How Endpoint Detection and Response Works

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a cybersecurity solution that enables organizations to protect themselves from cyber threats. It involves constant monitoring and data gathering from endpoints to identify and address threats in real time and provides information about actions at the endpoints, including details about attempted cyberattacks.

EDR solutions help security teams better understand the threats targeting their organization. With these insights and visibility, organizations can adequately secure critical assets and maintain business continuity in today’s ever-evolving cyber threat landscape. 

How EDR Works

Modern Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) allow threat actors to slip through defenses undetected. EDR solutions protect against popular attack tactics, techniques, and procedures often leveraged by initial access brokers, such as file-less malware, malicious scripts, poisoned attachments, stolen user credentials, etc. 

An EDR solution monitors all ongoing activities at the endpoints and offers comprehensive real-time threat intelligence and visibility. It enables advanced threat detection, investigation, and response capabilities with incident data search, alert triage, suspicious activity detection and containment, and threat hunting. 

Here are the steps an EDR solution takes to protect endpoints:

1. Endpoint Data Monitoring

Continuous monitoring of egress and ingress traffic at the endpoints enables an EDR solution to learn and decipher safe and unsafe behavior attributes to prevent false positives and limit alert fatigue. 

2. Anomaly Identification

An EDR solution quickly identifies unknown behaviors at the endpoint. As a result, organizations can track an attacker’s path.

3. Automated Remediation

When configured with predefined rules, an EDR solution can automatically deploy rapid incident response operations to block indicators of compromise (IOCs).

4. Isolation of Affected Partitions

A detected cyber incident kicks off a cordoning of impacted compartments, preventing malicious artifacts from spreading across the network. 

5. Investigation and Learning

An EDR solution isolates threats and automatically blocks any IOCs upon detecting any malicious activity. It then investigates the IOCs to prevent similar incidents in the future. 

6. Alerting SOC Teams

After a breach, all impacted data points are categorized and consolidated for further investigation and business continuity planning.

How EDR Works with EPP

The primary purpose of an Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) is to prevent malware from entering an enterprise’s network. EPPs are first-line defense mechanisms that effectively block known threats. 

EDR is next-level security, providing additional tools for threat hunting, forensic analysis of intrusions, and automated response to attacks. When implemented together, EPP and EDR provide enhanced endpoint security measures for an organization. 

CylanceOPTICS for EDR

The global shift to remote work arrangements has increased cybersecurity risks beyond experts’ initial estimates. To address the growing number and severity of cyberthreats, CISOs and security analysts must look beyond traditional antivirus tools.

Cloud-native CylanceOPTICS® provides on-device threat detection and remediation across your organization—in milliseconds.

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Related Resources:

Resource Icon Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Resource Icon Endpoint Security Resource Icon Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) Resource Icon Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Resource Icon Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Resource Icon Identity and Access Management (IAM) Resource Icon Managed Detection and Response Resource Icon Managed XDR Resource Icon MITRE ATT&CK Framework Resource Icon Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) Resource Icon User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) Resource Icon Zero Trust Architecture Resource Icon Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Resource Icon Zero Trust Security Resource Icon Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Resource Icon Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
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