best EDR sensors will also be minimally invasive, meaning they won’t interfere with endpoint performance or cause significant network load when transmitting data up the chain to detection servers.
Another essential capability to consider is how flexible the sensor is in terms of the operating systems it supports. The best EDR tools will help the full spectrum of operating systems in your organization, from standard Windows environments to legacy Mac and Linux OS versions, as well as air-gapped configurations.
Finally, looking for an EDR tool compatible with other security technologies would be best. It includes EPPs, firewalls, security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) tools. It ensures you can get the most out of your security stack by combining the best of each.
