The proliferation of endpoint devices has dramatically expanded the typical organization’s IT footprint — and the network attack surface. Every desktop, laptop and mobile device is a potential vulnerability that could give threat actors a foothold in the IT environment. Protecting these endpoints is now an essential part of any comprehensive security strategy.
That’s why endpoint detection and response (EDR) should be added to every security toolkit. EDR uses software agents to monitor activity and events on endpoints and analyze this data to identify threats. The EDR tool can then contain or remove the threat and send an alert to security personnel.
Managed EDR goes a step further by adding professional expertise. A managed security services provider prioritizes threats and responds to incidents to minimize the risk of a breach and enhance the organization’s overall security posture.
The Endpoint Protection Challenge
Many modern threats target mobile devices, and few organizations have the tools they need to combat these threats. Today’s threats are capable of evading traditional defenses. For example, polymorphic malware constantly changes its signature by altering file names, encryption keys and other characteristics. More than 90 percent of malware is polymorphic, according to Webroot research.
Traditional, signature-based security systems do a great job detecting known threats. These tools check traffic and files against a database of known signatures and issue an alert if a match is found. But today’s hackers are too sophisticated for that. They just change the malware code so it doesn’t produce the same signature. Pattern-matching solutions can’t detect it.
Many organizations are also unaware of all the endpoints in their environments. A recent report by Cybersecurity Insider found that 60 percent of organizations are aware of fewer than 75 percent of the endpoints that attach to their networks. Almost half would be able to find every device compromised in a breach within 24 hours.
A Better Approach
Endpoint protection platforms (EPP) are still valuable, but they have significant limitations in this threat environment. Leading EPP solutions provide some degree of threat detection but rely heavily on signature-based antivirus.
Using machine learning, heuristics and threat intelligence, EDR tools are capable of analyzing endpoint behavior and detecting new and emerging threats in real time. If abnormal activity is detected, the appropriate response is triggered automatically. Threats are isolated to minimize their impact and prevent them from propagating across the environment. The EDR tool also issues alerts and enables IT teams to investigate threats in a safe environment.
EDR tools provide visibility into activity on all endpoints across the environment. They help security teams identify the specific threat, when it occurred, where it originated, who is responsible and what action should be taken. This analysis is performed with the speed of AI, enabling the rapid response that’s critical to mitigating risk.
The Benefits of Managed EDR
There are certain features to look for in an EDR solution. Advanced analytics that can separate legitimate threats and incidents from noise are critical. And because EDR is not a standalone magic bullet that will solve all security problems, organizations should look for an open solution that can be integrated into a broader analytics system with threat intelligence and other tools.
Organizations that lack adequate cybersecurity skills in-house can benefit from a managed EDR service. Managed EDR provides continuous oversight and expert analysis to reduce detection and response times and streamline security management.
Any organization that uses a wide range of mobile devices should be considering EDR to beef up security. Let us show you how managed EDR overcomes the shortcomings of legacy security systems and reduces the risk of mobile-targeted threats.
