Reviewed by Sanjay Raja · November 17, 2025

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is an integrated endpoint security solution that combines real-time continuous monitoring and collection of endpoint data with rules-based automated response and analysis capabilities. These cybersecurity systems detect and investigate suspicious activities on servers and endpoints, employing a high degree of automation to enable security teams to quickly identify and respond to threats.

Adoption of EDR solutions

According to Stratistics MRC, sales of EDR solutions are projected to reach $10.63 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.8%. This growth is driven by a number of factors, including:

• Rising Endpoint-targeted Attacks. The growing volume of cyber threats, including malware and ransomware, targeting enterprise and individual endpoints calls for robust EDR solutions.
• Expansion of Cloud Platforms. The increasing use of cloud services is accelerating the adoption of cloud-based EDR, offering enhanced scalability and flexibility.
• Growth in Bring Your Own Device Policies. The widespread use of personal devices for work and IoT devices expands the attack surface, creating a greater demand for advanced security measures like EDR.
• Need for Real-time Monitoring. EDR's ability to provide continuous monitoring and analysis of system behaviors enables immediate threat detection and response, which is vital for modern cybersecurity.

Key components of EDR security

EDR security provides an integrated hub for the collection, correlation, and analysis of endpoint data, as well as for coordinating alerts and responses to immediate threats. EDR tools have three basic components:

• Endpoint Data Collection Agents. Software agents conduct endpoint monitoring and collect data—such as processes, connections, volume of activity, and data transfers—into a central database.
• Analysis and Forensics. An endpoint detection and response system may incorporate both real-time analytics, for rapid diagnosis of threats that do not quite fit the pre-configured rules, and forensics tools for threat hunting or conducting a post-mortem analysis of an attack.
  • A real-time analytics engine uses algorithms to evaluate and correlate large volumes of data, searching for patterns.
  • Forensics tools enable IT security professionals to investigate past breaches to better understand how an exploit works and how it penetrated security. IT security professionals also use forensics tools to hunt for threats in the system, such as malware or other exploits that might lurk undetected on an endpoint.
• Automated Response. Preconfigured rules in an EDR solution can recognize when incoming data indicates a known type of security breach and triggers an automatic response, such as to log off the end user or send an alert to a staff member.

New EDR capabilities improve threat intelligence

New features and services are expanding EDR solutions' ability to detect and investigate threats.

Threat intelligence

For example, third-party threat intelligence services, such as Trellix Global Threat Intelligence, increase the effectiveness of endpoint security solutions. Threat intelligence services provide an organization with a global pool of information on current threats and their characteristics. 

That collective intelligence helps increase an EDR's ability to identify exploits, especially multilayered and zero-day attacks. Many EDR security vendors offer threat intelligence subscriptions as part of their endpoint security solution.

AI and machine learning

Additionally, new investigative capabilities in some EDR solutions can leverage AI and machine learning to automate the steps in an investigative process. These capabilities can learn an organization's baseline behaviors and use this information, along with a variety of other threat intelligence sources, to interpret findings.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework

Another type of threat intelligence is the Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge (ATT&CK) project underway at MITRE, a nonprofit research group that works with the U.S. government. The MITRE ATT&CK framework is built on the study of millions of real-world cyberattacks.

The ATT&CK framework categorizes cyberthreats by various factors, such as the tactics used to infiltrate an IT system, the type of system vulnerabilities exploited, the malware tools used, and the criminal groups associated with the attack. 

The focus of the work is on identifying patterns and characteristics that remain unchanged regardless of minor changes to an exploit. Details such as IP addresses, registry keys, and domain numbers can change frequently. But an attacker's methods—or "modus operandi"—usually remain the same. An EDR can use these common behaviors to identify threats that may have been altered in other ways.

As IT security professionals face increasingly complex cyberthreats, as well as a greater diversity in the number and types of endpoints accessing the network, they need more help from the automated analysis and response that endpoint detection and response solutions provide.

Trellix’s approach to endpoint detection and response

Trellix EDR with Forensics (EDRF) provides comprehensive and proactive protection so organizations can detect and respond to advanced endpoint threats faster and more effectively. It offers a unique combination of advanced analytics, AI-driven automation, and expert insights to help organizations stay ahead of the curve and protect their endpoints from the latest threats.

Key features of Trellix EDRF

• Detects and Responds to Advanced Endpoint Threats Faster. Trellix EDRF offers always-on data collection and multiple analytics engines throughout the detection and investigation stages to help accurately surface suspicious behavior, make sense of alerts, and inform action. Advanced analytics and AI-driven insights reduce the mean time to detect (MTTD) and respond (MTTR). This allows for real-time threat detection and response, minimizing the impact of security incidents.
• Provides Comprehensive Coverage. The solution provides complete visibility into endpoint activity, enabling organizations to understand your security posture better and identify potential risks. Users can find a collection of endpoint event information and stream it to the cloud for immediate inspection, real-time search, and historical analysis. Flexible data retention options support the varied needs of diverse security operations teams and organizations.
• Think Like an Attacker Capabilities. Organizations can understand attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and proactively defend against them. Behavior-based detection capabilities and MITRE ATT&CK framework mapping support this approach.
• Analyst-centric Workflow. The solution provides an intuitive interface and flexible data visualization tools. This makes navigating and understanding complex security data easy for analysts of all skill levels. Alert ranking helps analysts understand risk severity and formulate an appropriate response.
• Dynamic Automatic Investigations. AI-powered investigation guides automate the investigation process, exploring multiple hypotheses in parallel to accelerate threat analysis and reduce analyst burnout. These guides dynamically adjust to each case, combining different investigation strategies and data to gather, summarize, and visualize evidence from multiple sources.
• In-depth Forensics. Powerful search and data collection capabilities help analysts uncover the root cause of incidents and gather evidence for remediation and response. Trellix EDRF can take a snapshot of an endpoint, capturing a comprehensive view of active processes, network connections, services, and autorun entries.

Complementary Trellix products and services

Trellix Network Detection and Response (NDR), when combined with Trellix EDRF, delivers comprehensive coverage across an organization’s SOC needs. In addition, Trellix Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services enable organizations to extend their in-house security teams with 24/7 expert-led, AI-driven managed detection and response.