Today’s threat landscape is more dangerous than ever before.
- A cyberattack occurs every 39 seconds.
- The average cost of a data incident is $4.88 million.
For many organizations, responding to a cybersecurity incident can feel overwhelming. The alerts start piling up, systems slow down or go offline, and you’re left trying to figure out what to prioritize with limited time and resources.
That’s where Extended Detection and Response (XDR) comes in. Backed by a 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC), XDR helps organizations strengthen their incident response plans without having to build a full internal security operation.
What is XDR (and How Can it Help Your Organization)?
XDR is a cybersecurity approach that consolidates threat detection and response across your entire IT environment—from endpoints and cloud workloads to user activity and network traffic. Instead of managing disconnected tools in isolation, XDR aggregates telemetry to provide a clearer view of what is happening and how to respond.
For organizations with limited IT resources, XDR reduces the complexity of managing multiple tools. It automates detection, correlates data across systems, and can take predefined actions.
When paired with a 24/7 Security Operations Center, XDR becomes even more powerful. The SOC team monitors your environment around the clock, investigates alerts, and responds to security incidents before they reach your team.
How XDR Supports Every Stage of Incident Response
The incident response lifecycle includes five phases: preparation, detection, containment, recovery, and post-incident. Here’s how XDR supports each one.
1. Preparation: Staying Ahead of the Threat
Preparation is an ongoing effort. XDR supports this by continuously refining its threat models and adapting based on the latest threat intelligence and the behavior it observes in your environment.
With XDR in place, your team is better equipped to:
- Build effective response playbooks
- Understand normal vs. abnormal activity
- Proactively identify and close security gaps
- Train staff using insights from past incidents
2. Detection and Analysis: Catching Threats in Real Time
One of XDR’s biggest advantages is early detection. It continuously monitors activity across your systems and uses behavioral analytics and threat intelligence to flag suspicious activity.
XDR Works By:
- Aggregating data across your environment, including applications like Microsoft 365 and network devices
- Applying machine learning to detect anomalies
- Prioritizing threats based on severity and impact
Common threats XDR can detect include:
- Malware and ransomware
- Phishing attacks
- Compromised credentials
- Insider threats
- Lateral movement
- Zero-day exploits
When backed by a SOC, XDR ensures alerts don’t just pile up. The SOC reviews them in real time and often responds before your team is even notified.
3. Containment: Limiting the Damage
Once the threat is confirmed, XDR can take immediate action to stop it from spreading. Many platforms support automated or semi-automated response actions that align with predefined playbooks.
Examples include:
- Isolating infected devices
- Blocking malicious IPs or domains
- Disabling compromised accounts
- Killing malware processes
And because the SOC team is actively involved, they can execute or escalate containment actions quickly without waiting for someone on your team to be available. This automatic containment helps reduce alert fatigue and means that your team only gets involved when necessary.
4. Recovery: Removing the Threat and Moving Forward
After containment, it’s time to fully eliminate the threat and secure any vulnerabilities to help prevent it from happening again.
XDR helps by providing a log of events and data that shows how the attack unfolded, what systems were affected, and what vulnerabilities may have been exploited.
This makes it easier for your team or your IT partner to:
- Remove malware and backdoors
- Revoke or reset compromised user accounts
- Patch vulnerabilities that were exploited
- Restore clean backups of critical systems and data
5. Post-Incident: Learning and Strengthening Defenses
After recovery, the final phase is reflection and improvement. XDR platforms typically offer reporting tools that document everything—from the initial alert to resolution.
These reports are helpful for:
- Meeting compliance or audit requirements
- Conducting internal reviews
- Sharing lessons learned with leadership
- Improving your incident response process
Incident Response Doesn’t Have to Be Overwhelming
Responding to cybersecurity threats can feel daunting, especially for small teams, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. XDR helps streamline the process, providing earlier detection, faster response, and better visibility throughout each stage of an incident.
By consolidating tools and adding structure to your response plan, XDR helps your team focus on what matters.
Curious to learn more about how XDR might fit into your environment? We’re here to help.