How Open XDR Extends the Power of MDR Beyond the Endpoint

CISOs, CIOs, and CFOs have different roles, but when they consider investing in a new piece of infrastructure or service, they often ask the same question: “Does the new solution work with the technology we already have in place?” Nobody wants to buy a new point solution or cloud storage service, only to find that it also requires new tools to realize the full return on investment.

This question about technology compatibility is particularly critical when selecting a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service. MDR services vary widely in the types of security solutions they support, and many come with hidden costs and resource wasters, requiring your team to either change the security stack to fully integrate with the MDR or leave the organization solving only a small portion of the problem they set out to address. 

To avoid these pitfalls and complications, we built CylanceMDR™ on an Open XDR platform, with an expansive ecosystem of pre-built integrations collecting telemetry from app, network, cloud, identities, and endpoint sensors. This data is automatically collected, enriched, and analyzed to produce high-fidelity detections and superior coverage and visibility across your entire production environment. Let’s explore the MDR capabilities unlocked by an Open XDR platform.

Native MDR Services Produce Poor Outcomes

Many MDR services focus on supporting native solutions provided directly by the MDR vendor. While potentially optimized for the vendor's own ecosystem, these solutions have significant downsides, including limited visibility, poor threat detection, and vendor lock-in.

In contrast, an MDR service built on an Open XDR platform allows for the integration of telemetry from a wider array of sources, providing enhanced visibility and enabling more effective threat detection and response, offering significant advantages:

• Broader Data Collection: An Open XDR platform can collect data from diverse sources, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. This comprehensive data collection is crucial for identifying threats that might be missed by a system that only monitors a single type of environment. For instance, an Open XDR platform can correlate network traffic data with endpoint logs and cloud activity, providing a holistic view of the security landscape. 

• Ability to Correlate Data: An Open XDR platform can identify sophisticated attacks that span multiple domains by integrating data across different environments. This capability is essential for detecting advanced persistent threats and other complex attacks that encompass multiple stages across different parts of the IT infrastructure. 

• Leveraging Best-of-Breed Technologies: An Open XDR platform allows organizations to use the best technologies available for threat intelligence and analytics, regardless of the vendor. This means that organizations can leverage advanced machine learning models, behavioral analytics, and other cutting-edge technologies to improve their threat detection capabilities. 

• Faster and More Accurate Incident Response: With integrated and cohesive data from multiple sources, incident response teams can react more quickly and accurately. Correlating events across different systems reduces the time needed to understand an incident's scope and impact, enabling faster containment and remediation. 

• Flexibility to Switch Technologies: An Open XDR platform provides the flexibility to switch out components without disrupting the overall MDR service. This is particularly important as new threats emerge and new technologies are developed to combat them. Organizations are not tied to a single vendor's ecosystem and can adapt their security posture to meet evolving threats. 

• Mitigating Risks: Relying on a single vendor for all security needs can be risky if that vendor's technology falls behind or if there are supply chain attacks or other unforeseen issues. An Open XDR platform mitigates these risks by allowing organizations to diversify their security technologies and avoid dependence on a single provider. 

What Can an MDR Service Accomplish with an Open XDR Platform?

Now that we broadly understand the importance of Open XDR for MDR services, let’s explore the value associated with specific types of telemetry. 

Network Data Sources such as firewall logs, VPN logs, network infrastructure, and DNS give MDR analysts a bird’s eye view of the environment, including activity from unmanaged and rogue devices, enabling: 

• Advanced Threat Detection: An Open XDR platform can detect sophisticated attacks such as lateral movement and data exfiltration by correlating network traffic data with other data sources. 

• Improved Forensics: Detailed network traffic analysis helps organizations understand the scope and impact of security incidents, facilitating more effective incident response and remediation.

Application/SaaS Data Sources enable MDR services to monitor user activity, access patterns, and data usage, improving the detection of suspicious behaviors and potential threats. This visibility ensures robust protection through:

• Enhanced Application Security: Monitoring user activities and data flows within SaaS applications helps detect anomalies and potential data breaches.

• Compliance and Data Protection: Monitoring data access and usage within applications to ensure adherence to compliance requirements protects sensitive information and meets regulatory standards. 

• User Behavior Analysis: Detecting abnormal user behaviors can indicate compromised accounts or insider threats, allowing for timely intervention.

Cloud Data Sources provide MDR analysts with insights into the configuration, access logs, and activity within cloud environments, allowing the detection of misconfigurations, unauthorized access, and potential breaches. Use cases for cloud data include: 

• Cloud Security Posture Management: Continuous monitoring of cloud configurations and activities ensures that security policies are enforced, and potential threats are identified promptly. 

• Detection of Cloud-Specific Threats: Identifying threats unique to cloud environments, such as insecure APIs and unauthorized access, is critical for maintaining cloud security. 

• Cross-Environment Correlation: Correlating cloud data with on-premises data helps detect hybrid threats and ensures seamless security across all environments. 

Identity Data Sources allow MDR services to monitor authentication events, user behavior, and access patterns, enabling detection of a wide range of threats, including: 

• Identity and Access Management: Monitoring authentication and authorization events helps detect compromised credentials and privilege escalations. 

• Anomaly Detection: Identifying anomalous login patterns, such as logins from unusual locations or devices, can indicate potential security breaches. 

• Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) Monitoring: Ensuring that MFA policies are enforced and detecting attempts to bypass MFA adds an extra layer of security. 

• Unified User Profiles: Aggregating identity data from multiple sources to create comprehensive user profiles enhances threat detection and response. 

Multiple Endpoint Protection Solutions are frequently present in large environments, particularly those with a high degree of federation or after a merger/acquisition. In this case, it’s important for an MDR service to have access to data from all relevant endpoint protection solutions in a centralized platform to enable: 

• Centralized Endpoint Visibility: Aggregating data from various endpoint protection solutions provides a unified view of endpoint security, making it easier to identify and respond to threats. 

• Coordinated Response: Orchestrating response actions across different endpoint protection solutions ensures comprehensive threat mitigation. 

• Comparative Analysis: Analyzing and comparing the effectiveness of different endpoint protection solutions helps identify gaps and areas for improvement. 

Operational Technology (OT) Data Sources are increasingly present alongside traditional IT devices and are often subject to the same types of threats. An Open XDR platform can provide MDR analysts with access to OT security data, unlocking: 

• Operational Technology Security: Monitoring industrial control systems (ICS) helps detect anomalies and potential threats in OT environments, protecting critical infrastructure. 

• Unified IT/OT Security: Correlating OT data with IT security data provides a unified security view, helping detect blended threats that span both IT and OT environments. 

• Threat Intelligence Integration: Leveraging threat intelligence specific to OT/ICS environments allows for proactive threat detection and mitigation, enhancing overall security posture. 

Conclusion

Selecting an MDR service built on an Open XDR platform, such as CylanceMDR, provides unparalleled flexibility, visibility, and effectiveness in detecting and responding to threats.

By leveraging diverse data sources and integrating best-of-breed technologies, an Open XDR platform enables organizations to achieve comprehensive security coverage and superior threat intelligence. Avoiding vendor lock-in and mitigating associated risks further ensures that organizations can adapt and evolve their security strategies to meet emerging challenges.

Check out CylanceMDR to learn more about how an Open XDR platform can enhance your organization's security posture and provide the comprehensive protection you need against today's advanced threats.

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