Network detection and response (NDR) is a crucial aspect of your security stack because NDRprovides the visibility necessary for increasing your securityand lowering your risk. Here we’ll break down the basics of NDR, explain the difference between endpoint detection and response (EDR) and NDR, and look intothe advantages of advanced NDR.
What Is Network Detection and Response?
isdesigned to protect the unique requirements of on-premises, public and private cloud, and hybrid environments as efficiently as possible. By combining NDR with other solutions such as log analysis tools via security information and event management (SIEM) and EDR, you can mitigate blind spots within the network.
NDR solutions heighten security capabilities by providing network context and automating responses to threats, enabling security and network operations teams to collaborate more effectively –leading to better detection and mitigation.This also reduces the burden on security resources, freeing personnel to focus on other important tasks.
What Is Endpoint Detection and Response?
EDR monitors endpoints to mitigate endpoint attacks. Endpoints are network devices such as personal computers, file servers, smartphones, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices that connect to the network to communicate back and forth. Via a software agent deployed on the endpoint, EDR inventories detectknown malware and suspicious activity on the endpoint, such as registry changes and keyfile manipulation.
Which Is Better?
Today’s security stack contains many different tools and types of data. Unfortunately, this creates data silos, which lead to visibility gaps. EDR is designed to monitor and mitigate endpoint attacks, which typicallyfocus on computers and servers. NDR, on the other hand, monitors network traffic to gain visibility into potential or active cyberthreats, delivering real-time visibility across the broader network.
One of the biggest advantages NDR has over EDR is that bad actors can hide or manipulate endpoint data fairly easily. Network data is much harder to manipulate. Because attackers and malware can avoid detection at the endpoint, NDR is the only real source for reliable, accurate, and comprehensive data. All endpoints use the network to communicate, which makes your network data the ultimate source of truth. That doesn’t mean one is necessarily better than the other: EDR and NDR provide the required information within the different contexts of the endpoint and the network, respectively.
What Is Advanced NDR?
Not all NDR solutions are equal. The difference between the previous generation of NDR solutions and advanced NDR is the quality of data used.
Characteristics of advanced NDR include:
With advanced NDR, your security stack and your security staff become better. Without advanced NDR and the proper level of network intelligence, you cannot fully trust your overall cybersecurity.
How NETSCOUT Helps
NETSCOUT’s core competency for more than 30 years has been to capture packets and conduct DPI at scale. NETSCOUT’s patented Adaptive Service Intelligence (ASI) technology converts those packets into a rich source of unique layer 2–7 metadata that we call Smart Data. NETSCOUT’s Omnis Cyber Intelligence (OCI) solution can use Smart Data to provide the following:
NETSCOUT believes in achieving comprehensive Visibility Without Borders by enabling a single source of smart packet-derived data – which we call Smart Data – for more efficient service assurance and cybersecurity. NETSCOUT gives you the most comprehensive attack surface observability in the industry and provides continuous intelligence, with real-time detection of all network activity to halt attackers in their tracks.
With this detailed visibility, you have up-to-the-minute contact tracing abilities as well as visibility throughout the dwell time of an incident, including full context to restore normal operation with shortest downtime. With Smart Data, your security team can use high-quality metadata to quickly act and prevent further damage to the organization.
NETSCOUT Omnis Cyber Intelligence leverages this Smart Data for advanced NDR, making your cybersecurity stack, staff, and overall cybersecurity simply better.
Learn more about Omnis Cyber Intelligence.
