Threat detection and response solutions allow organizations to detect and remediate against cyber-threats within their network environment. They are designed to continuously monitor networks to find potential threats, analyze the potential risk that they pose, and then provide organizations with remediation steps to take.
These solutions are typically deployed to all endpoint devices within a network environment. They then connect to a centralized admin console, which provides real-time reporting, admin controls, and monitoring of endpoint devices. Admins should be able to configure alerts to let them know when threats are detected, and the solution should integrate with other security tools to provide a more holistic approach to network security.
They are different from endpoint detection and response solutions in that they do not provide threat protection; instead, they provide real time alerts and allow organizations to configure automated policies to provide instant remediation against harmful threats. For this reason, we recommend using these solutions with a strong incident response plan in place to tackle threats when they are found.
Threat detection and response solutions can be seen as a last line of defense: if your firewalls and endpoint protection fail, threat detection and response solutions will alert you to a problem, even when the issue has never been seen before.
There are a broad range of tools available that provide this functionality. In this shortlist, we’ll cover the top threat detection and response solutions. We’ll compare key features including threat detection, continuous monitoring, automated responses, reporting, and admin controls.
ESET offers a comprehensive extended detection and response solution—ESET Inspect—as part of their ESET PROTECT Enterprise bundle. The ESET Inspect XDR component provides: risk assessments; threat investigation and remediation, including a cloud Web Console; powerful endpoint protection; full disk encryption and advanced threat defense. ESET allows teams to analyze and respond quickly to advanced threats, including ransomware, and prevents policy violations on end-user devices. Users praise the service for its easy management, flexible deployment, and responsive customer support.
ESET Inspect Features:
Pricing: Contact ESET directly for ESET PROTECT Enterprise pricing.
Expert Insights’ Comments: ESET PROTECT is an endpoint security solution with XDR capabilities, making it a strong choice for organizations seeking a comprehensive, multilayered endpoint security platform. With ESET Inspect, teams can quickly access the necessary information to analyze and respond to potential threats, such as ransomware, and prevent policy violations on user endpoint devices. Additionally, ESET provides a managed detection and response service for customers that require specialized support and threat hunting. We recommend ESET PROTECT to teams of all sizes looking for all-in-one endpoint protection and an XDR solution, particularly those needing XDR for cyber insurance purposes.
Infinity SOC is a cloud-based threat detection program from Check Point. It aims to only detect and respond to genuine threats across your network, cloud, endpoints, mobile devices, and IoTs. It’s a cloud based solution, and deployed via API within Microsoft 365 and G-Suite. It offers seamless integration and deployment is fuss-free and often completed in a short space of time. Users have also noted Check Point for the helpfulness of their support team.
Check Point Infinity SOC Features:
Pricing: Pricing is supplied via a quotation request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Check Points Infinity SOC operates on world-class threat intelligence, using AI-trained engines to hunt for threats and remediate them as they appear. It offers fast yet precise attack prevention across the entire network and all endpoints, with in depth reporting and visibility into all devices. In addition to being a powerful tool that quickly detects and responds to emerging threats, it also provides alerts on patches in security. It can block attacks before they happen, and utilizes strong anti-phishing, anti-ransomware, and file sanitization capabilities. We would recommend Check Point for organizations ranging from SMBs to enterprise level.
Darktrace DETECT&RESPOND is an AI-driven, cloud-based solution that is easily deployable and requires little maintenance once it’s up and running, with the product quickly learning what are the network’s requirements and how it functions. It provides admins with deep technical reports, allowing full, in-depth, and comprehensive reporting into all network activity. Its AI-learning tool is the highlight of the product, constantly evolving to spot zero-day attacks, novel attacks, and insider threats.
Darktrace DETECT/RESPOND Features:
Pricing: Pricing is available upon request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Highly adaptable, Darktrace’s solution is adept at detecting and isolating instances of account takeover, potential insider threat, novel cases of malware and ransomware, and can detect attacks on cloud services, SaaS, and IoTs. It works well with all servers and work-related apps as well as being able to deliver flexible yet strong security to all endpoints regardless of where they may sit in the network. Enterprise Immune System has been noted for its in depth reporting for SOC operators to help them respond to threats, its usability, and an intuitive user interface. We would recommend Darktrace’s TDR solution to any organization of any size looking to enhance network security.
From innovative security company Heimdal is their eponymous Heimdal XDR–a pervasive, layered, and feature rich XDR solution that offers a comprehensive, mindful approach to cybersecurity. The solution is comprehensive and integrated with end-to-end security. It offers full visibility across your entire environment which allows for greater protection through faster detection and response. Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, this further drive’s the solution’s precision and speed in detecting threats and enhancing automated responses. The whole solution is centrally managed from a clean, concise, and intuitive dashboard that offers downloadable security status reports, mitigated threats, ROI outlooks, CVEs, and graphics.
Heimdal XDR Features:
Pricing: Pricing is supplied via a quotation request. A free trial is available.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Powerful, precise, and easily managed through a centralized console, Heimdal XDR is a strong choice for organizations looking for greater control, intuitive and intelligent features, and automated response and remediation. The dashboard offers complete visibility, aided by clear and striking visuals and easy access to important information. Detection capabilities are robust and the solution supplies teams with detailed attack analyses, indicators, and risk scores so they can make faster, more informed decisions. The company is also notable for their level of support during onboarding, deployment, and management. We would recommend Heimdal XDR for organizations of any size and of most industries, due to its accessibility, ease of setup, and wealth of capabilities and features.
