What is Extended Detection and Response(XDR)? Benefits, Components, and Best Practices

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) is a SaaS-based security technology that protects IT infrastructure by providing increased visibility, rapid threat analysis, and rapid response. XDR is an advanced kind of endpoint detection and response (EDR) that uses sophisticated analytics and automation to identify, evaluate, and eliminate possible security risks.

In a threat environment that is becoming more sophisticated, XDR systems are adaptable and effective security enforcement and response solutions. XDR security offers a more efficient and proactive solution for companies confronted with a dynamic threat landscape and complicated security problems posed by multi-cloud, hybrid environments, and distributed workforces. Unlike endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, XDR expands the breadth of security by integrating protection across a broader variety of products, such as an organization's servers, endpoints, emails, cloud apps, and more. XDR thus integrates detection, prevention, investigation, and response, offering analytics, visibility, linked incident alerts, and automated responses to enhance data security and battle threats. XDR fits seamlessly with a business's current environment, decreasing onboarding time and improving productivity.

Gartner highlighted XDR as the leading security and risk trend for the end of 2020, indicating that all security operation complexities like too many tools, too many warnings, and too little time, are reaching a tipping point, with XDR serving as a remedy.

In this article, we will describe the fundamentals of XDR, its principal components, and best practices for deploying and managing an XDR system. You will also find the list of the best XDR solutions available in the market and key points to consider when selecting an XDR tool for your organization.

What Does XDR Mean?

According to Gartner:

"XDR is a SaaS-based, vendor-specific security threat detection and incident response technology that natively combines numerous security products into a unified security operations system."

The more detailed definition of XDR from Forrester Research is given below:

"XDR is the advancement of EDR, which enhances real-time threat detection, investigation, reaction, and hunting. XDR unites security-relevant endpoint detections with telemetry from security and business solutions like network analysis and visibility (NAV), email security, identity and access management, and cloud security, among others. It is a cloud-native platform based on architecture for big data that provides security teams with flexibility, scalability, and automation capabilities".

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) combines many security products into a single security platform and enhances the capacity to identify and handle security problems. It delivers unified insight into numerous attack vectors and a complete picture of the threat environment across the whole technological realm to enterprises.

XDR generates a unique assault narrative by combining data from endpoints, networks, cloud resources, email systems, and other relevant sources using powerful analytics and machine learning algorithms. It streamlines the job of security analysts and increases the productivity of security teams as a whole. It offers a single interface via which all data relevant to an attack may be seen and effectively reacted to.

Consequently, XDR decreases the number of duplicate processes necessary to analyze and react to security issues, regardless of the targeted IT system. It aids in the detection of threats that are difficult to detect with conventional security methods and products.

The most common XDR use cases are as follows:

• Investigating security events: With XDR's massive data gathering, greater visibility, and automated analysis, security teams quickly and easily determine where a threat began, how it propagated, and which individuals or devices may be impacted. This is essential for both eliminating the threat and fortifying the network against future cyber attacks.

• Prioritizing and correlating notifications: One of the most critical duties of a security team is to prioritize or triage alarms and react rapidly to the most urgent ones. XDR helps cut through the noise by correlating hundreds of signals into a small number of high-priority alerts using advanced analytics.

• Threat hunting across domains: Even while threats are already present in any given network, many security teams struggle to find the time to do proactive threat hunting. The telemetry and automation features of XDR enable a large portion of this work to be performed automatically, considerably reducing the workload of security teams and enabling them to do cyber threat hunting alongside their other responsibilities with little intervention.

• Detecting endpoint device vulnerabilities

• Anticipating future assaults

• Performing endpoint health checks

Why Do You Need an XDR Solution?

As attackers use more complex tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to exploit vulnerabilities and bypass conventional security measures, businesses must safeguard assets both within and beyond the network perimeter. Analysts at a security operations center (SOC) are confronted with a formidable detection and response obligation. They must promptly detect key dangers in order to reduce risk and organization harm. To identify sophisticated attackers, security operation centers (SOCs) need a platform that intelligently unifies all relevant security data. The most important SOC challenges that are solved by XDR technology are explained below:

• Visibility Gaps: A large number of security devices provide insight into activities. Each solution gives a unique vantage point and gathers and transmits data that is relevant and beneficial to the purpose. Integration between security systems facilitates data consolidation and sharing. Value is often constrained by the kind and extent of the data gathered and the amount of correlation that is performed. This indicates that there are limitations to what an analyst can observe and accomplish. XDR, on the other hand, gathers and offers access to a comprehensive data lake of activity across all security tools, including detections, telemetry, metadata, and NetFlow. Using advanced analytics and cyber threat intelligence, XDR offers the necessary context for an attack-centric view of the whole event chain across all security levels.

