An in-depth look at cyber protection: extended detection and response

The cybersecurity landscape is rapidly evolving as cyber criminals are using more sophisticated methods to exploit networks, and digital assets and business functions are being moved to the cloud. Therefore, the reality is that detection and response are not always straightforward tasks, not only because disastrous breaches can come from anywhere at any time, but also because complex cybersecurity infrastructures create an additional burden on IT security teams that can possibly lead to human mistakes.

According to Enterprise Strategy Group’s XDR and SOC Modernization report, 66% of companies are actively consolidating the number of security operations tools, and 32% are planning to consolidate them. The main reasons for doing so include optimization, complicated security operations technology stacks that create undesirable management overhead, the need to improve data correlations and speed investigations and response.  

The opportunity for consolidation can be provided, for instance, by extended detection and response (XDR) solutions. By proactively detecting complex threats across multiple infrastructure levels, XDR security can automatically respond to and counter advanced threats.

In a high-risk digital environment, it’s essential to have the necessary expertise to manage cyber threats coherently and holistically. Security teams need to rely on deeper integration and more automation to stay ahead of cybercriminals. 

Traditionally, organizations have used endpoint detection and response (EDR) along with additional cybersecurity solutions controlling other assets for continuous threat detection and response. However, it is limited in that it is difficult to manage all these solutions simultaneously and effectively. Whereas EDR has rapid response capability, it can only focus on endpoints, while XDR focuses more broadly on multiple security control points to detect threats more quickly, using deep analytics and automation.

Every second counts when it comes to cyber resilience. By leveraging big data from across IT infrastructure, XDR uses advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning to simplify and facilitate timely analysis potential malicious activity with unparalleled accuracy and speed. By extracting only those elements needing to be analyzed for potential anomalies and threats, security teams can prioritize threat data by severity more quickly. 

The benefit for large companies is that by taking an ecosystem approach, infosec managers can maximize the efficiency of the cybersecurity tools involved, save resources and reduce risks. Considering the human factor, low scores and a reduced number of false positives, investigation and response activities can take place from a single center, comprising relevant data, context and tools.

Cyber breaches have the potential to cause untold damage to any organization from small start-ups to established global corporations. Even if your organization’s info security team or trusted IT security provider is well resourced but task-focused, there’s always a chance your business will face an external attack. 

Only by taking a more comprehensive proactive approach to sophisticated cyber threats with automated solutions such as XDR can internal teams be more aware of vulnerabilities and better secure customer data.