Pick your Security Layer!

Cyber Security is an ever-evolving world. Cybercriminals are continuously building new sophisticated ways to use digital tactics to intrude into people’s accounts and business networks. This, in turn, has a knock-on effect, and the security vendors also must evolve. Security products must move forward to help; we discuss security advances in “layers” to help businesses understand how they work and what requirements they may require.

You may have already heard of some new terms being mentioned, like EDR, XDR and MDR, but not sure what they mean. It is far too easy in the tech world to talk with jargon or abbreviations that we understand, but to others, it may not be so easy.

Understanding the layers can help those businesses that are regulated by an authoritative body to pick the right layers required.

Below I have picked the three most common ones that you are likely to have already heard of, or will do in the near future.

Endpoint Detection and Response:

EDR is a cybersecurity solution that continuously monitors end-user devices to detect and respond to cyber threats like ransomware and malware. EDR is also called endpoint detection and threat response (EDTR). It records and stores endpoint-system-level behaviours, uses various data analytics techniques to detect suspicious system behaviour, provides contextual information, blocks malicious activity, and provides remediation suggestions to restore affected systems. EDR security solutions record the activities and events taking place on endpoints and all workloads, providing security teams with the visibility they need to uncover incidents that would otherwise remain invisible. An EDR solution must provide continuous and comprehensive real-time visibility into what is happening on endpoints. EDR tools should offer advanced threat detection, investigation and response capabilities — including incident data search and investigation alert triage, suspicious activity validation, threat hunting, and malicious activity detection and containment.

Extended Detection and Response:

XDR is a cybersecurity solution that integrates security products and data across multiple domains and provides threat prevention and response. XDR is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool that offers holistic, optimised security by integrating security products and data into simplified solutions. XDR security solutions provide continuous and comprehensive visibility into what happens on endpoints in real-time, which is essential for regulated businesses to maintain ethical and security standards. XDR broadens the scope of security beyond endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems by integrating protection across a wider range of products, including an organisation’s endpoints, servers, cloud applications, emails, and more. From there, XDR combines prevention, detection, investigation, and response, providing visibility, analytics, correlated incident alerts, and automated responses to improve data security and combat threats.

XDR systems offer numerous capabilities that broaden an enterprise’s security, threat protection, and remediation capabilities. XDR collects and correlates alerts, creating a more complete picture of a security incident or attack and allowing analysts to invest time in more focused research. XDR systems examine large swathes of data from multiple sources—identities, endpoints, email, data, networks, storage, Internet of Things, and applications—robust analytics are essential to understanding threat activity. XDR’s robust analytics allow for threat timeline visibility and help analysts more easily find threats that might otherwise go undetected. XDR automatically identifies, assesses, and remediates known threats in real-time and can reduce and simplify an organisation’s workload and catch hard-to-detect threats. XDR’s application of AI and machine learning makes it scalable and efficient. From behaviour detection and alerts to investigation and remediation, XDR uses AI to monitor threatening behaviour and automatically respond to and mitigate possible attacks. XDR returns affected assets to a safe state by enacting healing actions like terminating malicious processes, removing malicious forwarding rules, and identifying compromised users in an organisation’s directory.

XDR is an open cybersecurity architecture that integrates security tools and unifies security operations across all security layers—users, endpoints, email, applications, networks, cloud workloads and data. XDR is a proactive and comprehensive approach to cybersecurity that encompasses real-time threat monitoring, incident detection, and swift response. By integrating advanced EDR technology with the knowledge and experience of a dedicated SOC team, XDR provides organisations with a robust defence against cyber threats. XDR is a suite of outsourced services allowing organisations to identify, monitor, respond to, and limit the impact of cybersecurity threats. Organisations can deploy these services without building or significantly expanding internal security operations centres and staff to meet the volume and sophistication of these threats.

Managed Detection and Response:

MDR is a cybersecurity service that combines technology and human expertise to perform threat hunting, monitoring, and response. MDR is a fully managed, 24/7 service delivered by experts specialising in detecting and responding to cyberattacks that technology solutions alone cannot prevent. MDR is a proactive and comprehensive approach to cybersecurity that encompasses real-time threat monitoring, incident detection, and swift response. By integrating advanced EDR technology with the knowledge and experience of a dedicated SOC team, MDR provides organisations with a robust defence against cyber threats. The main benefit of MDR is that it helps rapidly identify and limit the impact of threats without the need for additional staffing. MDR security solutions provide continuous and comprehensive visibility into what happens on endpoints in real-time, which is essential for regulated businesses to maintain ethical and security standards. MDR tools should offer advanced threat detection, investigation and response capabilities — including incident data search and investigation alert triage, suspicious activity validation, threat hunting, and malicious activity detection and containment. MDR is a suite of outsourced services allowing organisations to identify, monitor, respond to, and limit the impact of cybersecurity threats. Organisations can deploy these services without building or significantly expanding internal security operations centres and staff to meet the volume and sophistication of these threats.

Regulated Businesses:

Regulated businesses should look closely at security layers because regulatory compliance is crucial for the security and success of businesses. Regulatory compliance refers to following the set of governmental laws, regulations, and standards related to a business’s operations. These rules protect sensitive information and establish safety protocols, making them essential. Specific regulations depend on your industry type, but regulatory compliance violations can lead to legal consequences and fines. Cybersecurity and IT organisations must follow laws protecting data and sensitive information. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is one of the security layers that can help regulated businesses comply with the rules. EDR technology continually monitors an “endpoint” (e.g. mobile phone, laptop, Internet-of-Things device) to mitigate malicious cyber threats. EDR solutions provide continuous and comprehensive visibility into what happens on endpoints in real-time, which is essential for regulated businesses to maintain ethical and security standards. EDR tools should offer advanced threat detection, investigation and response capabilities — including incident data search and investigation alert triage, suspicious activity validation, threat hunting, and malicious activity detection and containment. By using EDR, regulated businesses can detect and respond to cyber threats like ransomware and malware, which can help them avoid legal consequences and fines.

If you’d like to learn more on a deeper level on these topics, here are links to Wikipedia pages for you:

Wiki - Endpoint Detection and Response

Wiki - Extended Detection and Response

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