Why Network Detection and Response (NDR) is Essential for Cybersecurity ‘Pest Control’
If you’ve encountered a rodent issue before, you’re aware that capturing them can be quite challenging—but determining their entry points can be an even more frustrating task. Cyber intrusions share a similar complexity. While technologies like endpoint detection and response (EDR) can identify attackers when they are already inside, unraveling their methods of access poses a different challenge. This is where network detection and response (NDR) emerges as a critical element of the cybersecurity puzzle. NDR enables a comprehensive approach for rewinding, replaying, retracing, and responding to the paths intruders take, allowing you to seal vulnerabilities and enhance threat prevention.
Cybersecurity is an ongoing endeavor where the pursuit of advancing defensive mechanisms mirrors the effort to anticipate and intercept adversaries, while the adversaries persist in devising new evasion tactics.
This perpetual cycle can be far from amusing; however, observing former NASA engineer Mark Rober’s endeavors to deter squirrels from raiding his birdfeeders with elaborate contraptions offers a comical insight into the extremes one might go to combat such challenges.
Traditional traps, whether for rodents or other critters (all being respectful to animal welfare, of course!), have limitations. Capturing intruders on the spot is effective to an extent, but understanding their means of entry and fortifying such vulnerabilities is crucial.
Comparatively, your property and household act as the enterprise’s attack surface, where traps symbolize EDR capabilities. While these traps can intercept intruders, they often lack insights into the intrusion methods or cover all potential access points.
Thus, what is indispensable is the ability to pinpoint intruders regardless of their location and to expose the breach points. This encapsulates the significance of NDR.
Integrating NDR with EDR provides a more comprehensive view of the environment. Attack surface management (ASM) complements this synergy by outlining potential areas where intruders may lurk or penetrate. In the rodent analogy, these hiding spots could represent the garage, shed, foundation cracks, or other vulnerable areas at risk of breach or infestation.
Minimizing Breaches is Attainable
Proposing tactics to bolster the enterprise’s defense against cyber threats may seem contradictory to the prevalent notion that breaches are inevitable, a message instilled in the collective psyche over the past half-decade.
While network boundaries erode and interdependencies heighten, making breaches more likely, the narrative “be prepared for breaches” intended to alert organizations to the insufficiency of perimeter defenses in isolation. It does not imply that preventive steps are futile. Even during a breach, immediate action can often avert a lockout or extortion scenario.
The key lies in the optimal blend of capabilities: ASM for a comprehensive understanding of safeguarding requirements, EDR (or XDR—extended detection and response) for identifying and containing potential threats, and NDR for tracing threat origins and movements within the network.
Even though ASM and EDR/XDR garner attention, NDR sometimes operates in the shadows, despite being equally vital.
The Operational Mechanism of NDR
Similar to how rodents leave traces within a house, cyber intrusions also leave discernible marks, albeit concealed. (For the sake of cleanliness, let’s shift focus back to cyber instances.)
Those traces within network telemetry data, originating from cyber intrusions, remain immutable. NDR captures this data, facilitating security teams in investigating root causes and taking countermeasures. This empowers them to rewind, replay, retrace, and respond effectively.
NDR uncovers threats hidden in areas inaccessible to other security technologies. Unmanaged assets within the enterprise realm serve as ideal hiding places for intruders, residing out of the reach of EDR protection, as numerous cannot accommodate security agents. These locations are tough to monitor and safeguard.
NDR enables proactive monitoring of covert zones, identifying and addressing network anomalies promptly. Refer to our recent NDR blog for an elaborate breakdown of its functionality.
By amalgamating signals from network and endpoint data, NDR enables security teams to consolidate seemingly inconclusive data points that collectively confirm a potential threat presence.
Valuable Insights from User Identities
Whether in a household or corporate network, oversight extends beyond assets and intruders to include the occupants. Understanding the behaviors and characteristics of individuals within such environments unveils valuable insights for enhancing overall security.
For instance, residing with four other individuals, if knowledge prevails regarding a habit like leaving food uncovered in a bedroom or frequently forgetting to secure the back door, one can anticipate heightened rodent activity in these zones, enabling proactive intervention.
In a corporate setting, this could translate to identifying compromised email accounts or users frequently accessing the network via unsecured public Wi-Fi.
Comprehensive management of identities and monitoring user behaviors aids in linking endpoint activities to breaches and retracing the breach origins, encompassed within identity threat detection and response (ITDR), a facet of XDR.
Efficient identity management streamlines collaboration with users and their privileges to fortify overall attack surface security.
Tracing Routes, Sealing Deficiencies
Pairing EDR/XDR with NDR and adopting a holistic ASM strategy equips enterprises with a robust cybersecurity repertoire. This integration safeguards endpoints, tracks intruders, and furnishes comprehensive insights for fortifying defenses and repelling malevolent entities.
Additional perspectives
For further insights on NDR and related subjects, explore the following resources:
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