• Slow detection and reaction times: Threats linger undiscovered for too long, lengthening reaction times and increasing assault risk and repercussions. Ultimately, XDR results in much-needed enhancements to threat detection rates and response times. As essential performance measures, security firms are increasingly tracking and monitoring mean-time-to-detect (MTTD) and mean-time-to-respond (MTTR). Similarly, they assess solution value and investments based on how they influence these indicators and thus mitigate the enterprise's business risks.

• Alert overload: It is not surprising that IT and security personnel are often inundated with notifications from various solutions. The security information and event management (SIEM) system of a firm with an average of 1,000 workers may receive a peak of up to 22,000 events per second. That is about two million occurrences every day. They have limited mechanisms for correlating and prioritizing these warnings, and they struggle to rapidly and efficiently sift through the noise to identify key occurrences. XDR automatically combines a succession of lower-confidence actions into a higher-confidence event, hence presenting fewer and more prioritized actionable warnings.

• Challenges in conducting investigations: When there are several logs and warnings but no clear signs, it is challenging to know what to look for. If you discover a problem or danger, it is difficult to determine its course and effect throughout the firm. Performing an inquiry manually might be time-consuming and labor-intensive if the necessary resources are not available. XDR automates threat investigations by reducing human stages and providing otherwise unattainable data and tools for analysis. Consider automated root cause analysis as an example. An analyst can observe the timing and attack route that may traverse email, endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and networks with absolute clarity. The analyst may now evaluate each phase of the assault to formulate the appropriate reaction.

What are the Benefits of XDR?

XDR is a potential alternative to endpoint security since it gives security personnel streamlined tools that enable them to more effectively monitor the organization's cybersecurity architecture. Its extra features surpass those of conventional EDRs, giving it an edge in providing a comprehensive security solution for an organization's IT infrastructure. The following are the numerous advantages of an XDR system:

• Operational Productivity: A fragmented collection of security measures is used to protect infrastructure against threats. XDR, on the other hand, combines all of these technologies to provide a comprehensive perspective of environmental hazards. In addition, it offers centralized data gathering and threat response capabilities in conjunction with the XDR environment, hence extending the security coverage to the whole IT ecosystem.

• Automation: XDR automation support feature accelerates overall threat detection and response operations. It reduces manual duties associated with security procedures. Thus, an XDR system enables IT teams to manage massive amounts of security data at a given moment with sufficient space to execute duplicate sophisticated tasks.

• Enhanced Visibility: Unlike EDR and third-party security services that are confined to endpoints or workloads, an XDR system delivers a comprehensive picture of the security environment of the company. It enables security analysts to see threats that leverage legitimate software to breach an organization's perimeter. Security teams may utilize XDR to monitor threats at each security layer and record numerous characteristics about how a specific attack occurred, what its entry point was, who was impacted, where the threat originated, and how it propagated. This contextual information on assaults and analytics is essential for generating a prompt response to recognized risks.

• Simple Alert Management: IT and security teams are continuously inundated with tens of thousands of warnings issued by the organization's various security services. As a result, it is challenging to manage and optimize threat resolution. However, the data analysis and correlation capabilities of XDR enable security analysts to aggregate and prioritize warnings that are related. By postponing the resolution of less severe concerns, security teams may concentrate on resolving the most significant dangers.

• Sophisticated Replies: EDR systems have historically reacted to attacks by isolating the target endpoint. The technique works well when the endpoint is an independent user device. If the endpoint is a server, this might be a significant issue. XDR tailors complex solutions to particular systems by enhancing visibility and introducing new capabilities. This increases the number of control points in an IT system and reduces the total effect of attacks on that environment.

• Quicker Detection and Reaction: With these benefits and the enhanced operational efficiency of XDR, a company's security posture is effective. The deep contextual analysis enables the XDR system to pinpoint the core cause of problems and address them more quickly and correctly.

