Smarter XDR Demands Email Security
 

What Is XDR?

XDR is the technology that should be replacing, or at least supplementing every organization’s endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution. EDR is an endpoint security tool that continuously monitors endpoints to detect and then respond to cyberthreats such as ransomware. Extended detection and response (XDR) systems continually capture focused data and alerts from an organization’s key connected systems, feed all of that data into a central data lake, and then normalize that data. EDR systems focus on computers, mobile devices, IoT devices, and other computing endpoints. XDR takes protection a step further by also drawing data from email security systems, network analysis and visibility tools, identity and access management platforms, and cloud workload protection systems, as well as other networked locations in an organization’s environment.

Everyone Is Talking About XDR

At this point in cybersecurity history, everyone is talking about XDR — organizations from every industry and in every corner of the world – because security professionals know it is the next essential technology for organizations that want to protect themselves from ransomware and other advanced types of cyberattacks.

Real-World Example: How XDR Is Better

XDR technology is unifying threat detection, hunting, investigation, and response. XDR can optimize these cybersecurity functions by leveraging integrated real-time or near real-time data from key systems, and after analyzing that data, triage and investigate while instructing those systems to take automated actions.

Consider this hypothetical example of how XDR can improve on existing endpoint solutions: An EDR system might recognize an unusual attempt to change a registry key on a given endpoint, but not understand the sources or implications of the attempt. XDR, however, can link this attempt with network telemetry from multiple systems to recognize a connection with traffic to a specific IP address, seeing how information traversed internal switches to reach a high-risk Internet site that delivered a keylogger-infected file to the endpoint. The XDR system, capturing email gateway telemetry an EDR wouldn’t possess, could then link the same attack to an attempt to send emails containing high-risk links from the infected endpoint to accounts throughout the organization.

Integrating Your XDR Solution: Better Protection

Mimecast collaborates with many XDR providers, including best-in-class cybersecurity and IT companies that are also a part of the XDR Alliance. Mimecast’s Secure Email Gateway (SEG) telemetry, alerts, and overall functionality are all critical to determining the initial entry point and source of many attacks. This Mimecast technology helps organizations respond effectively to cyberattacks –– it’s why Mimecast was chosen as one of the first member companies of the XDR Alliance.

Integrating an XDR solution with an email security platform better protects email from threat actors, securing communications and data. This important integration combines threat intelligence across cloud, network, and endpoints to better detect threats. Integrating XDR and email security also provides actionable insights and a single console for investigating and rapidly responding to threats using automation.

If you would like to learn more about XDR and how it works better with email security tools, be sure to download Mimecast’s XDR: What to Know, What to Do Now white paper.

**This blog was originally published on May 26, 2022.