What Are the Components of a Good NDR Strategy

One of the many tools an organization employs to fight sophisticated cyber attacks is Network Detection and Response (NDR) platforms. An NDR platform is basically a web security technology that helps with the monitoring, detection, analysis, and prevention of cyber attacks.

However, certain components or abilities must be present to ensure that an NDR performs its functions to the fullest. In this article, you will be getting a comprehensive insight into some of the components that need to be present in an NDR for effective and efficient functioning.

Components of a Good NDR Strategy

User-behavior Analytics (UBA)

User-behavior analytics is a component an NDR should have as it will be very useful in a more concise detection of malicious network activity. User-behavior analytics (UBA) is basically a component that helps in gathering and providing insights into the network activities of a user (s) every day.

Remember, in the definition of an NDR security solution, it creates a baseline of normal network activity so it can easily detect abnormal ones. So, the purpose of an NDR having this component is that it will help in establishing these baselines and can help trace the activity on the network to a specific user.

Attacker Behavior Analytics (ABA)

The ability to analyze the behavior of a user shouldn’t be the only component of an NDR, as attacker behavior analytics (ABA) is very important. An attacker behavior analytics (ABA) is basically a massive library of stealthy attacker techniques that foreshadow every successful breach from cyber criminals. The purpose of having this component is that it helps in detecting malicious threats and traffic even if cybercriminals try to hide their footprints.

Automated and Coordinated Response Configuration

The major function of an NDR platform is to make things easier for an organization with regard to monitoring and detecting abnormal network traffic. Hence, there needs to be some sort of automation with how an NDR platform carries out the whole process of detecting these malicious traffic. Apparently, the normal method is mainly detecting and alerting the security team so they can work on eliminating any cyber threat.

However, in the absence of an available security team, an NDR should have the component automation and independence in handling security threats. In other words, there should be an automaton in handling both the monitoring, detecting, analyzing, and prevention of any cyber threat.

For instance, an NDR should handle the elimination of a cyber threat, assuming an employee downloads malicious software that spreads malware within an organization’s system. First, the NDR should have the component of communicating with other security tools, such as a firewall, and automatically instructing them on what to do to prevent further damage by the malware. This is exactly what a solution like Stellar Cyber offers to organizations — the ability to automate coordinated responses without needing the help of the security team.

Great Access Control Among Teams

One of the features or components an organization should look out for before choosing an NDR platform is how good its access control is. Access control is simply a component that determines who has access to the NDR solution itself. The NDR solution should have a feature allowing only the team tasked with handling certain data to have access to such information.

To break it down, there are many sub-sections on the security teams of an organization, such as SecOps, IT Ops, and even the NDR team itself. An NDR platform should have the component of providing access only to the NDR team when they need it before other sections within the security team can have access to it.

Threat-intelligence (TI) Feed

A  threat-intelligence (TI) Feed is another important feature an NDR should have for a more robust approach to monitoring and detecting abnormal network traffic. First, threat intelligence is basically the information an organization obtains regarding potential security threats to an organization. So, the benefit of a  threat-intelligence (TI) feed is that it provides a vast stream of data that helps in the monitoring and remediation of cyber threats.

Apparently, the security team of an organization doesn’t usually have context with regard to the occurrence of certain cyber threats. So, the function of a threat intelligence (TI) feed is to provide them with context on certain threats for better detection.

Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integrations

Machine learning and artificial intelligence is becoming a pivotal component of most modern technologies. Hence, it is also important that an organization choose an NDR that has ML and AI at the forefront of its applications and executions. The importance of having ML and AI as part of an NDR component is that it brings an addition of deep data science and analytics capabilities.

In other words, having these components in NDR solutions like Stellar Cyber helps in the automaton of workflows, faster and more efficient threat detection, and prevention. For instance, when using an NDR that features a machine learning (ML) feature, it helps in DNS analysis, device profiling, signature, and non-signature-based data normalization. On the part of AI, it helps in uncovering some of the deep and encrypted methods employed by cyber attackers.

Supporting Other Web Security Solutions

The fact that NDR solutions can monitor and detect even encrypted malicious network traffic doesn’t mean they can work solely on their own. It would be a mistake if an organization went ahead and put an NDR platform as its sole web security solution. There should be other supporting security solutions such as firewalls, anti-virus software, EDR, cloud security solutions, and many others. This ensures that there’s a foolproof security framework for an organization, and also, these other security solutions might help cover the oversight of an NDR platform.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, an NDR has a crucial function to perform in monitoring and detecting cyber threats before they become a headache for an organization. However, certain components help in forming a good network detection and response strategy.

Hence, without these components, an NDR platform might not perform at the highest level, or cybercriminals can still find their way around this tool. But, having components like attacker behavior analytics (ABA), user-behavior analytics, and a threat-intelligence (TI) feed will be crucial for peak performance. Other important abilities include having great access control among teams, machine learning, and AI integrations, and supporting other web security tools.