What is XDR vs EDR vs MDR? Breaking down Extended Detection and Response
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into cybersecurity concepts of EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), XDR (Extended Detection and Response), and MDR (Managed Detection and Response). It explains how EDR focuses on post-execution malware detection and mitigation, while XDR integrates multiple security products for a cohesive threat response. The script also highlights the importance of minimizing 'dwell time'—the period an attacker remains undetected in a network—and how MDR services can provide 24/7 threat monitoring and response using these technologies to enhance cybersecurity posture.
Takeaways
- 🔍 Dwell time refers to the duration an attacker can remain undetected within a network, calculated by adding the mean time of detection and mean time of repair.
- 📉 In 2020, the average global dwell time was 56 days, meaning attackers had nearly two months inside a network before being detected.
- 🛡️ EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) tools aim to reduce dwell time by detecting and responding to threats at the endpoint level.
- 🌐 XDR (Extended Detection and Response) expands on EDR by including other critical network areas like firewalls and cloud applications.
- 🔧 EDR focuses on post-infection detection and response, identifying and mitigating threats that antivirus engines may miss.
- 🤖 XDR integrates multiple security products, using AI to analyze and correlate telemetry data to detect and respond to threats automatically or manually.
- ⚙️ The key components of XDR include integration of security products, AI-driven analysis, and automated response based on preconfigured playbooks.
- 🕵️ MDR (Managed Detection and Response) is a 24/7 service provided by third parties, leveraging EDR, XDR, and other technologies to monitor, detect, and respond to threats.
- 📊 MDR providers vary in services offered, from basic threat hunting and response to advanced incident response with on-site personnel.
- 🔗 EDR and XDR are complementary tools, with EDR focusing on endpoints and XDR providing broader network visibility to reduce dwell time and enhance threat response.
Q & A
What is dwell time in cybersecurity?
-Dwell time refers to the length of time an attacker can operate undetected within a network. It is calculated by adding the mean time of detection to the mean time of repair.
What was the average global dwell time in 2020 according to FireEye?
-The average global dwell time in 2020 was 56 days, indicating that attackers had nearly two months on average inside a network before being detected.
What are EDR and XDR, and how do they aim to reduce dwell time?
-EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) and XDR (Extended Detection and Response) are cybersecurity tools designed to detect and respond to threats more quickly, thereby reducing the time an attacker can remain undetected within a network.
What is the primary focus of EDR?
-EDR focuses on detection and response at the endpoint level, specifically targeting threats that have already been executed on a machine, after traditional antivirus solutions have failed.
How does XDR differ from EDR?
-XDR expands on EDR by including other critical areas of the network, such as firewalls and cloud applications, and it integrates multiple security products into a cohesive system for unified threat detection and response.
What is the significance of forensics in the EDR process?
-Forensics in EDR is crucial for facilitating the threat hunting process, allowing security professionals to search for specific indicators of compromise or analyze recorded events on endpoints to identify the impact of breaches.
How does XDR leverage AI in its operation?
-XDR uses AI to analyze and correlate telemetry data from various security products, identifying behavioral patterns that may indicate a security risk, which would be nearly impossible to detect manually.
What is the role of MDR in the context of cybersecurity?
-MDR (Managed Detection and Response) is a service provided by a third party that offers 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and lightweight response, leveraging a combination of technologies and often incorporating XDR capabilities for extended visibility.
What are the key components of an MDR service as defined by Forrester?
-Forrester defines the key components of an MDR service as security analytics, proactive threat hunting, and automated incident response using SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) or manual response using predefined playbooks.
How do EDR and XDR complement each other in a cybersecurity strategy?
-EDR and XDR are not mutually exclusive but complementary. EDR provides detailed insights at the endpoint level, while XDR offers a broader view by integrating data from various network components, enhancing the overall ability to detect and respond to threats.
Why might an organization opt for an MDR service over managing EDR or XDR in-house?
-Organizations might choose an MDR service due to a lack of in-house manpower or expertise to manage EDR or XDR solutions effectively, allowing them to leverage the specialized knowledge and resources of a managed service provider.
Outlines
🕵️♂️ Understanding Dwell Time and EDR/XDR
The first paragraph introduces the concept of 'dwell time,' which is the average period an attacker remains undetected within a network, highlighting the 2020 global average of 56 days. It explains the role of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) technologies in reducing this time by swiftly identifying and addressing threats. EDR focuses on endpoint-level detection and mitigation post-malware execution, while XDR offers a broader network perspective, integrating data from various security products. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of minimizing dwell time and the evolution of security tools to address the complexity of modern networks, including IoT devices and cloud applications.
