What is Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

XDR and Security Data

You may have heard the parable of a group of blind men who were asked to describe an elephant by touching different parts. One man who touched the trunk said an elephant must be like a big snake. One who touched the ear thought it seemed like a kind of fan. And one who touched the leg said an elephant is like a tree trunk. The problem here – and with old-school cybersecurity solutions – is that they’re missing the full picture.

XDR sees the entire elephant

The key to XDR is data. Your business generates massive amounts of data from various security tools and systems, but this data is often siloed, meaning it's not easy to make sense of it all. XDR takes all this data and puts it into one place. By doing this, you can see everything that's happening, identify any security incidents and respond to any threats, such as ransomware, more quickly.

Protects the cloud

XDR uses machine learning to detect any unusual behavior and alert you if there's a threat – all in real-time. For example, if someone tries to access your business's system from an unusual location or device, XDR will detect it and notify you immediately. XDR can also automatically isolate affected endpoints, contain the threat and initiate incident response procedures. This automation helps to prevent cyberattacks before they can cause any damage. Especially today, as remote work has become a standardized practice and increased cloud workloads, XDR is a mandatory resource for keeping cloud platforms safe.

There’s a cyber skills shortage

Around the globe, businesses are having a difficult time finding qualified cybersecurity personnel. This worldwide shortage means, quite simply, that businesses are more at risk of cyberattacks. With XDR in place, you have a built-in security solution that automatically contains threats and initiates incident response procedures. Armed with these incident response procedures, even small cyber security teams will have the necessary tools to investigate incidents thoroughly, correlate events across multiple systems and identify the root cause of an incident. This level of insight enables cyber security teams to understand the scope and severity of an incident, as well as any potential impact on the organization.

As technology continues to advance, so do the threats to your business's online security. It's important to have a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity to protect your business's sensitive data and assets. XDR does just that. Its ability to provide a holistic view of security data and automate threat detection and response make it not a “nice-to-have,” but a “must-have” for any business or organization that wants to protect its sensitive data and assets.