• Entire IT Ecosystem Protection: XDR safeguards distinct tiers of the IT ecosystem, such as cloud, network, and email:

• Cloud Workloads Protection: XDR detects attacks aimed at cloud servers, containers, or other workloads, finds threat access points, studies the effect of threats on workloads, and comprehends their network propagation. XDR takes automatic action to stop attacks, such as isolating affected assets through micro-segmentation. In complicated hybrid or public cloud setups with several resource connection points, this helps detect and prevent catastrophic data breaches.

• Network Security: XDR identifies aberrant network activity everywhere on the network and discloses specifics about how attackers communicate. It filters instances automatically to assist identify actual assaults. Security teams obtain information about the origin and extent of attacks, allowing for a quicker response.

• Email Infrastructure Protection: XDR finds compromised accounts and identifies email risks. In addition, it identifies attack trends, such as users who are regularly attacked, users who inadvertently provide access to attackers and users who receive phishing emails. XDR is capable of automatically quarantining emails, resetting accounts, and blocking senders. It links harmful email behavior to security events noticed by other systems.

How Does XDR Work?

Three phases comprise the functioning of XDR: data analysis, threat detection, and attack response.

1. Data Analysis: XDR gathers data from endpoints, servers, networks, and the cloud, among other security points. After data collection, it does data analysis to correlate the context of multiple produced alerts. This allows security professionals to focus on high-priority signals or alerts rather than a massive amount of security notifications.

2. Threat Detection: XDR provides exceptional insight into the IT infrastructure of a company. This enables the system to analyze any identified threat's indicators and report the most significant ones demanding a reaction. The visibility element helps businesses to analyze the sources of threats and their anomalous behavior before they harm the system.

3. Attack Response: In the last phase, XDR encapsulates and eliminates any discovered risks. It then modifies its security measures to prevent a similar issue from occurring in the future.

Figure 1. How XDR Works

What are the Elements of XDR?

XDR is an improved security system that expands the functions of classic security tools such as EDR or NTA. These technologies prioritize the correlation of security events above event response. However, XDR is optimized for incident response in real-time. The essential components of an efficient XDR system, which are regarded essential by the vast majority of enterprises, are given below:

• Flexible Deployment: Each company has its own needs and preferences for XDR adoption. Consequently, an XDR system offers flexible deployments. It includes on-premise and cloud-based implementations, as well as managed installations, for enterprises that lack the capacity to operate them independently. Typically, cloud-based and managed deployments enable multi-tenancy features and maintain certifications like Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) to guarantee that the platform works in a safe environment. Nevertheless, needs and preferences are susceptible to change throughout time. Consequently, XDR must adapt and rapidly move between two distinct deployment choices.

• Simplified Response Automation: Automation inside XDR improves threat detection and accelerates response results. Repeated security issues, such as malware or phishing assaults, are common. Response automation standardizes issue response based on specified playbook logic and provides effective remedies for recognized infractions. Thus, the automated intelligence of XDR adapts to the unique factors of particular danger and reacts automatically depending on the related risks.

• Compatibility: The fundamental purpose of XDR is to unify a company's security arsenal into a single, unified solution. This suggests that XDR systems exhibit strong API-centric integration capabilities. XDR needs to query any tool in the security stack for extra data and context and then get the data stream. In addition, XDR begins quick actions upon threat identification without needing analysts to enter into a separate application. Integration is therefore vital for any XDR solution since it tends to adapt to the organization's needs rather than being specialized to a vendor's portfolio. Consequently, it is necessary to guarantee that new integrations are added to the XDR as they are implemented. Rapid innovations may be incorporated by enterprises themselves or by suppliers.

• In-depth Analysis: A good XDR deployment may differentiate between genuine threats and false positives without allowing actual assaults to evade detection. Before beginning a reaction, a potentially effective XDR combines threat data and dynamically uses numerous analytical approaches to identify, assess, and validate the threat's legitimacy. Good XDR systems are thus able to evaluate the many techniques an attacker may employ to enter an organization by examining the pattern of every possible threat vector at a single location or edge. This enables the XDR to provide comprehensive threat detection and produce an appropriate threat response.

