Where there's smoke, there's fire. You want to prevent a building from going up in flames – and you are looking for fire retardants. But you would actually prefer that the digital intruder stays outside the door. Or that – as described in the metaphor above – nothing catches fire. On this page we tell you more about the benefits and limitations ofNDR within cybersecurity. 

What is NDR within cybersecurity?

NDR stands for Network Detection and Response, an important technology in cybersecurity. It is designed to monitor networks, detect suspicious activity and respond appropriately to potential threats. NDR systems continuously monitor network traffic to detect anomalies and suspicious activity. This is often done by using machine learning and behavioral analysis.

NDR detects and responds – but is not sufficient to fully ensure the digital security of your company. Using NDR alone is not enough – for the following reasons:

• No Endpoint Protection: NDR focuses on protecting network traffic. In contrast, it provides no protection or detection on endpoints (such as laptops, desktops, and mobile devices). Does your company mainly work in the cloud? Then NDR is not sufficient for your organization.
• Data and applications: Many cyber threats target specific applications and data. Application security and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) are necessary to protect these critical components.
• Human interaction: Automation is important, but where people work, mistakes are made. That is why it is important to train your employees on suspicious situations, emails and links. NDR systems must therefore be part of a larger cybersecurity plan. It should not be the starting point of your cybersecurity strategy.

Cybersecurity is not a one-size-fits-all solution: every organization needs a tailor-made cybersecurity strategy. With ourDigital Estate Reviewyou will find out how your organization scores in the field of cyber security.

Find out how your organization is doing →

“NDR is only part of your cybersecurity plan. You need more to keep cyber criminals out.”

NDR vs. ITDR within cybersecurity

As just described, NDR is only one part of the complete cybersecurity plan. There are other ways to detect suspicious activity in your digital environment. ITDR is an example of this: it stands for Identity Threath Detection & Response. ITDR focuses specifically on securing identities and detecting and responding to threats related to user and system accounts. For example, this system detects suspicious login attempts and does not trust any user or system.

With more and more organizations working in the cloud, ITDR is becoming important. It is often even a lot more important than NDR. NDR focuses on network traffic and activities, while ITDR focuses on user identities and access rights.

NDR, ITDR and XDR

XDR is a collective name for several security technologies such as NDR and ITDR. XDR is an advanced security methodology that integrates multiple security technologies and data sources to detect, investigate, and respond to threats across layers of IT infrastructure. This includes network, endpoint, server and cloud data.

How can you optimally secure your organization?

Many organizations only take action when the digital environment has already caught fire. In other words: the fire has been given the opportunity to reach your building. Ensure that your organization does not catch fire and opt for preventive cybersecurity. You do this in the following ways:

• Let oneDigital Estate Reviewto find out where your organization is currently doing.
• Reduce your exposure to the outside world so that risk and possible damage are transparent. Exposure = Risk x Damage.
• Work with Multi-Factor Authentication (M.F.A): This requires a user to use multiple authentication methods. Also enforce this in places where this is not obvious (service accounts, powershell and files).
• Only give employees within your organization the necessary access rights to systems. Less is more!
• Make sure you comply with the new onesNIS2 guideline, even if this does not yet directly apply to your organization.

This protects your organization, employees, privacy-sensitive data, customers and corporate image. Curious how to approach this? Route443's specialists ensure that you will never lose sleep over potential 'fire hazards' or the threat of cyber attacks.