EDR solutions like CrowdStrike provide visibility into advanced cyber threats, speeding up response time by allowing security teams to isolate and remediate the threat before it can do any damage. Essential tools only collect data, aggregate it and show trends. However, advanced EDR systems can use machine learning to automate detection and alerting processes and map observed suspicious behavior to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
Automated Response
The best EDR software can reduce the time attackers remain undetected (known as dwell time) by identifying and quickly responding to security incidents. It reduces the damage and disruption caused by cyberattacks.
EDR tools can also help identify the source of an attack by analyzing how files interact with your network. It is possible through sandboxing, which isolates the file in a simulated environment to determine its nature without risking the rest of your systems.
If a malicious file does make it inside your system, the ability to identify its attributes and behavior can help you stop the infection at its earliest stages. EDR tools with Cisco Secure Malware Analytics integrations can perform this analysis by examining the file in an isolated virtual environment and identifying its characteristics, actions, and potential impact on your business.
EDR tools with a robust threat intelligence engine can detect new and emerging threats that traditional anti-virus solutions may be unable to. It is because threat intelligence can provide context using real-world examples of attacks to compare against your systems and endpoint activity. These tools are also more likely to identify vulnerabilities repackaged as new malware to avoid detection. For example, if the threat uses a known exploit discovered in your environment before, your EDR solution could block access to that particular server or application before it spreads.
Real-Time Analytics
EDR solutions can detect malicious behavior that may have gone unnoticed by other security products. They also record information about the endpoints to help businesses investigate suspicious activity and keep track of a potential attack. Allows a company to roll back an infected device to its pre-infected state, saving valuable data and protecting revenue.
The telemetry collected from an endpoint is sent to a centralized location, usually a cloud-based EDR platform provided by the EDR vendor. Then, algorithms and machine learning technology sift through the data to highlight potential irregularities. Many EDR platforms can “learn” what normal endpoint behavior and operations look like to flag any activities that deviate from this model. They can even use threat intelligence feeds to provide context using real-world examples of ongoing cyberattacks.
It helps to ensure the security team understands the threats they are trying to defend against. In addition, they can see how an attacker evaded existing protection protocols to gain entry into the network. It helps make identifying and responding to a threat easier before it causes a full-blown breach.
Detection of Threats
Detection is a crucial capability for any EDR tool. It must find threats that slip past signature-based antimalware (AV) devices and other detection methods. It includes evasion tactics, file-less attacks, and zero-day exploits. It also needs to detect the attack path and give you visibility of the episode in real time.
To do this, a good EDR solution should perform continuous file analysis and a variety of other detection methods, including heuristics, which looks at how files are created or moved around the network to detect anomalous behavior. It should also include forensics capabilities to help investigators track threats and gain insights into how they infiltrated the web and what they did once inside.
Another essential detection capability is behavioral analysis. It involves looking at thousands to millions of endpoints and user behaviors to spot potential malicious activity. More advanced EDR solutions use machine learning to identify patterns and flag them for further investigation. They also can map observed behavior against the MITRE ATT&CK threat classifications to help detect trends and indicators of compromise.
Lastly, good EDR software will automatically triage alerts to prioritize the ones that require more attention. It helps security teams avoid becoming overwhelmed with false positives and work as efficiently as possible to respond to incidents.
Remediation
Remediation is eliminating threats after they’ve been identified and analyzed. An intense remediation process helps reduce the time attackers can remain undetected in your network (known as dwell time) and minimizes the damage they cause to your business.
EDR tools offer remediation capabilities that make fending off cyberattacks much more efficient. They can automatically quarantine or delete threats and block access to compromised devices and accounts. They also provide forensic analysis of the danger to help security teams determine what impacted and how it entered your network.
To further streamline incident response, EDR software can integrate with SIEM (security information and event management) systems to automatically gather data from many different sources — not just endpoints and firewalls but also databases, web browsers, and even your Internet service provider. This data can enrich EDR analytics and give security teams the context to identify, prioritize, investigate, and remediate threats and incidents.
Because enterprises have employees in multiple locations, EDR solutions often feature remote monitoring and management (RMM) functionality so that security administrators can manage endpoints from anywhere. They can also remotely access an EDR tool to take immediate action against a threat, such as disconnecting or stopping a compromised process or isolating the affected endpoint. It reduces alert fatigue for security teams and frees them up to focus on issues that need their attention.
