EDR vs. SIEM: What's the difference?

What is EDR?

EDR tools collect information and data from all endpoints upon which they are deployed -- from virtual and physical servers to laptops and mobile devices. Their goal is to discover, in real time, any suspicious behavior or pinpoint imminent threats.

A good EDR system can contain a breach occurring on an endpoint. It performs some of the same functions as an antivirus program, but on a more sophisticated level.

An EDR system should do the following:

• Large data analysis. EDR systems -- driven by both AI and machine learning (ML) -- thrive on processing large amounts of data. They update their threat vector databases without manual intervention, so the more information that organizations can feed into them, the better the response.
• Respond with actionable information. A good EDR system can report incidents quickly and efficiently and provide the following three integral pieces of information:
  • Suspected root cause of the incident.
  • The attack chain that led to a breach.
  • Related intelligence information.

• Provide an orchestrated response. EDR tools should coordinate with other security tools to help security teams respond quickly to breaches by launching necessary scripts, providing immediate access to infected endpoints, initiating host restoration processes and restoring registry settings and files in the event of ransomware attacks.
• Offer complete control. EDR systems should give security teams complete and deep access to affected endpoints. Their ability to collect latent evidence helps support forensics investigations.

EDR advantages

Key benefits of EDR tools include the following:

• Breach detection. A comprehensive EDR system provides telltale signs of a breach before it happens, helping save an organization from a lengthy downtime and costs.
• Rapid response. If a breach occurs, EDR tools trigger a coordinated response designed to help security teams contain it before more damage can occur.
• Compliance with standards and regulations. The information and data collected from EDR tools enable security teams to have a better idea of where weaknesses and vulnerabilities exist. EDR tools can also provide recommendations to patch up these weaknesses, lowering the chance of successful data exfiltration. This helps enterprises comply with existing data privacy laws, such as GDPR, as well as qualify for a good cyber insurance policy.

What is security information and event management?

SIEM platforms combine security information management and security event management. They collect and analyze all log files generated by security devices, such as firewalls, network intrusion devices and routers. They then alert security teams of any patterns that show unusual behavior, as well as any inbound threats. The relevant information and data are then typically presented through a central dashboard.

Today's SIEM platforms are increasingly powered by AI and ML, enabling them to more effectively filter false positives and reduce alert fatigue.

SIEM features

A good SIEM platform consists of the following:

• Log collection and management. SIEM platforms should aggregate log data generated by all security tools deployed. To do this, they must be vendor-agnostic. They should also correlate the data and use that to illustrate the attack signatures of potential malware variants. SIEM systems should also archive log files for long periods of time for future audits by data privacy regulators.

• Automation. If a breach occurs, an organization's first priority is how it responds. It should have a well-documented and rehearsed incident response plan and a SIEM platform that automates any procedures in that plan; for example, sequencing playbooks to help contain the threat.
• Privileged access management. SIEM platforms must monitor all accounts with privileged access and automatically alert security teams of any misuse. SIEM platforms should also deprovision dormant or inactive accounts and deactivate any that have potentially been breached.
• User and entity behavior analytics. SIEM platforms should support UEBA to monitor user behavior. If an employee tries to access a resource without adequate permissions, the SIEM platform issues an alert. It should also detect potential instances of shadow IT.

Advantages of SIEMs

Key SIEM platform benefits include the following:

• Better metrics. With a SIEM platform powered by AI and ML, mean-time-to-detect and mean-time-to-respond metrics should dramatically improve.
• Lower costs. Cloud-based SIEM platforms make the technology easier to deploy and manage. SIEM as a service, meantime, enables organizations to scale up or down quickly as security requirements change.
• Consolidation. SIEM platforms present reports and performance data in a central location, helping to eliminate organizational silos that can slow down incident response strategies.

Should organizations adopt EDR, SIEM or both?

EDR tools and SIEM platforms both collect data and telemetry from multiple sources for analysis, provide some form of response automation and create alerts for security team follow-up.

The security tools aren't interchangeable, however. For example, EDR tools focus on monitoring and securing endpoints while SIEM platforms offer visibility across the entire network. EDR tools provide more response capabilities while SIEM platforms offer mostly threat identification and have limited response capabilities.

Deploying EDR tools and SIEM platforms together enables organizations to keep endpoints and networks protected, while achieving better visibility and automating incident response and in-depth data collection.

Ravi Das is a cybersecurity consultant and business specialist who specializes in penetration testing and vulnerability management content.