NDR vs XDR: The Key Differences
This article will delve into the key differences, benefits, and limitations of both NDR and XDR, guiding organizations in making an informed decision that aligns with their specific security needs.
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Gartner XDR Market Guide
XDR is an evolving technology that can offer unified threat prevention, detection and response capabilities for security operations teams.
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What is NDR?
NDR systems can take large quantities of network information and feed them into advanced analytics. This allows them to identify unusual patterns or behaviors that signify a security risk, such as unauthorized access attempts, data exfiltration, or signs of malware. Once a threat is detected, the NDR solution alerts security teams, allowing for immediate action to mitigate the risk. Additionally, these solutions often incorporate machine learning algorithms to improve their network detection capabilities over time, learning from each incident to enhance future threat identification. This dynamic and adaptive approach to network security makes NDR solutions invaluable for organizations seeking to protect their digital assets from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
For a deep dive into how NDR can be optimized, see our definitive guide to ‘What is NDR?’. Understanding the wealth of capabilities on offer is equally important, too – get to grips with the full breadth of NDR Platform capabilities here.
What is XDR?
Generally, XDR solutions are vendor-specific ways to funnel every piece of data into advanced analytics and artificial intelligence: this helps correlate the data across vastly different security layers. Once threat detection kicks in, XDR systems can then automatically initiate responses, such as isolating affected systems, blocking malicious activities, or alerting security teams. This proactive and automated approach not only accelerates detection and response times but also reduces the reliance on manual interventions, making it an efficient tool in combating increasingly complex cyber threats. By offering a more dynamic and adaptive security posture, XDR solutions are gradually becoming a critical component in modern cybersecurity strategies.
Getting an XDR solution up and running doesn’t have to be difficult. From choosing a vendor to supercharging setup times, here’s how to implement XDR the right way. And if locking yourself into one specific vendor has kept you from exploring the field in the past, check out our open XDR platform.
NDR vs XDR Comparison: 3 Key Differences
While NDR solutions passively ingest and analyze network data, XDR extends beyond the network to offer a more comprehensive security solution. It integrates data from endpoints, cloud environments, applications, and, of course, network traffic. XDR provides a unified view of threats across the entire IT ecosystem, not just the network. This integration enables XDR to correlate data across different security layers, offering deeper insights and more accurate threat detection. XDR solutions also often incorporate automated response capabilities, allowing for quicker mitigation of threats across multiple domains.
Below, we take a closer look at the key differences.
#1. Scope
#2. Threat Detection Capabilities
XDR provides a broader and deeper insight into threats due to its cross-layer data correlation, compared to the network-centric approach of NDR. As endpoints are increasingly becoming major puzzle pieces in attack forensics, NDR’s native inability to incorporate device data could be an issue.
#3. Price
Taking a step back, the total tooling costs may equal out: the following table provides a deeper dive into the precise differences in mechanisms and responses.
NDR |
XDR |
|
Data Ingestion Methods |
Network tap, mirrored traffic, or AWS flow logs (applies to on-premises, virtual, hybrid, or public cloud environments). |
Mix of endpoint agents for host process analysis, Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) for network traffic inspection, and other possible data sources. |
Installation Site | Deployed without agents. Positioned out-of-band in cloud environments, data centers, and remote locations. | Endpoint agents and NGFW appliances are deployed on each endpoint and at network boundaries for enhanced visibility. |
Response Capabilities | Responses are typically limited to network-based actions like blocking traffic or isolating segments. | Automated responses across various domains, including isolating endpoints, adjusting firewalls, and more. |
Deployment | Minimal deployment complexity. | Requires more effort for deployment. |
Impact on Performance | Does not affect performance adversely. | Potential performance degradation when monitoring lateral network traffic. |
Provider Strategy | Integrated natively with threat intelligence, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems to prevent vendor dependency. | Single-provider focused: Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platforms are often specific to a single vendor, limiting third-party integrations to functions like threat intelligence. |
NDR Pros and Cons
NDR Pros
Network Pattern Recognition
Real-Time Raw Data Analysis
Contain Existing Threats
NDR Cons
Complexity and Expertise Requirements
Resource requirements
Unique Considerations
To establish its suitability for your organization, consider the network architecture you rely on day-to-day: while all NDR must supply you with metadata-rich analysis, the precise data it collects scales in conjunction with your own network complexity.
This once again reveals the data demands made by NDR solutions: while basic data analysis can provide an initial degree of visibility, a common complaint made by budget NDR users is the sheer number of false positives. In order to weed out the false positives from genuine threats, the NDR will need even more information: inbuilt machine learning algorithms further require network device activity, user behavior, and application data itself. Together, only then can an NDR reasonably cut out false positives to a manageable amount. Finally, as the vast majority of network data is encrypted, it’s further important for an NDR solution to detect threats without decrypting potentially-sensitive data. Understanding the limitations of each security tool is paramount to keeping your organization’s defenses top-notch.
XDR Pros and Cons
XDR Pros
Holistic Security Integration
Automated Threat Detection and Response
Improved Incident Investigation and Response
XDR Cons
Complexity and Resource Requirements
Potential Over-Reliance on Automation
Vendor Lock-In and Integration Issues
These pros and cons highlight that – while XDR offers a unified and automated approach to security – it also brings complexities and dependencies that organizations need to consider carefully when deciding on their security infrastructure.
Don’t Rush the Decision-Making Process
The tools in your security team’s toolkit can make the difference between malware deployment and its successful prevention. Take into account the size and operational efficiency of your security personnel – if their hours are swallowed up by manual triaging and investigation, or they’re dogged by endless alerts and product tuning, it could be time to start investigating single-pane-of-glass solutions such as XDR. Steller Cyber’s Open XDR simplifies and unifies sprawling security stacks into a single, holistic approach – regardless of vendor.