Intelligent CXO Issue 36 | Page 67

BUSINESS INSIGHTS traffic and potential malicious activities on unmanaged endpoints .
4 . Passive asset discovery and inventory : Without a clear understanding of what ’ s on your network , it is challenging to detect anomalies or unauthorised access . NDR ’ s ability to observe all network activity , not limited to just devices with EDR agents , endows security teams with additional identification capabilities for devices , applications , services , certificates , hosts and more . This visibility helps identify devices unknown to their EDR and empowers defenders to map and secure their environment more effectively based on real-time observation of the devices present rather than relying solely on presumed or expected data from an EDR , asset inventory or Configuration Management Database ( CMDB ).
5 . Different detection capabilities : EDR primarily focuses on detecting and responding to threats on individual endpoints . It analyses endpoint content , configurations and behaviour and can identify potential threats and vulnerabilities . On the other hand , NDR monitors network traffic and analyses network content and behaviour , detecting potential threats that might not be fully visible at the endpoint level . This monitoring can detect lateral movement , command and control ( C2 ) traffic and other network visible indicators of compromise .
6 . Risk-based alert prioritisation : Most IT teams are unable to remediate every vulnerability , just as most SecOps teams are unable to respond to every alert . By merging or correlating network intrusion alerts from an NDR with vulnerability context from an EDR , SecOps teams can use a risk-based approach to prioritise response and tune out false positives .
7 . Enhanced investigation and forensics : NDR solutions can provide detailed network traffic logs , analysis and packet captures which are invaluable for post-incident investigations and digital forensics . While EDR provides endpoint-specific data , NDR adds a network-wide perspective , allowing for a more comprehensive investigation into how an attack occurred , what was impacted or exfiltrated and the full scope of the breach . This is especially important for understanding complex or prolonged attack campaigns , verifying containment and providing defensible disclosure .
8 . Integration and correlation : By integrating EDR and NDR , you can pre-correlate network data with endpoint vulnerabilities and other host data before it reaches the SIEM for a more rapid and comprehensive understanding of security incidents . Correlation using open standards like Community ID simplifies and accelerates the identification and analysis of complex multi-stage attacks where the initial compromise might be visible on an endpoint , but subsequent actions like data
exfiltration are more easily observed on the network .
9 . Support for Zero Trust architectures : As organisations move towards Zero Trust architectures where trust is never assumed and must be continually verified , NDR solutions become even more critical . They provide ongoing monitoring and validation of network activities , confirming that only legitimate traffic is allowed and deviations from established norms are quickly identified and addressed . This complements EDR ’ s role in securing endpoints under the same Zero Trust principles .
10 . Compliance and regulatory requirements : Some industries and regulations may require or recommend both endpoint and network-level
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