Cyberattacks: The Limits of EDR and How to Achieve True 360° Visibility
Monitoring your network only with EDR? You're going to get hacked.
More and more security monitoring services rely 100% on endpoint detection. Because of its simplicity and the obvious impacts of a compromised endpoint, it may seem like a good idea, but the reality is different. We’ve seen multiple organizations adopt this approach and they still end up compromised. Here’s why:
EDR can’t deliver full visibility across your environment
You can install an EDR only on devices such as workstations (laptops, desktops), mobile devices and servers. But in most networks, there are many other devices on which an EDR cannot be installed, such as: Printers, switches, routers, IoT devices, OT systems and other connected appliances.
All these devices are also targeted constantly and can be hacked.
Consequently, if your monitoring relies exclusively on EDR, you will never know whether these devices are under attack. And when you finally notice something is wrong, it’s usually already too late.
360-degree network visibility is the key to effective security
Attackers are sneaky and to be fully protected, you must ensure there are no blind spots in your cybersecurity monitoring. Without complete visibility across all devices in your environment, a breach becomes inevitable.
What You Should Do: Adopt a Defense-in-Depth Strategy
To reduce your risk of compromise, your security monitoring needs multiple protective layers. Here’s an effective approach:
1. Protect Endpoints Wherever Possible
In addition to perimeter protection, you must install a next-gen antivirus or EDR on every endpoint whenever it is technically possible.
2. Protect the Network Perimeter (the “front door” of your environment)
Deploy a solution that monitors what is going on your network, such as an intrusion detection and prevention system (IDS/IPS) or a network detection and response solution (NDR) These systems:
Automatically discover every device connected to your network
Can include log collection capabilities
Monitor network activity in real time
Analyze network traffic for signs of threats
What about a SIEM?
It is important to know that if you rely only on a SIEM to monitor your perimeter, you will still face blind spots, because some devices simply don’t generate logs you can collect. The advantage of IDS/IPS/NDR is its ability to automatically detect devices by analyzing network traffic, which means it doesn't need to interact with network equipment to protect them.
You can deploy multiple tools separately or use a single XDR platform that combines these different functionalities (network traffic analysis, log analysis, etc.).
Multi-Layer Protection Is the Only Way to Reduce Your Cyber Risk
This multi-layered protection will give you comprehensive visibility on your network security, which will ensure proactive network management.
✔ Global, unified visibility
✔ Faster detection of suspicious activity
✔ Continuous monitoring of every device
✔ Stronger protection against advanced threats
Ready to Eliminate Blind Spots and Strengthen Your Cybersecurity Posture?
Achieving true 360° visibility requires more than an EDR. StreamScan’s XDR platform combines network traffic analysis, log correlation, and continuous monitoring to detect threats other tools can’t see.
Book a free 30-minute consultation to assess your current visibility gaps and discover how StreamScan can help protect your entire environment.
Start your assessment today: https://streamscan.ai/contact/
