Endpoint Detection Response (EDR): Tactics to Help Prevent Future Targeted Attacks

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December 15, 2021 Business

IT security teams are now at the forefront of defending their businesses from cyber attacks. But what if they could go one step further? Endpoint Detection Response (EDR) is a system that provides IT teams with the best possible chance to detect, investigate and block cyber threats before they cause damage.

What exactly is EDR? It’s a software-based system that enables organizations to detect, prioritize and respond to advanced targeted attacks on Windows endpoints. With EDR, you can gain visibility into your endpoint systems, monitor for suspicious behavior, investigate events in real time and automatically react to stop future attacks.

Here are some ways to use EDR (Endpoint Detection Response) tactics to help prevent future targeted attacks.

Benefits of using EDR

Before we get into any specific EDR tactics, let’s talk about the core benefits that EDR has to offer. Not all readers may be familiar with the benefits of EDR for enterprise companies, so a quick rundown of what you can expect from a solid EDR system includes:

Reduce downtime: A system that detects, discovers, and analyzes activity on your endpoint will provide you with more time to respond to threats. Rather than trying to fix a hack that is already happening, you can stop it in the making, before it even starts.

Increase response speed: With the right system, you will be able to monitor data at greater speeds and react to changes in activity faster. This reduces the amount of time it takes for security teams to respond to attacks.

Reduce overhead costs: EDR is a much less resource-intensive solution than monitoring by people, making it a cost-effective solution to use. That doesn’t mean you can replace your IT security personnel with an EDR solution outright, but it does help save time, money, and personnel resources to better serve your business.

How to use EDR tactics to help prevent future targeted attacks

If you have a tool, how can you use it to stay on top of all of the activity on your endpoints?

The first thing you will need to do is set up a baseline. Think of it as getting a health report from your doctor. As a result, EDR reports will let you know what is normal behavior on your endpoints. The more normalized your baseline is, the faster you can take action to protect yourself from cyber threats.

Second, once you know what’s normal, you can create a baseline for activity. This will enable you to spot when a baseline isn’t being met. This can be a relatively quick process. Just make sure you don’t go overboard with it; for example, don’t spend an inordinate amount of time reporting everything you are seeing, since this will become tedious and tiring over time.

For example, the baseline tool will tell you, “Based on this activity, we are not expecting activity that will result in any EDR events.” The baseline helps alert you to any activity that you aren’t expecting and/or that may indicate a security incident that could require an immediate response.

Here are some actionable steps you can take for implementing EDR tactics in your organization:

#1: Detect quickly and set priorities

Make sure the system you’re using to detect and monitor threats is flexible enough to receive “normal” behaviors and compare them with any “abnormal” activity.

If you are able to detect abnormal behavior with your existing security system, you can use a quick and reliable EDR system to determine if you have an incident that requires immediate attention.

#2: Investigate in real-time for suspicious behavior

If you have a detection system, you should take time to analyze the activity that is being detected. After determining that the activity is suspicious, use the information gathered from your analysis to prioritize a response.

You might even want to investigate and/or record the activity that you are most concerned about and review the results to determine if the activity is legitimate or not.

#3: Automatically react with pre-scheduled security policies

For an organization using a scheduling system to respond to security events, you can automatically react with pre-scheduled security policies to prevent future targeted attacks. For example, you can set a policy for any activity that could be considered malicious. Once you set the policy, the system will monitor activity for changes in activity that would cause a trigger to trigger a response.