Endpoint Detection and Response - EDR

In the current cybersecurity landscape, several acronyms have emerged that seem similar but have very different functions: EDR, MDR, XDR, NDR... Understanding these differences is essential for building a good corporate defense.

EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) is a solution focused on monitoring, detecting, and responding to threats directly at endpoints: notebooks, desktops, servers, VMs. It goes far beyond a traditional antivirus/EPP because:

Analyzes behavior, not just signatures.
Deeply investigates suspicious activities.
Responds automatically (or with human action).
Continuous endpoint monitoring:
- Processes, memory, disk, network, app behavior.
- Threat detection:
  - Exploits, ransomware, fileless malware, "living off the land" attacks (LOLBins).
Automated Response
- Isolates the machine from the network.
- Kills malicious processes.
- Removes suspicious files.
Generates evidence for forensic analysis (attack timeline).
Exports data to solutions like SIEM/SOAR.

EDR Is Not Antivirus

Antivirus is basic signature: "file X = known virus Y".

EDR is behavioral: "why is Word downloading a PowerShell script at 3 AM?". XDR is EDR+, but will be clarified later.

EDR|XDR + SIEM + SOAR: Perfect combo

EDR|XDR detects strange behavior on the endpoint, can act locally, and sends logs to SIEM or to an MDR.
SIEM centralizes and correlates with other logs and generates an alert in SOAR.
SOAR automates response (e.g., disables user in Entra ID) and alerts the people involved.

So let's improve the EDR concept.

An EDR is the solution that records and stores all information that occurs on endpoints at the system and application level, uses various analysis techniques to detect suspicious behaviors on them, provides information about the context, blocks malicious activities, and provides remediation functionalities.

EDR is not what really protects you, that function belongs to antivirus, firewall, encryption, MFA, among others. The role of EDR is to monitor, but not at the content level, but to identify anomalous behaviors in the system. When it detects something suspicious, EDR collects forensic information for investigation. The response depends on the configured rules. It's an agent installed on the machine, capable of executing system-level commands and sending data for forensic analysis.

Forensics in cybersecurity is the process of collecting, preserving, analyzing, and presenting digital evidence in a structured and valid way, usually after a security incident.

Difference Between Types

All these solutions have the same final objective: detect, respond, and mitigate threats, but each acts on different layers and contexts of the IT environment.

While EDR focuses directly on endpoints (like notebooks and servers), other solutions like XDR expand this view to include networks, emails, and cloud applications that are "plugged into" the endpoint.

NDR focuses exclusively on detecting anomalies in network traffic.

There's also EPP (Endpoint Protection Platform), which is software with preventive action. Detects and blocks known malware, local firewall, device controls, exploit prevention, web filtering. Antivirus is part of EPP.

                [ EPP (Endpoint Protection Platform) ]
                            │
        ┌───────────────────┼────────────────────┐
        │                   │                    │
 [ Antivirus ]     [ Host Firewall ]    [ Device Control ]
 (Detects Malware) (Blocks ports)       (USB, Printers, etc.)

        │                   │                    │
 [ Exploit Protection ] [ Web Filtering ]  [ Application Control ]
 (Prevents attacks     ) (Blocks malicious ) (Restricts unauthorized
 (zero-day, scripts)     sites)              applications)

Today, nobody sells just antivirus anymore. Those offering only that can't compete in the market. Solutions have evolved and added more value over time. But does an EDR or XDR replace an EPP? It depends on the solution. A pure EDR doesn't replace an EPP, but there are EDRs and XDRs on the market that already come with EPP functions embedded. The same happened with traditional antivirus, which stopped being a simple signature tool to become a more complete protection platform.

In a few years, every EDR will probably be an XDR — these functionalities should merge and become market standard.

And here's the catch: would you rather install several small separate components on the machine or have a single, integrated solution that updates everything centrally? That's why open source solutions hardly compare to paid ones in this aspect — open projects tend to have a well-defined and limited scope, while commercial solutions bet on "all-in-one" delivery and this is hard to maintain in an open source project.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is basically a managed EDR service. Here, a specialized external team (security vendor) is responsible for monitoring, investigating, and responding to incidents 24x7, freeing the internal team from this operational burden.

Example: Your EDR detects a threat at 3 AM and the MDR team already acts automatically without needing to call your security team.

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) goes beyond endpoints. It integrates information and response from various environment layers, such as network, email, cloud, identity, and endpoints, on a unified platform. The goal is to provide a correlated view of complex threats, improving detection and response to more sophisticated attacks.

Example: Detect a phishing attempt in email, followed by lateral movement in the network, with exploitation on a cloud server, all identified as part of the same incident.

Network Detection and Response (NDR)

Network Detection and Response (NDR) is a solution focused on monitoring network traffic. It identifies anomalous communications, lateral movements, and attempts to contact C2 (Command & Control) passively, observing what travels through the internal and perimeter network.

Example: Detect an internal server trying to communicate with a malicious IP on the internet (indicating a possible compromise).

Acronym	Meaning	What is it?	Who operates?	Practical use example
EDR	Endpoint Detection and Response	Protection focused only on endpoints (notebooks, servers, etc). Detects, investigates, responds.	Internal security team (SOC) or IT	Detect malware on a company notebook.
MDR	Managed Detection and Response	It's a managed EDR service. A third party (vendor) monitors and responds for you 24x7.	External team (vendor)	Third-party team resolves alerts automatically.
XDR	Extended Detection and Response	Goes beyond endpoints: integrates EDR + network + email + cloud, centralizing view and response.	Internal or external team	Detect attack that starts in an email and ends on a cloud server.
NDR	Network Detection and Response	Focuses on network (traffic, lateral movement, C2 communication). Complements EDR.	Internal or external team	Identify strange movement between internal servers.
SIEM	Security Information and Event Management	Centralizes logs from everything (firewall, AD, cloud, EDR, etc.) for correlation and historical analysis.	Internal team (SOC)	Investigate attack by combining logs from various sources.
SOAR	Security Orchestration Automation & Response	Response automation based on security playbooks. Integrates SIEM, EDR, etc.	Internal team (SOC) or external	Auto-blocks malicious IP after detection via SIEM.

