Top Ways to Get More Value From Your EDR

Those same security teams know that an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) system is a powerful toolset to secure their business. But efficiency and accuracy are never guaranteed simply by implementing EDR. To get more from your EDR, you need to get as close to efficiency and accuracy as is possible using today's tools — and to do that, you first must identify which pieces of your EDR processes and related procedures are blocking these achievements.

Typically, we find that prospective clients require the ability to understand the threat risk of each file their EDR discovers. Without that capability built into their UI, they waste precious response time with inefficiencies. Additionally, relying solely on cloud-sourced file reputation services hasn't provided them with the accuracy demanded by their privacy commitments. Their blockers, then, are the tools and services that either slow them down or let attacks slip through, or both.

So, what can you do to get more out of your current EDR process, using tools that already exist? Here are four recommended actions.

4 Ways to Optimize Your EDR

1. Add automation via integration

Most security teams run upwards of 45 security solutions and technologies, adding complexity. A strong platform should allow for integration into your existing security tools via a broad set of APIs. Specifically, if you're looking toward response efficiency, having automatic results displayed within your EDR will reduce time spent switching between tools.

2. Add visibility via integration

Visibility seems to be a massive sticking point for organizations trying to achieve greater accuracy and efficiency. After all, how can you possibly understand and react to threats without the threat intelligence you need, particularly at the file level? With the right integrations, you can create and test YARA rules that define new malware — that is, malware with no AV signature. These rules can be exported to EDR solutions, such that your detection capabilities can be continually upgraded to find the latest threats.

You may think that EDRs already have visibility. But can you tell whether each file has been detected in the past, and when? Understanding which files are known good and known bad — and when the malicious files were first recognized as such — is critical to the decision around where your greatest risks lie. For instance, while you may spend time concerned primarily with zero days, it's possible the vast majority of malicious files were discovered years ago.

An ideal integration would allow you to see exactly when each malicious file was first seen and apply advanced search and retro-hunting utilities for greater insights, such that you can correctly prioritize threats. If you were to run across a threat which had not been seen until you saw it, the ideal platform would add on-premises file scanning and investigation resources for additional visibility. Even better: you could use a service that notifies you of database updates for files, so that any newly discovered samples will become immediately apparent.