🤖 The Role of AI in XDR and the MDR Service Model
The second paragraph delves into the specifics of XDR, which leverages AI to analyze telemetry data across the network for anomaly detection, making real-time assessments that would be infeasible manually. It discusses the three main components of XDR: integration, analysis, and response, detailing how XDR can automatically remediate security risks based on AI-driven decisions. The paragraph then transitions to Managed Detection and Response (MDR), a service provided by third parties that offers 24/7 threat monitoring and response, utilizing a combination of technologies and human expertise. MDR services are categorized into basic, managed EDR, and advanced incident response levels, with the quality of service hinging on the effective use of XDR capabilities. The paragraph concludes by stressing the importance of quick threat detection and response in reducing dwell time and the growing role of MDR as a managed service for organizations lacking in-house expertise.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Dwell Time
💡EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response)
💡XDR (Extended Detection and Response)
💡MDR (Managed Detection and Response)
💡Threat Hunting
💡Incident Response
💡Forensics
💡Playbooks
💡Malware
💡AI (Artificial Intelligence)
💡SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response)
Highlights
Dwell time is the average length of time an attacker goes undetected in a network, calculated by adding the mean time of detection and the mean time of repair.
EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) and XDR (Extended Detection and Response) are tools designed to shorten dwell time by quickly detecting and responding to threats.
EDR focuses on post-execution detection and mitigation of malware that antivirus engines may have missed.
XDR integrates multiple security products into a cohesive system for unified threat detection and response.
Traditional antivirus tools are often ineffective, blocking only 50-60% of real-world threats.
Post-infection EDR tools analyze the behavior of malware to detect threats that have already been executed.
EDR uses forensics to aid in threat hunting, searching for suspicious activity or specific processes across endpoints.
XDR's integration capability is critical, allowing it to ingest and work with various products on a network.
XDR analyzes telemetry data from multiple sources to detect outliers and potential threats using AI.
MDR (Managed Detection and Response) is a service provided by a third party for 24/7 threat monitoring and response.
MDR services can vary greatly, with some offering advanced incident response support with boots-on-the-ground personnel.
The quality of MDR services depends on their ability to incorporate XDR visibility from various network tools and data sources.
EDR and XDR are complementary technologies, providing insights into network activity that would be difficult to achieve manually.
Many organizations lack the resources or expertise to manage EDR or XDR, leading to the rise of MDR as a managed service.
The adaptation of EDR has contributed to a reduction in average dwell time, down from 84 days in the previous year to 56 days in 2020.
The video provides an in-depth look at EDR, XDR, and MDR, explaining their roles in improving cybersecurity and reducing threat dwell times.
Transcripts
dwell time refers to the length of time
an attacker is able to roam free on your
network without being detected it's a
number calculated by adding the mean
time of detection with the mean time of
repair according to fireeye the average
global dwell time in 2020 was 56 days
that means that on average an attacker
had nearly two months inside a network
before being cut off
edr and xdr are tools that attempt to
shorten that dwell time by detecting and
responding to threats quicker while edr
focuses on detection and response at the
endpoint level xdr expands on that to
include other critical areas of our
network like our firewall and cloud
applications in this video we'll take a
look at what exactly edr and xcr do and
how mdr uses these technologies to
provide a service
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related videos
to comprehend xdr and mdr we need to
first understand what edr is and the
problem it's trying to solve
edr stands for endpoint detection and
response and it's an endpoint client
that's not just focused on the
prevention of breaches but in detection
and mitigation that happens after the
execution of malware has already
occurred in other words detecting
malware that the antivirus engine didn't
detect and the tools for containment or
mitigation when those are detected let's
start by breaking down an infected
endpoint into two stages pre-infection
and post-infection
pre-infection is where your traditional
anti-virus tools generally live this
might use tools like virus signatures
and machine learning to prevent known
malware from ever executing on the
machine
however we as cyber security
professionals know that this is not very
effective even the best antivirus
engines are only known to block between
50 to 60 of the real world threats that
we see on a daily basis this is where we
move to post-infection or post-execution
tools and in this stage is all about
detecting and responding to threats that
have already been executed on the
machine
for example we know traditional
antivirus is looking at signatures of
known malware those signatures can
easily be modified just enough to sneak
past antibiotic signatures however if we
look at the behavior of the malware
itself it does not change no matter how
much the malware is obfuscated this is
where detection portion of
post-infection comes into play by
looking at the behavior of an unknown
file once it's executed if that behavior
is highly suspicious or known bad then
we want to diffuse or contain it as much
as possible this is where we generally
attack ransomware by trying to stop the
unknown file from ever encrypting files
on the disk
next we move on to the response stage
which is where we automate playbooks and
quarantine users isolate devices or roll
back changes depending on what our
playbooks may dictate a key component of
the edr process is the ability to use
forensics to facilitate the threat
hunting process this could be as simple
