SIEM vs. EDR: Key Features, Differences, and How to Choose

What Is Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)? 

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a software solution that provides a holistic view of an organization’s information security. SIEM tools aggregate, analyze, and report on security data from across the enterprise, including logs from applications, devices, and networks. This helps in detecting, preventing, and responding to security threats and vulnerabilities.

SIEM plays a crucial role in compliance management and incident response by correlating and collating data in real-time. It enables IT and security teams to identify abnormal behavior and potential threats swiftly, facilitating timely intervention and mitigation of risks. Modern SIEM solutions also integrate automated response capabilities, making it possible not only to alert security teams but also to actively assist in threat mitigation.

Key Features of SIEM Solutions

The key capabilities of SIEM solutions include:

• Log management and data aggregation: SIEM solutions collect and aggregate logs from various sources, including network devices, servers, and security systems, providing a centralized repository for all security-related information.
• Real-time visibility: They offer real-time visibility into an organization’s security posture, enabling the immediate detection of potential threats and vulnerabilities across the entire IT environment.
• Event correlation: One of the core strengths of SIEM is its ability to correlate events from disparate sources, identifying patterns that could indicate a sophisticated cyber attack.
• Alerting and notification: SIEM systems automate the process of alerting IT and security teams about potential security incidents, ensuring rapid response to threats.
• Compliance reporting: SIEM facilitates compliance with various regulatory requirements by generating detailed reports that document the organization’s adherence to security policies and standards.
• User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA): Advanced SIEM solutions incorporate UEBA features to detect anomalies in user behavior that could signify insider threats or compromised accounts.
• Threat intelligence integration: SIEM tools can integrate with external threat intelligence feeds, enhancing the ability to detect and respond to emerging threats by comparing internal events with indicators of compromise.
• Forensic analysis: SIEM provides powerful tools for forensic analysis, enabling security teams to investigate and understand the nature of security incidents after they occur.

Tips from the expert

Steve Moore is Vice President and Chief Security Strategist at Exabeam, helping drive solutions for threat detection and advising customers on security programs and breach response. He is the host of the “The New CISO Podcast,” a Forbes Tech Council member, and Co-founder of TEN18 at Exabeam.

In my experience, here are advanced strategies for effectively leveraging SIEM and EDR solutions, along with guidance on choosing and integrating them into a layered security strategy:

Integrate cloud-native SIEM for hybrid environments
For organizations leveraging cloud services, adopt cloud-native SIEM solutions that seamlessly integrate with cloud workloads while maintaining compatibility with on-premises EDR solutions for endpoint protection.

Pair SIEM with EDR for a unified security strategy
Use SIEM for broad visibility across your network and EDR for endpoint-level deep dives. Correlate EDR detections with SIEM data to enhance context for network-wide investigations and threat hunting.

Implement adaptive baselining for UEBA in SIEM
Ensure your SIEM’s UEBA capabilities adapt to fluctuating user behaviors, such as remote work patterns or seasonal business activities, to reduce false positives and enhance threat detection accuracy.

Use EDR-generated IoCs to enrich SIEM rules
Feed indicators of compromise (IoCs) detected by EDR (e.g., file hashes, malicious IPs) into your SIEM’s correlation rules. This enables proactive monitoring for endpoint-originated threats across the entire network.

Leverage automated playbooks for coordinated response
Integrate SIEM and EDR with a SOAR platform to automate incident response workflows, such as isolating endpoints, blocking IPs, and initiating malware scans, for faster threat containment.

What Is Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)?

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) focuses on protecting endpoints—devices like computers, tablets, and smartphones—from cybersecurity threats. EDR platforms continuously monitor endpoint and network events, employing real-time data analytics to identify threat patterns and suspicious activities. This allows for the detection of malware, ransomware, and other exploits that might bypass traditional antivirus solutions.