• Inexpensive & Extendable Data Layer: Traditional SIEM storages are costly due to their reliance on obsolete architectures. This is due to the system's inability to distinguish between short-term data required for threat detection and older historical data that helps standardize prior threat tendencies. This indicates that data that does not need quick analysis is nonetheless retained, increasing the cost of the storage system as the amount of data rises. In contrast, an efficient XDR is capable of differentiating between the two data sources and using low-cost technologies to store past data records. Such XDR approaches provide access to older data without incurring a monetary cost.

• AI/ML Modules: AI in an IT setting promotes the acceptance and usefulness of XDR. Using AI approaches, on-the-fly mathematical computations are performed to evaluate the danger and risk likelihood. In addition, the XDR system learns about a particular environment and identifies which modules to set up and how to configure them properly. A potent XDR system with integrated AI/ML modules consequently learns, adapts, and provides unique configuration suggestions based on what it learns about the business's requirements.

What is XDR Telemetry?

XDR telemetry refers to the data gathered by certain security solutions, such as email, endpoint, server, cloud workload, and network, among others. As each security layer or solution includes different kinds of activity data, an XDR platform gathers telemetry to identify undiscovered threats and aid in root cause investigation.

Security solutions gather information on many daily occurrences. These events range from file information retrieved by a user to registry modifications on a device. Not limited to, the following are examples of the sorts of information collected:

• Cloud workloads

  • Network connections
  • User account activity
  • Processes
  • Configuration changes
  • New/changed instances
  • Registry modifications
  • Executed commands
  • Files created/accessed

• Email

  • User activities
  • External links
  • Attachment meta data
  • Message metadata

• Endpoints

  • Network connections
  • Executed commands
  • Files created/accessed
  • Registry modifications
  • Processes

• Network events

  • Suspicious traffic behaviors
  • Traffic flow patterns
  • TLS (previously SSL) fingerprints
  • Perimeter and lateral connections made

An XDR platform largely based on its native security stack has a greater comprehension of the data. This allows the platform to acquire exactly the information required to build analytical models for correlation detection, in-depth research, and threat hunting.

Although it is normal practice to examine telemetry, metadata, and NetFlow, these alert data do not give the activity-related information necessary to conduct analytics and provide actionable insight.

Comprehending how collected telemetry is formatted and stored is just as essential as understanding the acquired information itself. Depending on the activity data, various databases and schemas optimize data collection, querying, and use more effectively. Using network data as an example, a graph database would be most effective, but the open search and analytics engine Elasticsearch would be preferred for endpoint data.

Different data lake designs for distinct telemetry have a substantial impact on the data's efficiency and efficacy for detection, correlation, and search.

What is the Difference Between XDR Telemetry and SIEM Alerts?

While SIEM is great at gathering logs and alarms, it is not as successful at correlating numerous alerts to a single event. This would involve an examination across all security levels at the root telemetry level.

Utilizing telemetry, XDR alerts take into account both alert information and other essential actions aimed to detect suspicious or malicious behavior. XDR evaluates and correlates actions across several security levels, including the endpoint. For instance, PowerShell activity alone may not trigger a SIEM alert.

By applying detection models to gathered telemetry, an XDR platform identifies and delivers fewer warnings with better confidence to the SIEM, hence lowering the amount of triage needed by security analysts.

What are the Best Practices for Implementing and Maintaining an XDR System?

A well-constructed XDR system aids in protecting against, detecting, and responding to cyber attacks. To maximize the value of the deployed XDR system, companies must implement the defense-in-depth approach by establishing XDR rules that are consistent with the ever-changing security threat environment. While configuring, deploying, and managing an XDR system, the following highly suggested best practices should be addressed.

• Backup Configuration: Before making significant modifications, organizations must confirm that the existing XDR configuration has been backed up. This should be done to prevent any configuration errors. This is possible by using both the configuration backup and restoration program and the bare metal backup application. Moreover, businesses might also consider taking a backup of XDR setups that is encrypted. This method increases the settings' secrecy by providing an additional security layer. Applications for configuration backup and restoration may be used to create encrypted configuration backups.

