Enhancing Network Security: Addressing XDR Evasion Techniques with Streaming Defense

A recent article in CSO Online (https://www.csoonline.com/article/3476179/how-your-xdr-is-evaded.html) highlights a critical issue in cybersecurity: the evasion techniques used by attackers to bypass Extended Detection and Response (XDR) systems. As the complexity and diversity of cyberattacks increase, relying solely on XDR systems exposes significant vulnerabilities. Here, we explore these issues and demonstrate how Streaming Defense overcomes these challenges, providing comprehensive security for our clients.

Understanding the Challenges of XDR Systems

The CSO Online article outlines several weaknesses of XDR systems:

1. Limited Signature Inventory: XDR systems rely on maintaining an extensive signature inventory to identify threats. However, with the infinite diversity of attacks, this approach becomes a costly and never-ending task. Attackers continually develop new techniques and tools, making it impossible for signature-based detection to keep up.

2. Network-Level Threats: XDR systems primarily focus on endpoint detection, often missing threats that occur at the network level. Network-level threats can include sophisticated attacks like man-in-the-middle attacks, data exfiltration, and lateral movement within the network. These attacks can bypass endpoint defenses and remain undetected.

3. Evasion Techniques: Attackers continuously develop techniques to evade detection by XDR systems, particularly through network traffic manipulation and exploiting endpoint blind spots. Common evasion techniques include encryption, using legitimate services for malicious purposes, and altering attack patterns to avoid detection.
   

The Reality of Security Drift

Another critical challenge not often discussed is security drift, which refers to the gradual degradation of security posture over time. Organizations may think they have achieved a certain level of security, but as people leave, products change, and unexpected events occur, security can unknowingly weaken. This drift can lead to vulnerabilities that are not immediately apparent but can be exploited by attackers.

Streaming Defense protects against this inevitability by providing continuous monitoring and detection capabilities that do not rely on static configurations or personnel-dependent processes. Our solution ensures that your security posture remains robust despite the changes and challenges that naturally occur over time.

Streaming Defense: A Comprehensive Solution

Streaming Defense addresses these challenges by providing a full-take capture at the network edge, ensuring every interaction with potential adversaries is visible and persistent. Here’s how we overcome the limitations of XDR systems:

1. Complementing EDR/XDR with Streaming Defense: Streaming Defense is designed to complement EDR/XDR systems by focusing on network traffic, an area often overlooked by traditional solutions. By providing an additional layer of security at the network level, Streaming Defense helps cover the gaps left by EDR/XDR systems, ensuring a more robust defense against cyber threats.

2. Reducing Reliance on EDR/XDR: One of the key benefits of Streaming Defense is the reduction in reliance on EDR/XDR systems. By integrating Streaming Defense, organizations can enhance their overall security posture, mitigating the risks associated with over-dependence on a single type of security solution. This diversified approach ensures better protection and resilience against evolving threats.

3. Addressing Evasion Techniques: Streaming Defense effectively addresses these evasion techniques by inspecting every packet that crosses the network border, ensuring that even the most covert network manipulations are detected and mitigated. Our AI-driven solution continuously learns and adapts to new threats, enabling real-time detection of millions of Indicators of Compromise (IOCs).

4. Enhancing Detection Capabilities: Streaming Defense leverages advanced analytical techniques, including proprietary AI, to enhance detection capabilities. By continuously analyzing network traffic in real-time, Streaming Defense can identify suspicious activities that might be missed by EDR/XDR systems. This proactive approach ensures immediate detection and response to potential threats.

5. Addressing Non-IT Endpoint Gaps: In industries like manufacturing and healthcare, where non-IT endpoints are prevalent, the lack of EDR/XDR coverage creates significant security gaps. Streaming Defense addresses this issue by residing at the network layer, eliminating the dependency on host-based security measures and ensuring comprehensive protection across all endpoints.

6. Unmanaged Endpoints and Supply Chain Threats: Unmanaged endpoints and supply chain threats represent a significant blind spot for EDR/XDR solutions due to their dependency on endpoint agents. In contrast, Streaming Defense's real-time detection capabilities, which reside outside of the endpoint, allow for full observability of compromised supply chains. This is especially critical in complex environments such as mergers, acquisitions, or across siloed IT networks. Streaming Defense's internal network probes enable the detection and mitigation of insider threats where traditional XDR systems may be completely blind.

7. Ensuring Resiliency: Recent incidents, such as the Crowdstrike probe failure, highlight the risks associated with endpoint-dependent security solutions. Streaming Defense operates out-of-band, ensuring that security measures do not interfere with production systems. This approach maintains system resiliency and avoids the risks associated with faulty endpoint probes.

8. Detecting AI-Engineered Threats: As AI-driven cyber threats emerge, Streaming Defense remains vigilant by inspecting abnormal network activity. AI-engineered threats, such as polymorphic malware, often evade detection at the host level but still exhibit network-based exfiltration behaviors. Streaming Defense’s agnostic view of network activity ensures visibility and threat mapping, providing unparalleled detection capabilities compared to traditional EDR/XDR solutions.

Outcomes for Our Clients

1. Enhanced Security Posture: Clients benefit from a robust security solution that complements their existing EDR/XDR systems, filling in the gaps and providing a more comprehensive defense against cyber threats.

2. Reduced Costs and Complexity: In addition to the low cost of ownership and maintenance, Streaming Defense reduces the reliance on maintaining a vast signature inventory, lowering costs and simplifying threat management for clients.

3. Real-Time Threat Detection: Our AI continuously analyzes network traffic in real-time, ensuring immediate detection and response to potential threats. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of successful attacks.

4. Visibility and Control: With our Attack Operations Theater, clients gain real-time, agent-less observation of all network interactions. This visibility allows for immediate identification and response to threats, enhancing overall security management.

5. Resiliency and Reliability: Streaming Defense operates out-of-band, ensuring that security measures do not interfere with production systems. This approach maintains system resiliency and minimizes risks to production environments.

Conclusion: A Holistic Approach to Cybersecurity

The issues highlighted in the CSO Online article underscore the limitations of traditional XDR systems in today’s complex threat landscape. Cyber attackers are continually evolving, developing sophisticated evasion techniques that can bypass endpoint-focused defenses. Streaming Defense offers a comprehensive solution that addresses these challenges by focusing on network traffic, leveraging advanced AI for real-time threat detection, and ensuring visibility across all network interactions.

By complementing EDR/XDR systems, Streaming Defense provides new dimension of security exposing the real-time attacks as they occur and bringing a completely new level of observability. This approach reduces costs, simplifies threat management, and offers unparalleled visibility and control.

With Streaming Defense, clients can confidently protect their networks against ever-evolving cyber threats, ensuring robust and resilient security in an increasingly complex digital landscape.