EDR vs. XDR vs. Antivirus: Choosing the Right Security Solution

Technologies are improving day by day, and so is the sophistication of cyber attacks. The risks associated with the violation of cybersecurity are also growing in number and impact. So, it becomes critically essential for organizations, irrespective of their size, to have proper security measures. When building a stable and robust cyber defense, three popular cybersecurity solutions must be discussed: EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), XDR (Extended Detection and Response), and Antivirus.

Even though all the tools used in the protection of digital assets have their own importance, it’s important to understand their differences to choose the most suitable solution for an organization.

This article explains in detail the features of EDR vs antivirus vs xdr, the major differences between the three, and their uses. In the end, you’ll understand when each one has to be picked, and how they’ll fit in a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for your organization.

What is Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)?

Endpoint Detection and Response is a security technology that is used to identify threats and monitor end-user devices and activities. Take action for computers, laptops, and other mobile endpoints. The enhanced features of EDR in threat identification, analysis, and mitigation, allow it to perform activities that cannot be done by conventional antivirus software. EDR can detect suspicious behaviors in organizations and provide suggestions for threat remediation across different endpoint systems.

Key Features of EDR

• Real-time monitoring: EDR continuously keeps an eye on endpoints to detect suspicious or malicious activities. This is accomplished by monitoring processes, network connections, file system changes, and user actions.
• Threat Detection: Advanced algorithms and machine learning are used for detecting threats with EDR solutions. Where traditional antiviruses rely almost completely on detection methods based on signatures, EDR can detect known and unknown threats by following patterns of behavior and deviations.
• Incident response: EDR makes it possible to respond within a very short period of time in the event of a threat. It can isolate infected endpoints, terminate malicious processes, or reverse changes if needed.
• Forensic analysis: EDR offers detailed post-incident investigation. It logs every endpoint activity, allowing security analysts to trace how an attack started and propagated.
• Automated remediation: Most EDR solutions can almost automatically keep or remove threats without requiring human intervention. This uniquely helps when a security team tackles numerous common threats and astutely saves time for them.
• Threat intelligence integration:  EDR solutions are tailored to work with threat feed sources to improve their capacity for identifying new threats. This allows EDR solutions to detect and respond to new threats more quickly and effectively.

What is Extended Detection and Response (XDR)?

XDR is the evolution of EDR that extends threat detection and response capabilities to the network, cloud workloads, and applications beyond endpoints. Data integrated from multiple security layers can offer a comprehensive view of organizational security posture whenever needed.

Key Features of XDR

• Comprehensive visibility: XDR gathers and combines the data across different security tools and environments, such as endpoints, networks, cloud services, email, and so on.
• Advanced analytics: XDR relies on the application of AI and machine learning to augment the analysis of the security data collected from various vectors. By observing security layers in depth, It can detect multi-tier, multi-stage attacks that are to be spotted.
• Automated response across security layers: Upon the detection of a security threat, automated controls will be implemented to isolate endpoints, block network traffic, and revoke user access. These measures will be executed in a synchronized and coordinated manner.
• Unified platform: XDR allows management related to multiple security aspects to go through a single interface. This naturally brings about efficiency through consolidation, saving security teams from switching between multiple tools and dashboards.
• Threat hunting: XDR has strong threat-hunting support capabilities and can scan the enterprise IT environment thoroughly. By running hunting campaigns in an XDR-facilitated environment, all integrated data sources can be combined. As a result, active IoC hunting makes it possible to find unknown threats.

XDR can reduce the element of false–positives tremendously, as it can enable the system to correlate data from various sources and give high-quality alerts. This will therefore make security teams spend more time on critical threats and respond better.

What is an Antivirus?

Antivirus software is a basic tool for cybersecurity that has formed the core of digital protection for decades. It is designed to detect, prevent, and remove malicious software from computers and other devices. Though it forms part of every security strategy, actual protection by most antivirus software is usually based only on known threats and signature-based detection.

Key features of an Antivirus

• Malware Detection: Antivirus software will check files and programs against lists of known malware signatures – patterns or characteristics of known malicious software.
• Real-time protection: Advanced solutions provide real-time protection for system activities to halt malware infection. This is done by scanning files as they download, open, install, or execute.
• Scheduled scanning: The basic utilities of the antivirus tools include the general scans of the system in search of possible threats. It can schedule scans on off-hours; the users are not greatly inconvenienced by the scans.
• Quarantine: The majority of antivirus software today detects malware and isolates the infected files, stopping them from further replication. This is done without causing irreparable deletion of important files.
• Updates: Antivirus software will update its threat database to include new malware. Thus, it provides strong protection against the most current threats.
• Heuristics Analysis: Advanced antivirus solutions have heuristic analysis to find new or modified malware that does not correspond to any known signatures, thus offering additional protection against the emergence of threats.
• Web Protection: This is a common feature of most antivirus solutions now—abilities to protect against threats from the web, like phishing sites or malicious downloads.