• Employ Efficient XDR Management: XDR is a key component of endpoint and network security, and it is crucial to comprehend its commissioning procedure. Management of XDR consists of general responsibilities such as updating, continuous monitoring, and incident management. This needs significant human capital, and companies must pay close attention to it. A poorly managed XDR may easily misconfigure the whole XDR system, thereby impacting the network and connected devices. After adopting XDR, there are many administrative responsibilities to consider:

  • Observe both firewall logs and intrusion detection and prevention system (IDS/IPS) events.
  • Develop a comprehensive incident response plan based on business use cases
  • Perform routine software upgrades and updates for appliances.
  • Conform to the change management policy when making modifications to XDR setups.
  • Documentation of the XDR access control list and development of sophisticated firewall rules

• Prevent XDR network single points of failure: XDR must aggressively use the high availability functionality to assure service continuity regardless of the possibility of network node failures. This is accomplished by installing two firewalls where the settings of the main and secondary XDRs are identical, hence preventing a single point of failure on the network. Moreover, businesses should concentrate on enhancing the total service quality by assuring the availability of resources around-the-clock.

• Identify unfamiliar or malicious network-connected devices: A systematic procedure for identifying and removing unidentified or malicious network-connected devices should be followed. One approach to do this is to frequently scan the XDR network and map all the devices using the network map tool to give them nicknames. This enables the administrator to readily identify new devices since they will fall under the unmapped device category of the network map application.

• Adopt a policy of role-based administration for XDR: A strong, role-based XDR administration policy is developed using an 'administrator application'. Admins now have the ability to limit access to certain regions of the XDR and to grant certain users read/write privileges depending on their assigned responsibilities. In addition, the concept of least privilege should be implemented to guarantee that users are granted access privileges based on their primary duties.

• Divide the XDR network into several zones: It is necessary to deploy network segmentation so that attackers do not consider the whole network as susceptible. Consequently, it limits access to sensitive data, credentials, services, and hosts. The XDR network should be divided into several zones, with internet-facing servers located in a zone distinct from the LAN network. In addition, subnetting LAN zones further might increase the network's security.

• Observe a change management policy: Change management policy in this context refers to a structured procedure for modifying the XDR settings. This indicates that XDR administrators should be aware of the most recent software updates available. Also, it is advised that the automatic update capability be enabled since this enables automated integration of the XDR appliance with the latest feature release, which may enhance or optimize XDR functioning.

• Develop a comprehensive internet gateway security strategy: On the XDR network, it is necessary to create a thorough internet gateway security policy, as this reduces the potential of hackers attacking the network. This decreases the likelihood of network intrusion, and if one does occur, the perpetrator is efficiently identified. Configuring and implementing the internet gateway security policy should thus adhere to best practices. Consider the following procedures while developing security policies:

• Scan XDR directories for malware: Use a malware file scanner application that examines the different XDR folders for malware.

• Identify and disable dangerous network applications: This is accomplished via the use of XDR technologies such as application whitelisting, which use application-based rules to prohibit any harmful application and allow access to only whitelisted apps.

• Anti-phishing software: This program protects users against known credential-stealing and malware-spreading websites.

• Protect the email gateway: By setting the email scanning gateway application, users behind the XDR system are protected from email-related assaults like phishing.

• Create a thorough policy for internet use: A detailed internet use policy educates XDR network users on the proper utilization of corporate resources. This is improved by using XDR's web and protocol filtering capabilities. Consider the following site and protocol filtering settings for optimal XDR output:

  • Blocking particular file extensions: This content filtering tool minimizes the likelihood that end users of the XDR network would download dangerous malware and viruses.
  • Content filtering: Content filtering feature are used to restrict relevant surfing items by preventing the display of specified terms.
  • Global banned IPs: Here, the content filter prevents specific IP addresses from accessing the internet.
  • Website Category Blacklisting: This enables XDR administrators to block groups of websites connected with specified topics, such as abortion or alcohol.
  • IP exception: This allows administrators to rapidly permit or prohibit IP addresses from various block categories.

• Implement sophisticated firewall rules: Organizations must configure sophisticated firewall rules for the "deny all traffic" and "permit-by-exception" categories. Consider the following variables on a case-by-case basis:

  • Permit rules unique to IPs and ports should be formed: Permit rules particular to ports (TCP/UDP) and IP addresses should be developed.
  • Assessing the risk of incoming and outgoing network traffic: Each approved incoming and departing data flow should be subject to a risk assessment.
  • Enable Logging: It is advisable to record all firewall rules since this facilitates auditing and network activity monitoring.
  • Group firewall rules: Firewall rules should be categorized into WAN-to-LAN and LAN-to-WAN groups. This eliminates human mistakes and streamlines the management of these barriers.
  • Conduct Audit: Periodically, XDR administrators should conduct a firewall audit of advanced firewall rules. This may be handy for identifying unwanted rules and removing them.

