UEBA vs ITDR – ITDR Will Catch the Login—UEBA Will Catch the Attack

What I Noticed at RSA (And Why It Matters)

I just got back from the RSA Conference. I’m exhausted, but energized by the sheer number of new security tools and innovations on display. As I worked my way through the sea of booths, one trend stood out: Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)was everywhere.

According to Gartner, ITDR is a subset of threat detection and response that focuses on protecting identity systems and detecting identity-related threats. It makes sense. Credential-based attacks are a huge problem. But as I listened to pitch after pitch, something bugged me. The messaging around ITDR felt eerily similar to what Exabeam has done with user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) for years; using behavioral analysis to baseline normal behavior and detect anomalies.

If you’re a security leader shopping for solutions, I can see how the overlap would be confusing. Both ITDR and UEBA claim to detect compromised credentials and insider threats. But here’s the critical difference: UEBA doesn’t just cover identity-based threats—it sees the whole attack chain.

This blog breaks down the difference between ITDR and UEBA, where ITDR fits, and why Exabeam delivers a broader, future-ready solution for modern threat detection.

Why ITDR Is Getting So Much Buzz

Identity has become the new battleground. The 2024 Verizon DBIR found that 68% of breaches involved a non-malicious human element—such as falling victim to phishing, making configuration errors, or mishandling data. If attackers can log in, they don’t need to break in.

ITDR solutions are designed to address this. They monitor identity systems like Active Directory, Okta, or Entra ID, watch for suspicious credential activity (for example, password spraying and privilege misuse), and trigger alerts when identity anomalies pop up.

It’s a valuable capability—especially since identity-based compromise remains one of the most common tactics in modern attacks. But here’s the reality: identity is just one piece of a much larger picture.

UEBA: Identity Plus Everything Else

This is where Exabeam UEBA stands out.

Like ITDR, UEBA detects compromised credentials, insider threats, lateral movement, and unusual account behavior. But unlike ITDR, which focuses narrowly on identity systems, UEBA:

• Ingests broad data sources from endpoints, networks, cloud resources, and applications to identity systems and threat intelligence
• Builds behavioral baselines, tracking not just who logs in, but what systems they touch, how much data they access, and how they use privileges
• Correlates multiple signals, stitching together anomalies across systems to reveal complex attack patterns like lateral movement or privilege escalation.

Exabeam has spent over a decade refining UEBA with machine learning models that track users and entities across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. The result: a comprehensive view of risk.

That’s the critical difference. Most “UEBA” solutions on the market today are actually ITDR in disguise, focused on identity, not the full attack sequence.

Critical Use Cases: Beyond Identity

Exabeam UEBA addresses a wide range of use cases that ITDR tools weren’t built to handle:

• Malware-free attacks / Living-off-the-land (LotL)
• Lateral movement across hosts and domains
• Privilege escalation and abuse
• Rogue admin behavior and policy violations
• Suspicious data exfiltration (for example, mass file downloads)
• Compromised service accounts
• Cloud misconfiguration exploitation
• Risky behavior patterns across systems

ITDR remains laser-focused on identity detection. But attackers don’t stay in their lane. They move laterally, escalate privileges, and evade defenses. UEBA gives you visibility across all of it.

Why Breadth Matters: The Modern Attack Chain

Let’s zoom out. The MITRE ATT&CK^® framework outlines 14 stages of the attack lifecycle. Identity compromise is just one step. Real-world breaches unfold across multiple stages:

1. Initial access (credential compromise)
2. Lateral movement (spreading across hosts)
3. Privilege escalation and abuse (both within identity systems and across endpoints/cloud environments/network)
4. Collection and exfiltration (stealing data)
5. Defense evasion (covering tracks)

ITDR tools generally stop at step one. Exabeam UEBA continues tracking every move, giving SOC teams the full story to act decisively.

UEBA vs. ITDR: A Head-to-Head Comparison

The Blind Spot: Non-Human Identities

In today’s digital enterprises, non-human identities (NHIs) outnumber human identities by a staggering ratio of 92:1, this represents a significant detection gap.

ITDR tools are designed for human logins. They struggle to detect abuse of service accounts, API keys, or containers unless those identities trigger alerts in an identity system.

Exabeam UEBA doesn’t rely on identity systems alone. It baselines behavior for any entity—user, machine, service, or bot—and flags anomalies based on context. That means detecting rogue automation, hijacked service accounts, or unusual API behavior without relying on identity system telemetry.

Microsoft UEBA: A Closer Look

Microsoft Sentinel advertises UEBA capabilities within its SIEM. But when you dig deeper, its analytics are centered around identity signals and the Microsoft eco-system. On paper, that sounds great—until you look closer.

Here’s the reality: Microsoft’s “UEBA” centers around identity-focused analytics tied closely to Entra ID activity, risky sign-ins, privilege misuse, and identity governance.

In other words: It’s closer to ITDR then full UEBA.

True UEBA requires:

• Behavioral baselines across cloud, network, endpoint, and identity data
• Correlation of anomalies across all layers and support for multi-vendor solutions, not just Microsoft products.
• Full attack-chain visibility

Microsoft’s analytics are useful for identity-centric environments, but they stop short of UEBA’s full potential. Exabeam UEBA does everything Microsoft does—and extends detection far beyond identity across heterogeneous environments.

Real-World Example: Seeing the Full Picture

A Fortune 500 organization experienced a stealthy attack that began with a credential compromise. Their ITDR solution flagged the login—but nothing after that.

Exabeam UEBA connected the dots:

• Lateral movement across servers
• Dormant admin account activation
• Gradual IP exfiltration
• Attempts to disable security tools

Exabeam stitched together this behavior into a single, correlated threat timeline, enabling the security team to respond quickly and effectively.

UEBA Is Rare—And Essential

ITDR solutions offer valuable defenses. But they’re only one piece of the detection puzzle.

If you want visibility into how attacks unfold—across all systems, not just identity—then you need mature, full-spectrum UEBA.

Exabeam UEBA delivers what others only claim:

• Detection across users, endpoints, cloud, network, and apps
• Correlation of signals into clear timelines
• Support for human and non-human entities
• Proven scale and accuracy in production environments

Don’t settle for identity-only detection or marketing spin. Choose a platform built to reveal the full story behind every threat.

Want a Deeper Dive into Full-Spectrum UEBA?

Download a free e-book,  The Ultimate Guide to User and Entity Behavior Analytics, to explore the use cases, detection techniques, and best practices behind modern UEBA.

Ready to see it in action? Schedule a demo and explore how Exabeam UEBA works in real-world environments.