as searching your edr clients for a yara
rule or a specific process or combing
through recorded events on the endpoint
itself this can vary from vendor to
vendor but most edr tools record
forensic data when the file passes the
pre-execution phase the forensic data
could include metadata like os processes
that were modified when a file was open
this is fundamentally how many edr
vendors were able to assist in finding
the impact of the solarwinds breach by
looking through common metadata across
the infected endpoints the ultimate goal
of the post-infection phase is to
minimize the dwell time between when an
incident occurred and when that breach
was ultimately contained and remediated
as mentioned previously in 2020 the
average dwell time was 56 days which is
actually down 28
from the previous year in part because
of the adaptation of edr across so many
organizations
while endpoints are a critical component
of the attack surface it's really a
small part of the big picture that makes
up our network modern networks have iot
devices cloud applications firewalls and
many other areas that must be considered
that brings us to xdr or extended
detection and response
gartner defines xdr as a sas based
vendor specific security threat
detection and incident response tool
that natively integrates multiple
security products into a cohesive
security operation system that unifies
all license components put another way
xdr ingests data from multiple security
products in order to correlate telemetry
data that would otherwise be difficult
to find manually by having integration
with these various products xcr gives
you the ability to respond to threats
either automatically or manually
at a high level there's three main
components that make up xdr the
integration the analysis and the
response
the integration piece is a critical
component to any xdr platform and that's
the level to which the xcr solution can
ingest and work with the products on
your network this means not only
monitoring telemetry data like syslog
and snmp but also having deep
integration via api to respond to
threats when incident is detected
with the telemetry data being ingested
by all the relevant sources on your
network xdr then normalizes and
correlates that data between all the
different data types and vendors this
part of the process is the analyze or
detect phase and it's usually powered by
some version of an artificial
intelligence tool to find outliers in
the breadcrumbs of data the ai engine is
trained to look for behaviors from all
the telemetry data ingested throughout
the network and here lies the beauty of
xdr what would be nearly impossible for
a team of sock engineers to do manually
xdr can calculate these breadcrumbs in
real time eventually finding patterns of
behavior that otherwise would have gone
undetected when the ai engine determines
that investigation is deemed to be a
security risk the response phase can
automatically remediate the issue by
responding to the relevant security
devices depending on the playbook that
you have configured for example this
could include blocking an ip at your
firewall quarantining a user at the
switch port or blocking a domain on your
mail server
ultimately xdr is about an ai system
that can take in telemetry data make a
decision based on the supervised
learning it has received and then
respond to the relevant device to
mitigate the risk on your network while
edr and xdr are focused on specific
technologies that detect and respond to
threats on your network mdr is a service
handled by a third party
gardner-defined mdr or managed detection
and response as a 24 7 threat monitoring
detection and lightweight response
service to customers leveraging a
combination of technologies a report
just released by forester in q4 of 2020
goes a bit beyond garter's definition to
define the key components of the mdr
service as security analytics proactive
threat hunting and automated incident
response using soar or manual response
using predefined playbooks the same
report goes on to say this
the quality of the mdr service depends
on its ability to incorporate extended
detection and response visibility from
not just edr software but also network
analysis and visibility tools network
traffic analysis and analysis of
security log data in other words the
ability to use xdr effectively because
the mdr market is still somewhat being
defined providers can vary greatly in
the services they provide
forester groups four segments that
measure the level of capability provided
by mdr providers today
the first level is what i would call the
base level services this will include
gartner's definition of basic mdr
services like proactive threat hunting
investigation and response the next
level would be a managed edr service
where the mdr provider is managing the
edr client and providing the base level
services on top of that so this will
include the threat hunting the
investigation and the response as well
the advanced service will include
incident response as a service which
will also offer traditional boots on the
ground personnel to assist with
incidents
the common theme around all three of
these topics that we discussed in this
video is detecting and responding to
threats quicker edr is usually the
starting point in our journey towards
lowering the dwell time because
endpoints are generally the biggest risk
in our attack surface however good
coordinated attacks usually involve more
than just the endpoints and that's why
xdr is the next evolution edr and xdr
are not mutually exclusive but
complementary both provide insight into
what's happening on your network that
would otherwise be difficult or
impossible to do manually the reality is
that a lot of organizations don't have
the manpower or expertise to take on edr
or xdr themselves and for this more and
more msps are providing mdr as next
level of managed services
well that does it for this video guys
hope you found it informative please
drop a line below and let me know what
you think about edr xdr and mdr let me
know if i missed anything or if you have
any insight into anything that we
discussed here today if you haven't
already please take a moment to
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releases here at the cso perspective
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