Where does the antivirus fit in your security posture?

An antivirus forms an integral part of a decent security strategy. The tool works best at protecting against known threats, across a large base of users. Due to the many deficiencies associated with detecting sophisticated or zero-day attacks, it should be complemented by superior security tools like EDR or XDR in complex threat environments.

Small businesses that require minimal security in terms of data protection would only need a good antivirus. However, for large organizations operating in more vulnerable industries, antivirus software with more than one security tier along with other security instruments is necessary.

Critical Differences Between EDR, XDR, and Antivirus

EDR, XDR, and Antivirus are unique in terms of functionality; therefore the decision to choose one among these has to be made according to the company’s need and the cost it will have to bear in adopting the solution.

1. Primary Focus

The utility of an Antivirus is primarily as a malware protection solution. This is because it uses a database of signatures to look for known threats and remove them before they can escalate.

EDR is involved with endpoint threats and has a superior capability of detecting threats that typically elude basic antivirus systems.

XDR goes beyond this by offering threat detection and mitigation at a more advanced level, it connects data from different sources to give a complete view of a company’s security situation.

2. Coverage

Antivirus applications work on individual levels, meaning that such tools can be appropriately used by home users or companies with few workstations, and therefore, a low number of connecting devices.

These EDR solutions have advanced protection coverage which includes endpoints as well as all devices connected to the network, hence providing organizations with the ability to monitor the devices.

XDR builds on this to encompass endpoints, networks, cloud, and applications, thereby proposing a more complete protection against various attacks.

3. Detection Method

The detection techniques vary across these solutions. While antivirus is mostly signature-based and therefore, able to identify only previously cataloged threats.

EDR involves behavior analysis/machine learning techniques to analyze the anomalies and potential threats, most of which are unknown.

XDR transcends these by contextually observing deeper into security incidents across the IT environment, powered by advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

4. Response Capabilities

Antivirus solutions can quarantine or otherwise remove threats that it detect, but state-of-the-art EDR solutions provide advanced endpoint response capabilities for the security team to use. Taking this one step further, XDR allows for a coordinated response among multiple layers in the IT environment, thereby supporting complete and timely responses to threats.

5. Data Collection

Antivirus solutions collect very minimal data, usually from the device in question being protected. EDR solutions use endpoint data collection to provide insights into user activities and potential threats. XDR stands in this respect because it collects data from multiple sources—such as endpoints, networks, and cloud applications, thereby giving a deeper view of security landscapes.

6. Threat Hunting

In threat hunting, antivirus solutions often lack advanced detection capabilities, making it difficult to identify sophisticated threats that evade traditional signature-based methods.

EDR primarily focuses on endpoint-centric threat hunting, where a security team can proactively look for the threats in the endpoints.

XDR, though, allows threat hunting across the complete IT environment and into all corners, allowing security teams to nakedly and preempt threats before they flare up.

7. Complexity

These range from low to high in terms of the complexity involved in their implementation and ongoing management. Usually, antivirus solutions have a low level of complexity and can hence be easily rolled out and managed.

EDR solutions have a slightly increased level of complexity because experts ask for more upfront expertise so that all relevant sophisticated techniques are utilized.

XDR solutions are highly complex because they combine a lot of sources and need a higher level of sophistication in knowing the security operations.

8. Scalability

Antivirus not being scalable enough makes it less fitting for large, heterogeneous IT environments.

EDR solutions are scalable, allowing the organization to keep up with the coverage requirements.

Here, XDR does the job brilliantly to assure scalability to accommodate the changing needs of the organization with the increasing digital footprints.

9. Integration

Most of the antivirus solutions have limited integration with other security tools, and hence their functioning is not so effective across a broader security framework.

EDR can collaborate with other security technologies.

XDR stands out with broad integration capabilities that let organizations consolidate their security tools to smoothen operations.

10. Cost

Finally, cost is a very important aspect during the selection process for a cybersecurity solution. Antivirus solutions are typically within the lowest price range and are very cheap for most people and small businesses.

EDR solutions are in a medium to high price range because of the advanced features they have.

While usually topping as the most expensive of the three solutions, XDR offers maximum protection coverage, which easily justifies this cost for organizations in need of sophisticated security.

EDR vs XDR vs Antivirus: Comparative Analysis in Detail

Even though EDR, XDR, and antivirus are all agglomerated to one niche in the cybersecurity sector, they entail dissimilarities in terms of reach, potential, and strategies. Here is a comparison of each against several key parameters for a better understanding of the differences between these solutions:

So, these were some differences that are a must if an organization wants to have a proper combination of security solutions according to its needs, resources, and risk profile.

