XDR goes beyond DLP by offering visibility through multiple layers of security as well as automating threat detection and response which is a key advantage due to the shortcomings of applying DLP solutions in the current security environment.
Cloud-Native XDR Integration
Cloud-native XDR solutions are built with the use of cloud architecture that can offer the required extensibility and scalability to detect threats and respond to them across an organization’s IT estate. These platforms are fully compatible with cloud environments providing the extended visibility of cloud workloads, applications, and services.
Key benefits of cloud-native XDR integration include:
- Centralized collection of data in addition to analysis from various cloud and on-premise environments
- Real time detection of threats supported by cloud scale computing and big data analytics and machine learning.
- Typically, such barriers are related to automated response actions that can be deployed quickly across cloud assets.
- This means that it becomes easy to manage from a single console which is available in the cloud.
- The ability to receive updates and feeds in threats without using patches always
Through contextual cyber defenses of cloud native XDR one can improve the capacity of organizations to identify and combat such complex attacks which can take place in multiple and hybrid clouds.
This approach also empowers security teams to get comprehensive visibility as well as improve the functioning in the complex IT environments.
Automated Threat Response Workflows
Automated threat response workflows in XDR systems helps in coordinating incidents and follow a set of operations that define actions to be taken upon threat identification. These workflows typically include:
- Filtering of these alerts, and their immediate classification into high-priority and low-priority or urgent and non-urgent respectively.
- Co-ordination of security tools to mitigate threat, for example, quarantining compromised endpoint or blacklisting a suspicious IP address
- Improvement of threat information with other information from intelligence fusions.
- A full-automated process of generating and categorizing the incident tickets to correct security officers
XDR platforms eliminate the need for numerous tools generating large amounts of noise that can take a lot of time to analyze but also mean time to detect and mean time to respond are greatly reduced by the XDR platforms thereby enabling security teams to shift focus to more high end and strategic assignments.
Proactive Threat Hunting with XDR
Threat hunting in general correlates with XDR and helps an organization to be prepared for the threats to become more damaging. This is a massive advantage over the multiple isolated siloed analysis systems since XDR platforms deliver holistic views across multiple data sources as well as offering visibility into the subtle indicators of compromise and any anomalous activity that may be difficult to detect through other means.
Key benefits include:
- Better identification of hidden threats due to the connection of information from endpoints, networks, and cloud spaces
- Deep context for investigations based on machine learning as well as behavioral patterns.
- Integration and optimization of effective identification and selection of important potential threats for attack hunters
- Efficient procedures for either escalating the identified threat, or responding to its confirmation independently.
Using XDR, security developers can find and track threats much faster, and therefore be more proactive in building their enterprise’s defenses against sophisticated actors.
XDR Evolving DLP
Therefore, we find today’s Extended Detection and Response as a strong consequent of those classical approaches to Data Loss Prevention. Before discussing the specifics of XDR, proponents argue that XDR is more than just the rebranding of many existing technologies; instead of that, it is a vast enhancement of threat identification and mitigation.
XDR platforms enhance DLP by providing:
- Comprehensive safeguard of an organization’s entire system against and cyber threats, intruders and unauthorized use of any system or data.
- Automated proactively monitoring of endpoint security, new solution for accurate data classification, robust and accurate alerts without false positives.
- Extending multiple layers of products in a single solution that allows the management of related threats, researches and controls them.
- Greater awareness and connection of security events from sources, such as endpoints, networks, and cloud deployment.
The integration of DLP with the most optimal and superior XDR allows organizations to enhance data protection, response time for threats, and general security efficacy in the new-generation threats.
XDR in Action
An example of XDR in practice shows how utilising it can prove helpful in real life. For instance a manufacturing firm recently succumbed to a well-coordinated cyber warfare which attacked personal data in the company’s human resource and marketing departments. This incident was investigated within a short span and regulated through Cortex XDR from Palo Alto Networks, although the affected systems were spread across different data centers and cloud environment all across the world. The XDR platform offered a graphical view of all events categorised by the criticality and impacted host in the dashboard section of the platform. By using the Live Terminal the analyst monitored the download directory, where the files that posed a threat were extracted and, applying the “Search and Destroy” option, the analyst ensured their absence across the whole network. This fast response action held the threat in place and limited the amount of destruction that was possible which demonstrated what XDR is capable of in terms of offering expansive visibility, efficient investigations, and fast containment and remediation across versatile and expansive networks.
XDR-DLP Integration Benefits
XDR enhances traditional DLP strategies by providing several key benefits: XDR enhances traditional DLP strategies by providing several key benefits:
- Having more sources of data the more effective it is noteworthy in the detection of data exfiltration attempts.
- Through automation of security event correlation, meaning that analysts are not overwhelmed with too many alerts and have an easier time in managing a given incident.
- DLP integration of DLP alerts into a single security work flow where it is easy to investigate and resolve the issue.
- AI-based tools in order to detect suspicious user activity, suggesting possible insider threats, or compromised accounts
- It has the potentialities for activating automated measures allowing for stopping data leakage as soon as it is detected, for instance, blocking file transfers or segregating endpoints.
Delivering DLP within the context of the XDR concept will allow organizations to enhance protective measures at the technical level and help implement more proactive security measures for the comprehensive information security of an organization’s IT environment.