In 2024, the lines between EDR and XDR are becoming blurred. More and more vendors offer platforms that combine endpoint, network, cloud, and email security. All these tools are designed to block threats, though they differ in terms of scope and capabilities. 

To bring more clarity, we want to guide you through the cybersecurity arsenal applied by organizations and explain what stands behind popular abbreviations. In this article, we’ll discuss differences and similarities of EDR and XDR, dive into rising trends, and briefly overview managed security services.            

Understanding EDR and XDR

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is used to monitor and respond to threats at the endpoint level, such as desktops, laptops, servers, and mobile devices. An EDR collects data from the endpoints and analyzes it in real-time to respond to suspicious activities or security incidents.   

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) expands the scope beyond endpoints to protect multiple layers, including networks, cloud environments, email, etc. An XDR correlates data from different sources to provide a unified view of security incidents across the entire IT infrastructure. In this way, it detects threats at different levels of the attack chain and can block them.  

EDR and XDR are far from being competing technologies—they are, in fact, complementary. Moreover, EDR solutions have already become a part of the XDR market.

Complementary Capabilities

Coverage and Visibility

EDR solutions provide granular visibility into endpoint activities, allowing security teams to detect and respond to threats at the source. On the other hand, XDR extends this visibility across multiple vectors. By integrating EDR and XDR, organizations gain comprehensive coverage and visibility across their entire digital environment, leaving no blind spots for attackers to exploit.

Data Correlation and Analysis

While EDR platforms focus on endpoint data, XDR takes a broader approach by correlating data from endpoints, networks, and other sources. This correlation enables XDR to identify complex attack patterns and uncover threats that may go undetected by standalone EDR solutions. By integrating EDR data into the XDR platform, organizations can enhance their threat detection capabilities and gain deeper insights into security incidents.

Automated Response and Orchestration

Both EDR and XDR support automated response and orchestration capabilities, allowing organizations to respond to security incidents in real-time. EDR solutions can isolate compromised endpoints, terminate malicious processes, and restore devices. XDR platforms, in turn, extend these capabilities with automated responses across multiple security layers, including EDR ones.

Threat Intelligence Integration

EDR and XDR leverage threat intelligence data to enrich their detection capabilities and stay updated on emerging and widespread threats. By integrating threat intelligence into such platforms, organizations can enhance their ability to detect and respond to threats, benefiting from global threat intelligence sources that bolster their security posture.

Threat intelligence goes far beyond the realm of indicators. For example, we implement and maintain a large ruleset within our product to detect specific threats and their modus operandi across different sources. Additionally, we collect matching telemetry data agnostically, regardless of the product from which it originates. This is what really sets XDR apart from SIEM: XDR offers quick value because the solution provider is responsible for establishing the detection baseline, not the user.

Emerging trends in the area of EDR and XDR

One of the key trends is the convergence of EDR and XDR. As the need for a holistic security approach grows, the lines between EDR and XDR are blurring. Some XDR platforms already incorporate strong endpoint protection capabilities, offering an all-in-one package. For instance, the Sekoia SOC platform integrates with all the major players of the EDR market to analyze endpoint data and detect threats.     

The second trend is a strong focus on cloud security. As enterprises intensify cloud adoption, EDR and XDR providers expand their capabilities to secure cloud workloads. This includes collecting Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and other logs to detect unauthorized access, data breaches, and any cloud-specific threats.  

The third prominent trend on the list is the growing popularity of threat intelligence feeds, with which EDR and XDR integrate to leverage real-time threat data. This integration helps identify and block the latest attack vectors and malware strains even more effectively.

Security teams are overloaded with alerts, so there’s a growing emphasis on automation and orchestration. This trend urges EDR and XDR providers to address the need and automate routine tasks and orchestrating responses across different security tools. In addition, some vendors offer managed security services. 

Beyond EDR and XDR: MDR & NDR

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is a service that helps organizations outsource the monitoring, detection, investigation, and response to cyber threats. Security experts working for the MDR provider analyze data from the client’s IT infrastructure to identify and respond to potential security incidents. As usual, MDR providers use advanced technologies, threat intelligence, and skilled security analysts to monitor and respond to security incidents on behalf of organizations that want to augment their internal security teams and enhance the overall cybersecurity posture.

Managed Extended Detection & Response (MXDR) takes MDR to the next level.  Traditional MDR relies on Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) technology, providing a reliable shield for individual devices. However, MXDR leverages the power of Extended Detection and Response (XDR). This broader view allows security providers to analyze data across the entire IT infrastructure, not just endpoints. Think of it as going from a security guard at each door to a central command center monitoring the entire network for threats.   A wider scope enables MXDR to detect and respond to sophisticated cyberattacks that might evade traditional MDR solutions.

Network Detection and Response (NDR) focuses on monitoring and analyzing network traffic to detect and respond to cyber threats. NDR tools leverage analytics and machine learning algorithms to identify anomalous network behavior indicative of security incidents such as unauthorized access attempts, lateral movement by attackers, and data exfiltration. 

For XDR, NDR plays the same role as EDR, serving as a component or source of data.

	EDR	NDR	XDR	MXDR
Full Name	Endpoint Detection and Response	Network Detection and Response	Extended Detection and Response	Managed Extended Detection and Response
Used for	– Securing endpoints – Incident response – Remote remediation	Monitoring and analyzing network traffic	– Protecting the whole perimeter of IT infrastructure – Automated incident response	Outsourcing threats monitoring and remediation service to external providers
Capabilities	– Monitoring device activity – Detecting and preventing attacks – Investigating security incidents – Facilitating incident response – Recovering compromised devices	– Collecting and analyzing network traffic – Identyfying anomalous activity – Investigating and isolating incidents – Automating responses to network threats	– Collecting, ingesting, and correlating logs – Contextualizing and correlating logs – Automating responses with playbooks and orchestrating security tools – Searching for compromised systems	Delivering XDR capabilities with managed expertise
Used by	Companies of all sizes, especially those with sensitive data, remote workers, or compliance needs	Organizations aiming to continuously monitor and actively respond to network security threats	Organizations seeking holistic threat detection and response across different detection surfaces such as email, identity, endpoint, and cloud	Organizations seeking extensive threat detection and response with expert guidance; often in collaboration with their internal security team

The integration of security tools is instrumental in establishing a comprehensive cybersecurity defense strategy. By combining the strengths of different technologies, organizations can achieve enhanced threat detection and response capabilities across the entire IT environment. 

Looking ahead, cybersecurity will increasingly rely on advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning to predict and neutralize threats. Therefore, organizations will be able to enhance their security postures by detecting sophisticated cyber threats. However, the main goal for companies selecting such cybersecurity solutions will still be getting the most of their investment. Consequently, it’s crucial to opt for a scalable tool with a needed feature set, integration capabilities, and reliable customer support.  

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