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Threat Data: Year in Review
1: Understanding XDR
2: The Blumira Approach to XDR
3: Detecting and Responding to Real-World Threats
4: Enhancing Threat Detection and Response
5: Why Choose Blumira XDR?
WHITE PAPER
Threat Data: Year in ReviewCybersecurity has really come into its own in recent years. Threats and vulnerabilities have become more complex and sophisticated. In today’s world, threats like malware, ransomware, phishing attacks, and advanced persistent threats (APTs) are constantly evolving, exploiting vulnerabilities in information systems.
Blumira pulled vulnerability data from 8.3 PB of collected log files from in excess of 7,000 customers highlighting threats that they faced over the course of 2023. To put that amount of data into perspective, that is the equivalent of approximately 1,765,957 DVDs worth of data storage. These 60,104 documented threats could potentially lead to significant financial losses, damage to an organization’s reputation, and even compromise sensitive data. The diversity and complexity of these threats make them difficult to detect and manage using traditional security measures. Suffice it to say there is not enough coffee to help most security analysts muddle through manually.
Organizations often deploy a range of security tools, including firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems, to protect their digital assets. However, the isolated nature of these tools can create frustrating silos that make it difficult to get a clear view of the security landscape and how an organization can best address alerts. It can make it challenging to get a comprehensive view and respond to threats effectively. This is where extended detection and response (XDR) comes into play.
XDR is an integrated suite of security products that unifies control points, security telemetry, analytics, and operations into one platform. It extends beyond traditional endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions by collecting and correlating data across multiple security layers—email, endpoint, server, cloud workloads, and networks. This approach enables a more complete view of the organization’s security posture, allowing for the detection of sophisticated threats that might go unnoticed by individual one-off security solutions.
XDR platforms use advanced analytics to identify patterns and anomalies that indicate a potential security threat. By integrating a wide range of disparate data sources, XDR can provide more accurate detection, automate responses to incidents, and offer actionable insights for security teams. This not only improves the speed and efficiency of threat detection and response but also helps in identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers. Clarity of view leads to succinct responses.
As organizations face an increasingly hostile cyber threat landscape, XDR offers comprehensive and integrated security against a wide range of digital threats.
XDR is a security solution designed to provide organizations with a comprehensive way to detect, investigate, and respond to cyber threats across their entire digital environment.
Imagine your organization’s digital environment as a vast, bustling city. This city is made up of different neighborhoods (your various IT domains like email, endpoints, networks, and cloud services). In a city, it’s of paramount importance to have a good security system to keep residents safe from threats like burglaries or vandalism.
Traditionally, different neighborhoods in our city might have their own security teams (traditional security solutions) that operate independently of each other. They might use different methods and tools, making it hard for them to work together efficiently when a city-wide issue arises. This setup makes it easier for criminals to exploit blind spots or gaps in the security.
Enter the Dragon…er, XDR: It’s like forming a city-wide, elite security team that has a high-tech command center. This team uses advanced technology to monitor the entire city, not just individual neighborhoods. They have a comprehensive view and can quickly detect when something suspicious is happening anywhere in the city. Because they have insight into all neighborhoods at once, they can see how an incident in one area might be related to something happening in another.
When the XDR team detects a threat, they don’t just sound the alarm; they also have the tools and authority to respond immediately. Whether it’s shutting down a compromised service before the threat can spread or isolating a malware-infected computer, they can act swiftly to minimize damage.
1. Unified Visibility: Like having CCTV cameras in every part of the city, XDR provides a single, comprehensive view of all security data across the different IT environments.
2. Faster Detection and Response: With advanced analytics and machine learning, XDR can quickly identify potential threats and automate responses, much like how our elite team can quickly intervene in any part of the city.
3. Improved Efficiency: By having a centralized system, security teams can manage threats more efficiently, reducing the time and resources spent on managing multiple, disconnected security tools.
In essence, XDR offers a more coordinated, efficient, and effective approach to cybersecurity, ensuring that the entire digital “city” is safer and more resilient against threats.
Blumira’s extended detection and response (XDR) solution is designed to make advanced cybersecurity accessible and manageable for businesses of all sizes, especially those with limited security resources. Think of it as a highly sophisticated, yet easy-to-use security system for your organization’s digital environment. Here’s how the Blumira XDR solution stands out:
Imagine if you could install a top-notch security system in your home that not only alerts you to a potential emergency, but also gives you clear instructions on how to further protect yourself and your house, all without needing to be a security expert. That’s the philosophy behind the Blumira XDR platform. It is designed to be user-friendly, making advanced security measures accessible to businesses without specialized security staff.
