Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is one of the prominent forms of cybersecurity tools on the market today. Some estimates say the EDR market will reach a total size of $5.75 billion by 2026, which would be a staggering rise from just $1.14 billion in 2018—representing a compound annual growth rate of over 22 percent.
This, however, doesn’t tell anything about what EDR is and how it provides value to organizations. Endpoint detection response is a form of cybersecurity technology that focuses specifically on endpoints. These are essentially devices that connect to your networks—ranging from laptops to sensors.
There are a massive number of endpoints that connect to enterprise networks today. Furthermore, the number of unsecured devices keeps going up. There are a few reasons for this trend.
First, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies and remote work have created a scenario where more employees are connecting to networks from distant places on their personal computers. This is a nightmare for IT security, as it’s next to impossible to know what kinds of threats are potentially lurking on personal machines.
Beyond this, the proliferation of connected devices has also created challenges for organizations. Automated tools, as well as Internet-of-Things devices are typically not super secure. Even if enterprises utilize separate networks for most of these autonomous machines, all these devices can create a wide attack surface for malicious parities.
Endpoint detection and response is one of the best ways for organizations to fight back against vulnerabilities. Let’s dig into how endpoint detection and response works.
How Endpoint Detection and Response Works
It’s clear there’s a need to protect endpoints when they’ve become such a target for attacks. But how does endpoint detection and response work to accomplish this? These are a few of the key features of EDR:
- Visibility and monitoring – You’re not going to be able to stop threats if you can’t see them. A great EDR platform will allow for users to have high levels of visibility over endpoint activity. Furthermore, there should be logs that record all activity. This is critical for ongoing behavioral analysis, and can also provide invaluable data if there is a detected breach.
- Real-time capabilities – How long it takes to respond to a cyberattack can make a huge difference in limiting damage. The more time a threat has to laterally jump move across a network, the greater the likelihood of it reaching its target. Great EDRs will enable real-time response to threats so they can be contained before causing harm.
- As-a-service offerings – Many EDR solutions come via third-party as-a-service offerings. This means you hire a company to provide the personnel and tools to manage your endpoint security. It’s often possible to get EDR at a discount if you get it bundled through a larger managed detection and response (MDR) or extended detection and response (XDR) offering. Opting for one of these solutions can create further synergies that build even stronger layers of defense.
By tightly monitoring the activity at endpoints, it’s possible to prevent threats from exploiting vulnerabilities. This is increasingly becoming a top priority for organizations today.
Why Should Enterprises Adopt Endpoint Detection and Response?
It seems like there’s constantly a new story about another major enterprise falling victim to a data breach or hack. This isn’t just an inconvenience. For some firms or government agencies, it can be a matter of dire consequences.
Not only do data breaches carry a substantial financial cost, they can also permanently tarnish the good name of an organization. Protecting against a security breach requires specific attention to endpoints. By deploying endpoint detection and response, it’s possible to vastly reduce the likelihood of data loss.
