The Difference Between NDR and XDR

XDR empowers security teams to take a more proactive approach in detecting and responding to threats across endpoints, networks and cloud workloads.

XDR systems typically utilize logs from email security tools, network analysis and visualization programs, identity and access management platforms, as well as cloud workload protection platforms.

These diverse data sets offer a wealth of contexts that enable analysts to recognize and prioritize threats more rapidly and precisely. This reduces alert overload and false positives, making security operations more productive.

Detection

Detection is the capacity to recognize threats as they emerge. It plays a significant role in security, helping security teams identify attacker behaviors that could result in network breaches or other types of damage. Not only does detection prevent cyberattacks from occurring but it also enables response teams to quickly stop them before any harm can be caused.

XDR and NDR both offer detection capabilities, though their data sources, analytic approaches, and requirements differ. While both provide a holistic view of network activity, NDR provides visibility across networks and devices while XDR offers access to more data sources and analysis tools.

NDR employs both signature- and non-signature-based techniques to detect known and unknown attacks, while XDR utilizes behavioral analytics and AI for zero-day threats. Furthermore, it integrates endpoint, network, and cloud data in order to provide a more complete security picture and boost the likelihood of detecting threats before they launch.

NDR and XDR provide a more complete picture of the threat landscape by integrating data from complementary EDR, SIEM, and SOAR platforms. By combining and contextualizing this data, one gets an in-depth understanding of attacker behavior as well as indicators of compromise (IOCs) and other signs of compromise.

An NDR solution can collect data from dedicated sensors, existing firewalls, IPS/IDS systems, and metadata like NetFlow among other sources. With this knowledge it helps protect against network breaches and other threats by detecting suspicious traffic and activities, raising alerts, and providing reliable forensic capabilities for the long-term storage of evidence.

Additionally, NDR solutions can be employed to detect lateral movement and alert on threats as they emerge, giving security professionals greater insight into what’s occurring across the network. NDR software also has the capacity to detect malware installed on endpoints or servers and alert on its spread across other systems.

NDR and XDR solutions use behavioral data from multiple sources to offer greater network visibility than traditional security technologies. These solutions are capable of spotting more sophisticated fileless malware, providing a more precise threat alert. Furthermore, these solutions focus on network traffic rather than payloads and files which may be harder for other network analytics tools to monitor.

Response

Network Detection and Response (NDR) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) both seek to help organizations detect threats. However, their respective data sources and analytic techniques differ.

NDR tools monitor network traffic to give security teams a glimpse of early attack stages. This is essential, as it allows security professionals to quickly spot attackers before they spread further and cause further harm to their organization.

Many NDR solutions integrate with SIEM and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms, allowing alerts to be sent directly to security analysts for further investigation. Some even provide integration with third-party threat intelligence feeds to enrich alerts and responses by giving security analysts more context.

However, these NDR integrations often necessitate a highly experienced Service Operation Center with ample resources and expertise. This could mean an expensive investment and a lengthy learning curve, so make sure the solution you select meets the needs of your team and its priorities.

XDR provides greater insight into all facets of security by leveraging data from cloud, endpoint, and identity sources. This expanded view improves efficiency by making it faster to detect and address cyberattacks.

NDR is often employed during the initial stages of an attack, while XDR provides more versatility in detecting lateral movement and exfiltration. This is because it can identify threats in later stages that may have been hidden by malware campaigns.

XDR systems utilize data from multiple sources and artificial intelligence to detect undetected threats. Consolidated alerts give a complete picture of the attack, saving time and money in response times.

Some XDR solutions are constrained by vendor lock-in, so your decision on which one to purchase depends on your goals and needs. Many are compatible with multiple products, allowing your security team to select the combination of solutions that best meets their unique requirements.

Are you in search of a more accurate way to detect threats, XDR may be the perfect solution for your business? Not only does it improve detection accuracy, but it also gives you insight into what a network looks like from a security perspective – useful information when planning the next steps.

Prevention

Preventive cybersecurity refers to taking proactive measures that protect your organization from cyber threats. This includes actions that thwart an attack before it starts and those which help your team contain and remove threats once they have been detected.

XDR (Extended Detection and Response) is a security solution that monitors and protects your entire environment using data streams from multiple sources. It utilizes one unified platform to keep an eye on devices and streams, providing a comprehensive view that eliminates visibility gaps.

Additionally, 360-degree visibility provides a full 360-degree overview of your environment so you can identify how an attack began, its blueprint, and its spread. This data is vital for analyzing, responding to, and eliminating threats.

Network Detection and Response, or NDR, technology was first developed in the early 2010s to detect evasive threats that weren’t detectable using known patterns or signatures. It utilizes behavioral analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to monitor network traffic and create a baseline of normal activity. It then detects unusual traffic indicative of command-and-control activities, lateral movement patterns, exfiltration activities, or malware activities.

Data can then be utilized to automatically block and respond to threats, such as malware. It also assists organizations in containing attacks before they’re even noticed, preventing them from spreading laterally throughout your organization.

NDR stands in contrast to EDR security in that it goes beyond endpoints and workloads, detecting threats that have already breached the perimeter or entered other systems like containers. NDR utilizes AI technology to recognize Indicators of Attack (IoAs), Indicators of Compromise (IoCs), Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs), which enable it to identify anomalies as well as malicious behavior.

NDR is an essential element of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, as it’s the only technology capable of accurately detecting evasive attacks that often bypass traditional signature-based detection tools and other security solutions that don’t specialize in encrypted traffic. Furthermore, NDR can detect new behaviors and attack techniques like ransomware, exploits, and malicious scripts.

NDR solutions not only detect and contain threats, but they also offer automated responses to suspicious activities. This saves security analysts and incident responders time by allowing them to focus on more critical tasks.

Make The Correct Choice

XDR and NDR are both options you can take into account when it comes to protecting your business. However, randomly choosing is a very bad idea. You have to make the correct choice for your system. If you do not know what the best option is for your establishment, the best thing you can do is to contact a specialist who could give you a helping hand.