What Is Network Detection and Response?

NDR vs. network security

Network security is the broad protection of your network and the data flowing through it from unauthorized access, misuse, or theft using firewalls, access control, encryption, and more.

NDR is a specific type of security tool that falls under the umbrella of network security. It focuses on continuously monitoring network traffic, north/south and east/west, for suspicious activity.

Think of network security as your home and all the different types of security used to protect it, like locks, alarms, and security cameras. NDR is a sophisticated security system that constantly monitors your home for break-ins, such as someone breaking a window or moving within your house, and alerts the police immediately.

Utilizing NDR alongside other network security tools is crucial to creating a layered defense against cyber threats.

How does NDR work?

NDR continuously monitors traffic flow and metadata, analyzes them using advanced techniques like machine learning, and identifies specific threats and deviations from established baselines that might indicate malicious activity. NDR helps security teams detect and respond quickly to potential cyber threats.

NDR safeguards your network from multiple aspects:

• Data Collection and Monitoring. NDR solutions continuously collect and analyze network traffic data, like logs, flow data, packet captures, metadata, user activity, file transfers, and application usage, providing a comprehensive view of network activity.

• Behavioral Analysis. Through continuous monitoring, NDR establishes a baseline of normal network activity for your organization. By creating baseline behavior models of network entities, NDR can identify deviations from typical patterns, distinguishing legitimate activities from potential threats.

• Anomaly Detection. Utilizing advanced algorithms and analytics, NDR can detect anomalies in network traffic that indicate malicious activities, such as suspicious connections, unusual data transfers, unauthorized access attempts, and data exfiltration.

• Threat Intelligence Integration. NDR can integrate with threat intelligence feeds for current information on the latest cyber threats and vulnerabilities to identify known malicious patterns and potential attacks more accurately.

  
  
• Automated Investigation and Response. NDR solutions leverage automation to quickly investigate potential threats and respond to confirmed incidents, significantly reducing the time between detection and mitigation.

Why is NDR important?

As cyber threats grow in sophistication, NDR's combined capabilities make it an indispensable tool to protect networks and data in today's complex digital landscape. NDR provides a holistic view of network activities and uses machine learning to identify known and unknown threats, enabling swift action against potential breaches. 

By maintaining a clear picture of the entire network ecosystem, organizations can detect and disrupt attacker activity across the complete lifecycle of an attack, not just initial compromise. This enables security teams to make more informed security response decisions.

What are the benefits of NDR?

NDR offers a comprehensive approach to network security, providing several key advantages that significantly enhance an organization's cybersecurity posture:

• Comprehensive Network Visibility. Gain visibility into all network activities, uncovering threats and potential vulnerabilities. Security teams can monitor the entire network infrastructure—on-premises, cloud, and IT/OT—to understand normal network behavior better and quickly identify deviations that may indicate a threat.

• Advanced Threat Detection. NDR leverages machine learning, AI, and behavioral analytics to detect known and unknown threats that traditional security measures might miss, providing an additional layer of defense against zero-day attacks, insider threats, and other sophisticated malicious activities. It significantly reduces false positives, allowing security teams to focus on genuine security incidents.

• Rapid Incident Response. NDR solutions offer end-to-end incident response capabilities, from detection to remediation, streamlining incident response by providing early detection, threat analysis, and automated containment capabilities. Automation significantly reduces the time between detection and mitigation, minimizing potential damage from security incidents. It provides security teams with detailed, contextual information about detected threats, empowering them to make quick, informed decisions.

• Improved SOC Efficiency. By automating routine tasks through NDR, security analysts can focus on high-priority threats, increasing overall productivity within the SOC. NDR tools handle large volumes of data and alerts, reducing alert fatigue and helping analysts prioritize critical issues.

• Proactive Threat Hunting. NDR empowers security teams to actively search for hidden, dormant threats and uncover stealthy malware within the network. Taking a proactive approach helps organizations stay ahead of potential security breaches. NDR supports sophisticated threat-hunting techniques that can reveal advanced persistent threats (APTs) and other complex attack patterns.