What are the Best XDR Solutions?

Top XDR platform providers are given below:

1. Palo Alto Cortex XDR: Cortex XDR is an extended detection and response platform offered by Palo Alto Networks. It is for endpoint, network, and cloud integration. It provides complete visibility, industry-leading prevention, integrated response, and automated root-cause analysis. It offers top-of-the-line protection for your endpoints. Cortex XDR delivers your company with consistent and robust security by integrating endpoint security, detection & response, and Next-Generation Firewalls(NGFW). It delivers analytics based on artificial intelligence to help you discover stealthy attacks. AI-powered analytics provide you with complete visibility, accelerating your investigation, threat hunting, and reaction. Managed Detection and Response(MDR) Services are provided.

2. Cynet: Cynet is an Autonomous Breach Protection platform that provides native integration of NGAV, EDR, UEBA, Network Traffic Analysis, and Deception to detect and eliminate threats, as well as a wide range of automated remediation capabilities utilizing Sensor Fusion technology to continuously collect and analyze endpoint, user, and network activities across the entire environment. It conducts continuous endpoint monitoring. This aids in identifying the active malicious presence and determining its breadth and effect with speed and efficiency. It has automatic protection against malware, fileless exploits, Macros, LOLBins, and malicious scripts.

3. FireEye: FireEye offers managed detection and response(MDR) services that prevent events and mitigate their damage. FireEye provides solutions for Endpoint Security, Network Security & Forensics, and Email security, among others. It generates contextually rich inquiry reports that assist you in gaining a thorough understanding of the hazards. FireEye gives remedial suggestions that expedite the response. It is capable of identifying and prioritizing the most serious threats. It does a thorough and proactive search to reduce the possibility of an attacker being undiscovered for a lengthy time. You have insight into internal and external dangers in real-time. It conducts systematic and regular searches throughout your area, reducing the likelihood of detection gaps.

4. McAfee: McAfee offers cloud, endpoint, and antivirus security solutions. It delivers a gadget for residential and commercial cloud security. McAfee MVISION is a cloud-native platform for managing and defending against threats. It may be implemented on-premises, in hybrid settings, and across several clouds. It provides Managed Detection and Response as a service. MVISION Cloud Container Security is a container-optimized cloud security product. McAfee MDR offers alert monitoring around-the-clock, controlled threat hunting, and enhanced investigations.

5. Sophos: Sophos provides cloud-native, fully synchronized data security. Endpoint protection, managed services, Next-Generation Firewall, and public cloud visibility and attack response are among its many products. It is designed for cloud-based applications and addresses the most difficult cybersecurity issues. Deep learning-powered AI is used to identify viruses. It can deliver cloud-native safety for all of your devices from a single interface. It offers Cloud Optix as a platform for cloud visibility and threat response in the public cloud. It addresses the hidden security holes in the cloud. A skilled team provides 24x7 threat hunting, detection, and response services for managed threat response.

6. Trend Micro: Trend Micro offers detection and response services that span email, endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and networks. It offers AI and professional security analytics. It delivers notifications that are prioritized depending on the investigation's findings. These warnings will provide you with a comprehensive picture of the attack route and its consequences for the company.

   Trend Micro features built-in threat intelligence and threat expertise. You are able to understand data in a consistent and meaningful manner with the aid of alerts that are prioritized based on a single expert alert schema. It provides a consolidated perspective that enables you to identify events and the attack route across security levels.

7. Rapid7: Rapid7 managed detection and response services gives experienced monitoring around the clock. This aids in guarding against threats and thwarting attackers. It identifies sophisticated threats using various sophisticated detection techniques. It employs numerous sophisticated detection techniques, including behavioral analytics, network traffic analysis, and human danger hunts, among others.

   Rapid7 delivers precise business-specific data and recommendations. It offers an endless data source and event source. It provides help for incident management and response. You have full access to InsightIDR, a cloud-based SIEM. It offers round-the-clock SOC monitoring by trained analysts.

8. Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection: Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection is a comprehensive solution for endpoint security. It has preventative protection, post-breach detection, automated investigation, and reaction capabilities. It does not need any extra deployment or infrastructure because it is agentless and cloud-based. In real-time, the solution detects vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. It facilitates the identification of key hazards in your specific environment. It enables threat monitoring and analysis at the expert level. It thwarts advanced attacks and viruses. It includes automated alert investigation and fast remediation of complicated threats.

How to Choose XDR Solution?

In general, commercial XDR systems have comparable designs and procedures, but there are significant variances that should be considered when choosing a solution. Different XDR solutions gather data at varying depths; for instance, some platforms may prioritize network data while others emphasize endpoint data.

Consider the following questions to choose the best XDR platform for your firm.

• What is the distribution of users geographically?

• Where are your servers, your data, and your apps located? Do you depend more on the cloud or a data center on-premises?

• Do you need to transmit sensitive data over an untrusted network, such as the internet?

• Who is responsible for processing threat intelligence and threat hunting? Does the XDR service provider adopt a proactive stance?

• What AI features does the platform provide?

• What amount of expertise does the provider of scalable data gathering, behavioral analytics, automation, and remediation possess?

• Does a Closed XDR or Open XDR strategy mesh with your current environment and/or procurement strategies?

The threat detection teams of enterprise-level XDR solutions are often able to spot emerging threats. These teams gather threat intelligence that is used to develop automated security rules, which are then implemented into security products. They must be able to swiftly detect risks and implement rules to mitigate them, such as identifying zero-day exploits and responding to them.

Diverse AI capabilities concentrate on identifying dangers, studying the underlying cause of problems, reducing false positives, and obtaining remedial insights. Depending on your goals, these skills help you investigate and react to risks more efficiently.

What is the Difference Between Native XDR and Open XDR?

Native XDR is a solution that offers a complete security environment, with front-end solutions that create data and back-end features for data analytics and processes. To deliver a native XDR solution, a vendor must have all of the required sensors for popular threat detection use cases, such as endpoint, network, cloud, identity, and email. In addition, the provider must supply a backend that can aggregate data automatically and facilitate speedy inquiry.

Native XDR suppliers are platform vendors with an extensive portfolio of security products that have added an XDR solution to their offerings. They may also be EDR suppliers extending their solution set to other parts of the IT environment and including backend capabilities such as analytics and data integration.

Open XDR solutions emphasize analytics and workflow engines on the backend. Instead of offering its front-end tools, it interacts with your company's current security and IT infrastructure and correlates and analyzes all pertinent data. Its backend capabilities are geared at threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR), automating and streamlining TDIR procedures to facilitate quick incident response.

Open XDR vendors address common threat use cases by offering prepackaged security content that spans all phases of the TDIR lifecycle, beginning with the identification of indicators of compromise (IoC) and continuing through alert prioritization, triage, and in-depth investigation, to the targeted response.

Open XDR works as a single control plane for many products and providers when the security stack inside an organization grows more complicated. As with the previous generation of security orchestration and automation (SOAR) technology, this gives visibility and allows the orchestration and automation of processes. This leverages current security investments, improves SOC team efficiency, and eliminates onerous manual processes.

You should consider the present condition of your security solutions before determining which XDR solution is ideal for your firm. Open XDR is more appealing if you follow a best-of-breed strategy and have solutions from several suppliers throughout your security stack. If your security stack is homogeneous and mostly derived from a single vendor, native XDR may be able to meet your needs with minimum effort. The future of your company's security systems is another crucial factor to consider. Open XDR offers you the freedom to integrate cutting-edge solutions from any source.

	Open/Hybrid XDR	Native XDR
What is it?	Open XDR depends on third-party integrations to gather certain kinds of telemetry and conduct reaction actions associated with those types.	Native XDR combines security products from a single vendor to gather various types of data and perform response actions.
Advantages	Permits security teams to use the current vendor ecosystem and a best-of-breed strategy. Vendor-neutral and adaptable	A simplified, all-in-one solution, if firmly integrated. Reduces time required to deploy
Drawbacks	Requires integrations with breadth and depth.	Vendor lock-in. Visibility and security holes if required telemetry is not offered by a single provider.
Best for	Organizations want to avoid ripping and replacing current solutions	Companies with standardized IT security and infrastructure

Table 1. Open/Hybrid XDR vs Native XDR