If we were to make an evolution: Antivirus → EPP → EDR → XDR.

MDR is not really a technological "evolution" like EDR → XDR... it's an evolution of service model, not tool.

NDR is also not a direct "evolution" like EDR or XDR. It was born to cover a gap that EDR never cared for: the network. Even though XDR takes care of the network, it does so in a limited way. It doesn't do deep traffic inspection, doesn't analyze detailed movements in the internal network laterally, nor sees pure network behavior like Darktrace or ExtraHop.

XDR sees the network as an event/log source.
NDR sees the network in detail, in real traffic.

Here's an overview to better understand this structure.

        [Endpoints]         [Network]     [Cloud / Email / Identity]
            │                 │                     │
         [EDR]            [NDR]                [XDR]
            └───────┬──────┘                     │
                    │                        [XDR - unified view]
                    └──────►   [SIEM]   ◄───────┘
                                 │
                             [SOAR]
                                 │
                     [Automatic action / Playbook]

However, XDR usually has EDR integrated, so if the option is an XDR we could think of this structure.

   [Endpoints / Email / Cloud / Identity]                 [Network]
                        │                                      │
          [XDR (with embedded EDR + integrations)]      [NDR (deep inspection)]
                        └───────────────┬──────────────┘
                                        │
                           [SIEM (log and event correlation)]
                                        │
                          [SOAR (orchestration and automation)]
                                        │
                   [Automatic action / Response playbook]

Main Market Solutions

The minimum function of an EDR is to monitor the endpoint and feed a SIEM or SOAR. But the best go beyond: they analyze behavior in real time and execute automatic responses directly on the endpoint — without depending on SOC or analyst.

An EDR can generate an alert directed to SIEM, but also send directly to SOAR, or even both.

Therefore, when we talk about EDR, we need to separate:

EDR Type	What they do
Basic EDR / only collect and alert	Collects data, sends to SIEM, generates alerts
Advanced EDR / with active response	Besides collecting, executes automatic actions on endpoint

Some EDRs or XDRs go even further, including EPP functions in the same package, but it's worth remembering: the main function of an EDR/XDR is not to be EPP, but to detect and respond to suspicious behaviors.

Having EDR/XDR on all machines just to generate reports that nobody looks at is wasting money. If there's no team to investigate alerts, filter false positives, and act quickly, then don't even call it EDR — what you want is just an antivirus (EPP), nothing more.

Below, we list the main market solutions, indicating if they offer active response (and the maturity level of the function).

Product	Vendor	Active Response	Observations
CrowdStrike Falcon	CrowdStrike	Yes	Market #1, strong in detection and response, cloud-native.
SentinelOne Singularity	SentinelOne	Yes	Excellent in automation and autonomous response.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint	Microsoft	Yes	Best option for Windows + Entra ID + Azure.
Trend Micro Vision One	Trend Micro	Yes	Includes XDR, strong cloud integration.
VMware Carbon Black	VMware	Yes	Strong in virtualized and cloud environments.
Sophos Intercept X	Sophos	Yes	Good cost/benefit, focus on medium businesses.
Cisco Secure Endpoint	Cisco	Yes	Integrates well with other Cisco solutions.
Bitdefender GravityZone	Bitdefender	Partial	Focused on SMB, limited active response.
ESET Protect EDR	ESET	Partial	Lightweight and efficient, moderate response.
Kaspersky EDR	Kaspersky	Yes	Strong telemetry, good in response.
Palo Alto Cortex XDR	Palo Alto Networks	Yes	Direct integration with firewalls and NDR.
McAfee MVISION Endpoint	Trellix	Partial	Functional EDR, but lost relevance.
FireEye Endpoint Security	Trellix	Yes	Strong in response to advanced threats (APT).
Check Point Harmony Endpoint	Check Point	Yes	Focused on endpoint + mobile + zero trust.
Cynet 360 AutoXDR	Cynet	Yes	EDR + NDR + UEBA + SOAR in complete package.
Cybereason Defense Platform	Cybereason	Yes	Strong against ransomware and fileless attacks.
Malwarebytes EDR	Malwarebytes	Partial	Popular in SMB, limited response.

The list of open source solutions for EDR/XDR is short, because there isn't a really complete and mature option on the market. Endpoint protection is still a terrain dominated by commercial solutions, due to the complexity involved: heavy telemetry, active response, and real-time behavioral analysis require high and continuous investments. Below are some projects to watch.

Project	Type	Active Response	Maturity	Observations
Wazuh	EDR-like	Limited	High	SIEM/IDS/Host-based, log collection, rule-based detection. No real automatic response.
Elastic Security	EDR-like	Limited (via modules/scripts)	High	Elastic Agent with integration of basic detection and response via Beats/Integrations.
OpenEDR (Comodo)	EDR	Partial	Low	Comodo's Open Source project, promising but without real market maturity yet.
GRR Rapid Response	Forensics	Manual	Medium	Google's tool for forensic response and remote data collection. Not automated response.
Velociraptor	DFIR/EDR	Manual	High	Focused on hunting and forensics. Not a complete EDR (no native active response).

EDR Is Not Antivirus​

Difference Between Types​

Managed Detection and Response (MDR)​

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)​

Network Detection and Response (NDR)​

Main Market Solutions​