• Improved Compliance and Reporting. NDR provides detailed logs and reports for audits, helping organizations meet strict regulatory requirements. Tracking and documenting network activities can significantly simplify the compliance process and provide valuable insights for security audits.

Key features of NDR

When implementing an NDR solution, organizations should carefully evaluate these key factors:

• Integrations with Existing Infrastructure. Assess the NDR solution's compatibility with your current network architecture and security tools. Look for robust APIs and pre-built integrations for popular security platforms to ensure seamless data exchange and coordinated response capabilities.

• Scalability. Ensure the NDR solution can handle your current network traffic volume and scale to accommodate future growth. Consider its ability to monitor cloud environments, support distributed networks, and process increasing traffic volumes without performance degradation.

• Deployment Options. Evaluate cloud-based, on-premises, and hybrid deployment models. Consider each option's management complexity, data privacy implications, and alignment with your overall IT strategy to determine the best fit for your organization.

• Evolving Threat Landscape. To keep up with the shifting cybersecurity landscape, choose an NDR solution that can adapt to and keep pace with changes. Look for solutions that regularly update detection algorithms, integrate with current threat intelligence feeds, and identify and respond to emerging attack types.

• Resource Requirements. Consider technological resources (processing power, storage, bandwidth) and human resources needed to implement and maintain an NDR solution. Factor in potential training needs for your team and any additional hardware or software requirements.

Trellix NDR solutions

Trellix offers a comprehensive network detection and response (NDR) solution to enhance an organization's security posture. Critical aspects of Trellix's approach include:

1. Extended Visibility. Trellix NDR eliminates network blind spots to give comprehensive visibility across complex networks (IT, OT/ICS, IoT, and cloud). Trellix leverages existing investments while improving threat detection coverage that complements endpoint security controls to provide actionable insights.

2. Multilayered Detection. Trellix employs high-fidelity detection capabilities that are aligned with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, from initial attack and lateral movement to post-compromise detection. Broad, differentiated detection capabilities stack to detect attacker tactics and techniques at every stage across the kill chain to detect the undetectable.

3. Accelerated Response. Trellix enriches and correlates multiple network sensor telemetry to accelerate investigation and response to minimize alert fatigue and prioritize alerts that matter. This is achieved through Trellix Wise AI-driven alert prioritization, enrichment, investigation, and active response.

4. Contextual Insights. Trellix NDR provides actionable and detailed context about attacker activity. It visualizes the timeline and scope of an attack with intuitive dashboards, guided investigations, and streamlined workflows. Trellix leverages the Risk Aggregation Framework and Attack Path Discovery to identify the highest risk threats, assets, and communications while visualizing which action will have the highest impact on risk. 

For existing Trellix Network Security (NX) and Trellix Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) customers, Trellix offers a seamless upgrade to add NDR capabilities to their current investment:

• Trellix NDR Essentials package: Upgrades existing NX customers to NDR console with advanced alert investigations, Trellix Wise integration, and all current NX detection capabilities.

• Trellix NDR Core package: Adds ML-based threat detections, asset discovery, third-party integrations, enhanced investigation workflows, and Trellix response actions to existing NX/IPS deployments without disruption.

• Trellix NDR Enterprise package: Complete advanced NDR with attack path discovery, full-packet capture, forensic analysis, hyperautomation (SOAR), and enhanced Trellix Wise capabilities for comprehensive threat hunting.

For new customers, the Trellix NDR Core and NDR Enterprise packages offer complete capabilities, sensors, console, and integrations, for standard and advanced outcomes. 

• Trellix NDR Core: Full NDR solution with advanced threat detections, asset discovery, investigation workflows, third-party security integrations, and automated response actions for comprehensive network security.

• Trellix NDR Enterprise: Advanced NDR with attack path discovery, continuous packet capture, behavioral analysis, forensic workflows, hyperautomation capabilities, and premium Trellix Wise AI for sophisticated threat hunting.

This comprehensive approach enables Trellix to deliver an NDR solution that reduces detection time, accelerates incident response, and strengthens an organization's overall network security posture against evolving cyber threats.