What is XDR? Why include it in a modern security strategy?

Talking about extended detection and response.

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We have been talking about extended detection and response (XDR) for some years now, but despite being a buzzword in the industry, a fundamental question remains: what are we really talking about here? Extended detection and response technology improves security by collecting, correlating and analysing data to protect against complex and evolving threats.

Integrating XDR capabilities into an organisation's infrastructure means security events from diverse sources and assets can be analysed and correlated to determine which activities are taking place. WatchGuard’s XDR solution shares knowledge from a single security platform for fast, automated responses that reduce the workload of security personnel.

With cyber attacks occurring every 39 seconds, organisations can no longer afford to overlook the more integrated and automated cyber security approach that XDR offers.

WatchGuard’s XDR solution enhances security by integrating various technologies to deliver more precise threat detections than when they operate separately. The XDR layer collects and displays cross-product detections for computers, servers and firewalls in a unified way. This provides security professionals with the context of threat detections and enables them to respond to and stop advanced threats faster, lowering the risk posed by security threats significantly. By including this data in a single cloud console, it also eliminates the need to learn how to use multiple consoles.

“At Dolos, we aim to provide our customers with the maximum value at every step of their cyber security journey,” says Dominic Richardson, CEO of WatchGuard master distributor in Africa, Dolos. “We believe in encouraging our customers to take progressive steps towards cyber security maturity. Our focus is not to rush them into a full implementation, but rather to improve security at every step, with XDR providing incremental benefits as they go.”

• Unified threat visibility and threat response orchestration:

XDR speeds up threat detection and response by consolidating data from multiple sources into one interface. This unified view of cross-detections provides cyber security professionals with the context needed to respond to and neutralise advanced threats more efficiently.

• Reducing mean time to detect (MTTD):

According to IBM data, in 2022, it took companies an average of 207 days to identify a security incident. However, organisations with XDR technologies gained considerable advantages in identification and response times. Organisations that deployed XDR shortened the incident life cycle by approximately one month (29 days), on average, compared to organisations that did not deploy XDR.

• No configuration required:

Some XDR solutions require advanced knowledge when installing, configuring and setting up the tool. ThreatSync is WatchGuard’s brand name for its XDR implementation and is part of the Unified Security Platform framework, offering a unified and intuitive user experience. This simplifies adaptation and learning, and as it is multi-product and fully integrated. This also reduces the costs associated with configuring and integrating solutions.

XDR is the perfect fit for South African organisations, enabling them to increase security capabilities in an automated way and without the need for cyber security experts. It improves visibility, increases detection capabilities in specific scenarios, and simplifies responding to and remediating attacks.

If you would like to learn more about XDR and how you can build a modern security strategy, register for our complimentary webinar on the 16 of October at 3pm SAST.