When to choose between EDR, XDR, and Antivirus

The size of the organization, the type of IT infrastructure in use, security needs, and resource availability are some of the factors that determine the suitability of a given security solution. In this regard, here is a comprehensive guide to help make the decision:

Use cases for EDR:

• Moderate to large organizations with moderate or high number of endpoints
• Organizations needing advanced threat detection and response on endpoints
• Companies interested in forensic analysis and investigative capability
• Enterprises willing to proactively hunt threats within their environment
• Businesses with specific requirements for secure endpoint.
• Companies looking to integrate endpoint security into their preferred SIEM system

Use Cases for Extended Detection and Response (XDR) :

• Complex and heterogeneous IT setups in large firms
• Organizations in need of a single point of view about overall security posture
• Matured security operations centers in organizations seeking operational efficiencies enhancement as well as improved threat detection/response processes
• Large enterprises wishing for data correlation from multi-tiered security stacks like cloud services, networks, or endpoints

• Organizations intending to reduce the impact of alert fatigue and increase their incident response
• Businesses needing to automate their security operations and achieve an automated security orchestration between various existing security tools
• Enterprises that desire advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities for threat detection

Use cases of Antivirus software

Despite the advanced capabilities of EDR and XDR, antivirus software remains relevant, especially for:

• Small businesses or personal use with minimal security requirements
• Any organization looking for a cost-effective first line of defense against common malware
• Companies that lack IT resources or knowledge
• Businesses whose major concern is to defend against known malicious software and viruses
• Organizations operating in low-risk settings with minimal compliance needs
• Home users and SOHO setups

Protecting your Business with SentinelOne

SentinelOne Singularity™ Endpoint is your ultimate ally when it comes to cutting-edge endpoint security and threat detection. It understands the true expanse of your enterprise assets and identifies them dynamically to protect any unmanaged endpoints.

Accelerate your response to malware, ransomware, and any other emergent threats that our detection mechanisms pick up autonomously. Transform vulnerable endpoints into strong first lines of defense with SentinelOne Singularity™ Endpoint.

You can use Singularity Ranger to map out network attack surfaces in real time and fingerprint all IP-enabled devices across your networks. The platform delivers the best-in-class EDR that combines static and behavioral detections to neutralize known and unknown threats.

You can build further, customized automations with one API using 350+ functions. Gather and correlate telemetry across your endpoints for a holistic context and enable analysts to understand the root cause and progression of attacks. Centralize remote management of your endpoint fleet into one console. It lets you streamline vulnerability and configuration management with ready-made or custom scripting.

SentinelOne Singularity XDR unifies and extends detection and response capability across

multiple security layers, providing security teams with centralized end-to-end enterprise

visibility, powerful analytics, and automated response across the complete technology stack. It can uncover stealth attacks with cross-stack correlation and auto-enrich threats with integrated threat intelligence.

To learn more about SentinelOne EDR vs XDR vs antivirus security features, contact the team to schedule a free live demo.

Conclusion

To summarize, while antivirus software protects against some known malware, EDR and XDR provide a much stronger approach to the detection and response of some of today’s most sophisticated threats. Antivirus will provide basic protection while EDR + XDR offers seamless threat detection and response.

The choice between EDR and XDR often comes back to most organizations by size, complexity, and level of security maturity. The main idea is to have a security strategy in place to secure an organization’s digital assets. The decisions may be clearer after considering the pros and cons of the solutions you are going to apply.

FAQs

1. Is Antivirus better than EDR?

EDR stops and reacts to risks of this kind on an advanced level that is beyond other anti-virus products. This makes it more appropriate for organizations that are exposed to sophisticated threats in cyberspace. However, its complexity and high resource requirements make it not necessary for every case.

2. Does XDR include antivirus?

Yes, Extended Detection and Response (XDR) often includes antivirus capabilities as part of its integrated security features. XDR enhances threat detection and response by combining various security technologies, including antivirus.

3. What are the limitations of antivirus software?

Several existing antiviruses employ signature-based detection mechanisms, which are less effective against new types of threats that are more complicated. They also do not use next-generation technologies for investigation and reaction or protect against non-malware attacks i.e., social engineering.

4. Is XDR suitable for small businesses?

Given that XDR offers end-to-end security capabilities, it becomes expensive and complicated for many small businesses. Nevertheless, a combination of antivirus along with generic EDR does not drain IT resources while achieving the desired state protection for the small business.

5. Can antivirus replace XDR and EDR or vice versa?

Antivirus can not replace XDR or EDR, it can only partially undertake some functions because it doesn’t have some of the advanced threat detection and response capabilities of either. In contrast, while both XDR and EDR include antivirus, most organizations use stand-alone antivirus software due to something called “layered security.” One needs to apply the integrated technologies in accordance with a layered usage pattern.