Threat Detection and Response (TDR): What is it and Do You Need it?

Time is critical when a cyber-attack happens - every minute counts. Why wait to respond when an attack happens when you could get ahead of the game with advanced threat detection?

The cost of cybercrimes is projected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025, up from $6 trillion in 2022. Clearly, traditional ways of responding to cyber-attacks are not robust enough for rife modern threats, and a layered defense strategy like TDR is the way forward.

What is Threat Detection and Response?

Threat Detection and Response (TDR) is a security strategy that combines technology, processes, and best practices to identify, analyze, and respond to cybersecurity threats. It involves two key components: Finding threats and responding to them.

Threat Detection

Threat detectionis about examining the security of a network to find dangerous users or activities. You can use various tools to constantly check for any signs of trouble, like strange patterns in data traffic or user behavior. For example:

• Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)to monitor network traffic for suspicious activity.

• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems collect and analyze data from various sources to identify potential threats.

• Antivirus tools scan for known malicious software.

Threat Response

Threat response is about taking action to stop cyber threats. It uses the information gathered from threat detection to monitor the system. The response can be automatic, like blocking risky connections, or manual, as long as it is proactive and stops problems before they start. There are various tools you can use to simplify threat response.

• Automated Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms to automate threat responses.

• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions monitor endpoints and respond automatically.

What is the Difference Between EDR and TDR?

Both EDR and TDR are crucial in a robust cybersecurity framework. However, they operate within an organization's security architecture at different levels and scopes.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

• EDR is an endpoint security solution focusing on end-user devices like computers, mobile devices, and servers.

• It's primarily concerned with recording and analyzing system-level behaviors on endpoints, detecting anomalies, and providing remediation strategies.

• EDR tools offer detailed investigative capabilities and can automate responses.

Threat Detection and Response (TDR)

• TDR is a broader concept that covers detection and response to threats across an entire network, not just endpoints.

• TDR integrates various tools and technologies, including EDR, to provide comprehensive protection. It involves using SIEM systems, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and more to monitor and protect the entire network infrastructure.

• TDR strategies are more holistic, focusing on a broader range of threats and responses at different levels of the network.

What are the 3 Pillars of Effective Threat Detection?

Threat detection has three critical pillars we rely on to keep things safe.

1. Comprehensive Threat Intelligence

2. Integrated Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

3. Proactive Vulnerability Management

5 Reasons Why You Need Effective Threat Detection and Response

1. Enhancing Real-Time Threat Protection: TDR solutions identify and respond to real-time threats. They provide dynamic and adaptive protection against various threats like ransomware and phishing.

2. Advanced Correlation for Prioritization: The strength of TDR tools lies in their ability to correlate vast datasets, which helps prioritize and quickly respond to the most critical incidents.

3. Improved Visibility and Forensic Capabilities: TDR tools offer deep insights into network and system activities, allowing your organization to understand and analyze security events easily.

4. Establishing a Baseline Model for Enterprise Activity: TDR systems contribute to developing a baseline of normal data and behavior patterns within an enterprise. This baseline is crucial for detecting anomalous, potentially threatening activities.

5. Optimized Resource Consumption: TDR tools help optimize resource consumption by providing valuable resource allocation and bandwidth management insights.

5 Best Practices for Threat Detection and Response

1. Develop and Test Incident Response Plans

2. Establish Clear Communication Protocols

3. Isolate and Contain the Threat

4. Remediate the Underlying Cause

5. Use a TDR Solution in Tandem with a Web Application Firewall (WAF)

WAF and Threat Detection and Response: The Ultimate Pairing

TDR and WAFs serve distinct yet complementary roles in your organization's cybersecurity framework. TDR offers a broader approach, focusing on detecting and responding to various threats, including networks, endpoints, and applications. On the other hand, WAFs specialize in protecting web applications by targeting specific types of attacks, such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting, that are common in web environments.

Your company can better understand threats by correlating alerts from both TDR and WAF systems. For instance, if a WAF detects an attempted attack on a web application, the TDR system can simultaneously check for related suspicious activities across the network.

Similarly, this integration allows for a coordinated response to threats. When a WAF blocks an attack on a web application, the TDR system can immediately initiate investigation protocols to check if the attack was part of a larger threat against your  IT infrastructure.

open-appsec's Contribution to Enhanced Security

open-appsec is a cutting-edge solution focusing on preemptive protection against OWASP Top 10 and zero-day threats targeting web applications and APIs. By leveraging ML-based security, open-appsec free WAF stands out in several ways:

• No need for signature updates: open-appsec's ML-based approach adapts and responds to emerging threats in real time, reducing the need for constant updates.

• Precision and continuous learning: open-appsec offers precise detection capabilities. Its ML algorithms continuously learn and evolve, understanding the behavior of malicious actors. This leads to more accurate threat detection and lower false positives than traditional WAFs.

• Eliminating constant fine-tuning: Traditional WAFs often require ongoing adjustments and exception handling, which can be resource-intensive. open-appsec streamlines this process, reducing the need for continuous tuning and manual intervention.

open-appsec is an open-source project that builds on machine learningto provide pre-emptive web app & API threat protection against OWASP-Top-10 and zero-day attacks. It simplifies maintenance as there is no threat signature upkeep and exception handling, like common in many WAF solutions.

To learn more about how open-appsec works, see this White Paperand the in-depth Video Tutorial. You can also experiment with deployment in the free Playground.