Detection and response services: comparison of EDR, MDR, and XDR

The reality is distressing: the number and peril of cyber attacks are getting traction, thereby putting organizations at risk. Traditional security measures no longer have proper efficiency and cannot guarantee the full security of your information system. This, in turn, has led to the actualization of the issue of awareness of people from all over the world about the danger of hacking and theft of confidential information. The virtual consequences of global and local cyberattacks are a thing of the past, modernity dictates its own rules, and all online actions are closely related to real effects and events. In this article, we are going to tackle the most productive tools: endpoint, extended and managed detection response services, and their differences. 

Which one to choose for your business?

Information security should be seen as adding value to strategic planning processes, focusing on how strategy can help the business succeed. Your business cyber security is a must. However, the choice of the right tool depends on how prone to risk your company is and what would cover it entirely. 

The most reasonable cases to opt for EDR (endpoint detection and response) services are:

• Your company is just at the beginning of the path, it is an early stage of your cybersecurity planning, and you want to establish a solid foundation for a strategy and want to be able to scale up in the future.
• Apart from NGAV, you want to enhance your endpoint security measures.
• You have got an in-house team that is skilled and able to perform all the needed actions recommended by EDR reports and solutions.

The choice of XDR (extended detection and response) services is the best for you if:

• Your company is looking for some ways to advance all possible threats detection.
• You are not happy about your security response time and are in search of its improvements.
• Using a single console, you want to conduct and enhance multi-domain hazard analysis with a further investigation and chase.
• Your siloed architecture of the security system causes alert weariness.
• You are not quite satisfied with ROI and seeking options on how to boost it all over the security system and all its tools.

Finally, organizations should opt for MDR (managed detection and response) services as the perfect match when:

• Your expectations of the security strategy anticipate having the protection using the latest technology and being well-prepared for all new and evolving types of threats.
• Your detection tools are outdated and immature, and you want to implement some quick-reacting and rapid tools.
• Your aim is not only to advance security but also cut down on staff costs, meaning you do not want to hire more in-house specialists.
• Your IT team does not have enough skills or expertise to tackle modern hazards, and you want to fill in those gaps.

The main decision is up to you. Nevertheless, keep in mind that such a choice is better made when professionals carry out a comprehensive analysis of your current security measures and deliver you some recommendations on how to improve that, aligning them with your business goals and expectations. 

Endpoint detection and response solutions

EDR tools are about catching all suspicious endpoint activities, doing analysis, and delivering real-time reports on what measures should be taken. This tool is also capable of detecting any deviant activity. It warns the information security team if anything goes wrong and prepares the full report with tips on how to react. EDR is capable of stopping the attack in the process or restricting its spread. 

Extended detection and response solutions

Meanwhile, the XDR services provide continuous security telemetry. Thus, it implies data ingestion, workflow, and analysis throughout the entire system. This way, it enables the detection of the threat on time and determines the type of response. Being kind of penetrated across the system, XDR tools collect and compare the data from the whole system infrastructure, which significantly decreases risks. Using a single console, the information security team receives all the results in an assimilated format. 

Managed detection and response solutions

This approach is often mistaken for EDR. In simple words, it is an endpoint security tool as a service. It is some kind of outsourced EDR. The most important feature of it is ongoing 24/7/365 monitoring. Moreover, MDR providers use only the latest and most efficient technologies. This solution conducts prioritization of all alerts and threats and hunts for them. It provides guided response activities, so you do not need to think about what measure to take in case of an emergency. They react immediately. Basically, it means that MDR guarantees managed remediation services.

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Conclusion

Summing up, EDR is like a foundation of all cyber security strategies. The next level is MDR, as it is backed up by a professional team of narrow-specialized experts. In comparison, XDR is the next level of security integrated across the whole system and network, not leaving any gaps. 

The essential statistics to remember is that all breaches start with endpoints in 70% of cases. However, 80% of them can be successful if they are not handled by professional cyber security specialists. Moreover, 60% of those breaches would not even be possible if the system did not have any gaps in its security system. 

Sometimes companies loosen up, forgetting who those hackers are. For example, a famous Anonymous that is a group of professional hackers who manage to surprise the world with high-profile and virtuosic cyberattacks. A few hours after the beginning of Russia’s invasion of the territory of Ukraine, a message appeared on the page of the Anonymous Twitter account that the Anonymous collective was officially waging a cyber war against the Russian government. Nevertheless, let’s not forget all the crimes they committed prior to this. And if for some Anonymous is a modern version of noble chivalry, for others, it is cyberterrorists who cause damage worth millions of dollars. Let’s call it a lesson for the modern world.

When your company has undergone a proper analysis and formed a reasonable cyber security strategy, you can peacefully go to bed at night and be sure that your and your customer’s data is protected and all the measures are taken.