What Is the Right XDR Solution for Your Organisation?
Over the last year, the UK saw a nearly 20% increase in overall cybercrime levels. The majority of these crimes were via hacking, followed by installations of viruses, malware and spyware. These attacks continue to grow in sophistication and frequency; they also employ a wider range of attack vectors, from email to endpoint, increasing not only their likelihood of happening but also the damage they can do. Given this, it’s never been more critical for today’s modern businesses to invest in robust cybersecurity solutions to prevent and recover from these damaging attacks and breaches.
However, properly securing your organisation is easier said than done, a fact that is certainly not lost on you and your team. We all know that technology environments can be complex. No matter your industry or size, it’s common for organisations to entrust their cybersecurity to a mishmash of isolated applications and solutions spread across disparate networks. (One source reports that the average organisation uses a dozen or more security tools, often from multiple vendors!) This is exactly why many technology leaders are looking at security vendor consolidation to improve their risk posture and security operations while reducing cost and staffing requirements.
In this post, we introduce you to extended detection and response (also known as XDR) as a potential solution to these known challenges. The key, however, is to select the right XDR solution. We also share a series of questions you should ask as you consider the many available solutions and vendors that exist in today’s marketplace.
What is Extended Detection and Response (XDR)?
Essentially, extended detection and response, or XDR pulls together everything you need for robust security. It’s a SaaS-based, vendor-specific security threat detection and incident response tool that natively integrates multiple security products into a cohesive security operations system that unifies all licensed components. XDR supports a “new” security paradigm in which individual security controls see and share data as part of a coordinated security platform. As a result, you can more effectively detect threats and deliver a coordinated response that covers your entire attack surface, from your network to your IOT devices.
The benefits of extended detection and response are many. First and foremost, the right XDR solution will improve your protection and detection capabilities. Yet, it also improves your ability to respond to incidents quickly and fully. XDR has tremendous flexibility and scalability and many solutions leverage automation for even greater real-time security. And, because it’s a consolidated approach to cybersecurity, XDR solutions can reduce your costs and staffing requirements and increase the productivity of your in-house technology or security team.
While the benefits of XDR are clear, the solution does come with a word of warning. Organisations should not jump blindly into just any XDR solution, especially as XDR is relatively new to the market. (The term was coined in 2018.) It’s critical to evaluate the available XDR solutions and choose the one that is right for your unique business. This will also help you from getting locked in for the long-term with the wrong vendor.
How to Choose the Right XDR Solution
As we mentioned above, we advise against blindly selecting the first XDR solution that comes your way. You have options and it’s critical to select the right solution—and the right vendor—for your organisation. Here, we present a few considerations and questions to help you determine the best XDR solution for your business.
How many (and what) attack vectors are covered?
This is an important question, as any attack vector not covered opens you up for vulnerabilities. The whole point of extended detection and response is to keep you fully and deeply secure; any potential attack vector that is not covered presents a gap and a risk. Consider all vectors including end-user devices and both office and home networks (this is especially true in today’s COVID-19 work-from-home environment).
How many Cyber Kill Chain stages are covered?
Most attacks typically follow a known progression of stages; “breaking the chain” at any of these stages is a strong defence against intrusion. It follows that the more stages your solution covers, the more opportunities you have to stop it. Lockheed Martin’s Cyber Kill Chain Model , for example, is based on seven key stages: reconnaissance, weaponisation, delivery, exploitation, installation, command and control, and action on objectives.
Any XDR solution you select should allow you to “break the chain” at any stage of a cyberattack. Ask all potential vendors, what framework does the solution use to monitor detection? For example, it might be the well-known MITRE ATT&CK framework.
How effective are the components of the solution?
Recall the mathematical adage here, in which the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. This is true for XDR. Any XDR solution you select should, at a minimum, send alerts, provide telemetry and enact responses. Have the various components of your solution been independently tested for high security efficacy? The cybersecurity landscape changes swiftly; are these tests carried out regularly? Ask your potential vendor how they assess the effectiveness of all components in the proposed XDR solution, no matter how seemingly minimal a role each product plays in the larger solution.
How usable is the solution?
This is perhaps the most important consideration, because even the best XDR solution is no good if your team can’t or doesn’t use it properly. Any solution you select should be usable and, ultimately, it should save your staff time. This is also where automation can play a role in greater ease of use. If you simply lack the staff or resources to adequately monitor your security, another option is to opt for XDR-as-a-Service.
Extend your Attack Visibility
When it comes to protecting your data and information, it’s a dangerous world out there. However, the cybersecurity solutions you employ shouldn’t add to the challenges you face. We read one report in which security leaders cited the complexity of their environment as the most troublesome aspect of their overall security strategy.
XDR can alleviate this challenge through smart and efficient integration. But, remember, the key is to select the right XDR solution. At Optec, we partner with two of the leading XDR vendors to offer our customers the right solution for them.
Learn more about our XDR solutions or get in touch with our team to discuss your options.
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