Trellix Extended Detection and Response XDR is a cloud deployed product that provides 24/7 monitoring and prevention that categorizes alerts by priority. Its cloud-based nature makes it easy to integrate with other products and systems, without compromising on software and hardware performance. FireEye XDR combines detection research and analytics to provide comprehensive insights into attacks, including on new and emerging threats. Reverse engineering is possible, allowing for the tracking of attacks back to the source.
Trellix XDR Platform Features:
Pricing: Pricing is supplied via a quotation request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Time can be of the essence with certain threats and Trellix knows this. As such, to make sure teams focus on the issues that matter most, the Trellix XDR Platform not only detects and flags threats with IT teams, but prioritizes them as well. In addition, it provides extensive threat context alongside these prioritized updates, streamlining the process further for staff. The solution categorizes applications and can detect multi-stage attacks, malicious-after-arrival attacks, zero-day attacks, polymorphic attacks, and ransomware. Overall, Trellix XDR is a clever tool that delivers a strong solution with intuitive, smart capabilities that not only delivers round-the-clock prevention but in-depth analysis and tracking.
Rapid7 Threat Command is an extensive, powerful threat detection and intelligence program that protects your business by responding quickly and effectively to threats. It relies on thousands of sources from the clear, deep, and dark web to stay up-to-date on the latest potential emerging threats. It is a cloud-deployed solution, with easy, fast deployment and an intuitive interface. Threat Command, in addition to relying on sources from all parts of the web, also has an expansive threat library to refer to when needed. This library is constantly updated on zero-day threats and novel attacks.
Rapid7 Threat Command Features:
Pricing: Pricing is supplied via a quotation request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Threat Command offers extensive insight and context into threats, streamlining the troubleshooting process for teams and helping admins make more informed decisions. It offers strong investigation and mapping capabilities, decreasing research time. Rapid7 Threat Detection quickly detects emerging threats and sends automated alert responses across the network so staff are notified as soon as anomalies are found, allowing for a faster response time to threats. This is done through plug-and-play tools that are integrable with SIEM, SOAR, and firewalls. Overall, Rapid7’s Threat Command is a streamlined, fuss free approach to threat detection and remediation. We would recommend Rapid7 Threat Command for organizations at SMB and enterprise level.
Vectra Threat Detection and Response Platform is a strong contender on this list for threat detection and response. It implements AI-assisted threat hunting, utilizes data science to provide in depth analysis to teams, and possesses enhanced network monitoring capabilities. It can be deployed through the cloud, on-prem, or as a hybrid model, and merges well with existing solutions and servers. Deployment and management is often fuss-free, with users commending support for their help.
Vectra Threat Detection and Response Platform Features:
Pricing: Pricing is supplied via a quotation request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Intelligent, fast, and streamlined, Vectra Threat Detection and Response Platform is a flexible and pervasive threat detection and response tool that has a wide range of deployment options with easy onboarding. The program’s AI-learning feature not only learns how your business operates and learns and responds to threats in real-time, it also prioritizes threats as they emerge, making sure that your team handles the most pressing problems first, rather than focusing on less damaging attacks instead. It is an excellent solution that enables far-reaching insight into the company network, extending to all network endpoints. With its extensive visibility and power threat hunting feature, we would recommend it as a strong option for MSPs.
Watchguard is a cybersecurity company specializing in network security, endpoint security, and MFA. They’re a popular option due to their strong customer focused approach. Their Threat Detection and Response solution from Watchguard is an affordable solution that doesn’t compromise on security. It is highly integrable with existing antivirus solutions and doesn’t impact performance and speed for endpoints. It is deployable through Watchguard’s Firebox as a cloud service. Firebox is an on-prem tool designed to help the shift of a company’s network from on-prem to cloud.
Watchguard Threat Detection And Response Features:
Pricing: Pricing is supplied via a quotation request.
Expert Insights’ Comments: Watchguard’s Threat Detection and Response is a blend of comprehensive and powerful security tools that contain advanced threat protection and anti-malware. It greatly enhances security against most forms of malware and advanced attacks such as ransomware and botnet attacks, to name a few. The solution has been noted by users for its affordability, ease of use, and streamlined deployment. We would recommend this product to SMBs looking to move their network security to the cloud.
The threat landscape has changed significantly in recent years. For a lot of companies, barrages of attacks, false alarms, and constant alerts are the norm and admins and SOC trams simply don’t have the time, resources, and–often–mental bandwidth to dedicate themselves to every incident that occurs under the network sun.
Having a threat detection and response solution in place and configured correctly can be hugely beneficial in handling the bulk of investigating potential threats and flagging anything malicious or abnormal if the situation requires it. It helps teams to spot emerging and unknown threats so they can remediate the issue a lot faster. Improving response times is critical to being able to contain and handle a breach or attack more effectively. Another of threat detection and response solutions are that they can catch sophisticated cyber-threats that may not be caught by endpoint protection solutions or network firewalls. This is because they use advanced behavioral-based controls and sophisticated analytics to detect any abnormal activities, such as unauthorized network connections or suspicious behaviors.
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Craig MacAlpine is CEO and founder of Expert Insights. Before founding Expert Insights in August 2018, Craig spent 10 years as CEO of EPA cloud, an email security provider acquired by Ziff Davies, formerly J2Global (NASQAQ: ZD) in 2013, which has now been rebranded as VIPRE Email Security. Craig has extensive experience in the email security industry, with 20+ years of experience helping organizations to stay secure with innovative information security and cyber security solutions.