The Blumira XDR solution is like having an all-seeing security guard for your digital “city.” It monitors across your network, endpoints (like laptops and servers), dedicated cloud services and multi-tenant environments, and applications. This broad coverage ensures that no part of your digital environment is left unchecked, providing a unified view of potential security threats.
When Blumira detects a threat, it doesn’t just sound the alarm and leave you to deal with the problem. Instead, it offers automated response actions, guiding you through the process of containing and eliminating the threat. One of the standout features of the Blumira XDR is its focus on providing actionable insights. When a threat is detected, you receive clear, step-by-step instructions on how to address it. This approach is designed to empower even those with limited cybersecurity knowledge to take effective action quickly, reducing the potential damage from security incidents.
For businesses concerned with regulatory compliance, the Blumira XDR helps simplify the process. By providing comprehensive monitoring and logging of security events, it aids in meeting compliance requirements for a range of standards. This feature is like having an automated record-keeper that ensures all the necessary security documentation is in order, saving time and effort during audits.
The Blumira XDR platform has been designed to address a range of vulnerabilities and challenges faced by small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in maintaining cybersecurity. By combining security information and event management (SIEM), endpoint visibility, and automated response mechanisms, Blumira aims to simplify, consolidate, and enhance the efficiency of threat detection and response processes.
A significant vulnerability that the Blumira XDR targets is the limited visibility within complex, hybrid environments that include both on-premises systems and cloud infrastructure (dedicated and multi-tenant.)
Another key challenge addressed by Blumira’s platform is the complexity and resource intensity of traditional SIEM solutions. These often require significant manual effort to implement and maintain, including the development and tuning of detection rules, leading to alert fatigue and delayed responses to real threats. Blumira simplifies this by providing a platform that automates threat detection and response, reducing the need for extensive security experience and infrastructure
That fatigue can be palpable, especially in the face of thousands of attempts by malicious actors to compromise systems by targeting Microsoft 365 applications, using malicious URLs, exploiting RDP connections and other remote access tools, potential clear text passwords in emails, and password spraying. The overarching theme being the attempts to socially engineer targets as well as target misconfigurations. SSH connection attempts from public IP addresses numbered over 13,000. While most of these are expected behaviors, it was uncanny to see 1,382 attempted telnet connections. It was amazing that attackers are still looking for these listening ports, and it is somewhat telling that there is even still the possibility of finding these systems in the current threat landscape.
The Blumira XDR platform addresses these challenges by focusing on operational efficiency and compliance. It provides automated 24/7 monitoring and endpoint visibility, along with log retention that meets various regulatory requirements. This not only helps businesses reduce the burden on their IT teams but also ensures they meet compliance and cyber insurance requirements.
Moreover, the Blumira XDR platform offers features like automated host isolation, which swiftly contains endpoint threats, allowing IT teams more time to investigate and respond. This is particularly valuable in preventing widespread damage from threats like ransomware.
By designing the Blumira XDR platform as an accessible, comprehensive security solution for SMBs, it addresses the vulnerabilities of limited visibility, complex security environments, compliance requirements, and the need for efficient threat detection and response.
When we look at the data collected by Blumira over the course of 2023, we see a 343% increase in detections of events from collected customer data. This included 60,104 detected threats. The top three threats were Splash top-, PsExec-, and TeamViewer-related. In addition there were also documented detections of mimikatz, remote shells, registry dumps and so on.
When examining the breadth of the attacks, it became clear that the top three industry verticals that were affected were 1) Healthcare, 2) Banking, and 3) Information Technology Services. Information Technology customers were affected by 6.2% of the overall documented alerts. Banking was the recipient of 17.4% alerts, and Healthcare came in at a whopping 19.6% of all documented findings. These customers are all in significant roles. The need for improved detective and response capabilities is clearly defined based on the data.
Choosing the Blumira XDR solution means opting for a security system that is not only advanced and comprehensive but also accessible and actionable. It’s particularly well-suited for organizations that need to strengthen their security posture but may lack the in-house expertise or resources to manage complex security systems. Blumira’s approach to XDR is about democratizing cybersecurity, making it possible for more businesses to protect themselves effectively in an increasingly threat-filled digital world.
To learn more about the Blumira XDR solution, try it out yourself with our free 30-day trial.
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