EDR solutions are critical for in-depth analysis and response of endpoint-related incidents. They provide security teams with direct access to endpoints and tools for forensic analysis, making it possible to trace the root cause of an incident, understand attack vectors, and apply effective remediation measures. This information is crucial for strengthening endpoint security postures and preventing future attacks.

How Did Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) Evolve into EDR?

Endpoint protection platforms (EPP) have traditionally focused on preventing known threats by utilizing signature-based detection methods. These platforms were designed to identify and block malware based on known signatures, providing a first line of defense against threats. 

However, as cyber threats evolved to be more sophisticated, with attackers using techniques that could evade signature-based detection, the limitations of EPP became apparent. The development of endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions provided tools to detect new, unknown, or sophisticated attacks that bypass traditional defenses. EDR solutions introduced capabilities for continuous monitoring and analysis of endpoint data, enabling organizations to detect, investigate, and respond to incidents that EPP could not address. 

The transition from EPP to EDR marks a significant shift in the approach to endpoint security, from prevention-centric to detection and response-oriented strategies. EDR solutions incorporate advanced technologies such as behavioral analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to identify suspicious activities and anomalies indicative of a cyber attack. Unlike EPP, which focuses on the perimeter and blocking threats at entry, EDR provides deep visibility into endpoints, offering detailed forensic tools and capabilities for a more comprehensive understanding of attacks.

Key Features of EDR Solutions

Here are the key capabilities of EDR solutions:

• Continuous monitoring and detection: EDR platforms offer 24/7 monitoring of endpoints, detecting malicious activities and anomalies that indicate a threat.
• Automated response: EDR enables automated response actions, such as isolating a compromised endpoint from the network to prevent the spread of threats.
• Forensic tools: EDR solutions come with forensic tools that help in detailed investigation of incidents directly on endpoints, providing insights into attack vectors and tactics.
• Behavioral analysis: Utilizing behavioral analysis, EDR systems can identify malicious patterns and activities that deviate from the norm, even if the threat is previously unknown.
• Threat hunting: They facilitate proactive threat hunting, allowing security teams to search for hidden threats that have evaded initial detection.
• Integration with other security tools: EDR solutions can integrate with other security tools to enhance overall security posture, allowing for a coordinated defense strategy. For example, EDR alerts can feed into SIEM systems to be correlated with other signals.
• Real-time analytics: By analyzing data in real time, EDR platforms can quickly identify and respond to threats, reducing the window of opportunity for attackers.
• Cloud-based management: Many EDR solutions offer cloud-based management, enabling easier deployment, remote monitoring and management of endpoints across multiple locations.

SIEM vs. EDR: 4 Key Differences

1. Approach: Network, Email, and Data Security vs. Endpoint Security

SIEM and EDR represent different paradigms in the cybersecurity ecosystem, each with a unique approach to safeguarding organizational assets. 

SIEM systems are designed to offer a bird’s-eye view of the security environment by collecting and analyzing data from various sources, such as network devices, email systems, data storage devices, and security appliances. This holistic approach enables organizations to monitor and analyze activities across their entire IT infrastructure, identifying potential security incidents and compliance violations in a broad context. SIEM focuses on aggregating and correlating data from multiple sources.

EDR concentrates on the endpoint level, emphasizing the security of devices such as laptops, desktops, and mobile phones. EDR’s approach is more focused and granular, aiming to detect and respond to threats that directly affect these devices. By continuously monitoring endpoint activities, EDR solutions can identify suspicious behavior, investigate threats, and execute immediate response actions to contain and mitigate attacks. 

This difference in focus underscores the complementary nature of SIEM and EDR: while SIEM provides a comprehensive overview of security and compliance across various domains, EDR offers in-depth analysis and protection at the endpoint level, addressing threats that specifically target individual devices.

2. Area of Focus

SIEM solutions primarily focus on providing an overview of an organization’s security posture by collecting and analyzing data from various sources across the network. This includes logs from devices, applications, and security systems, offering insights into network traffic, user behaviors, and potential threats. The main objective is to offer real-time visibility, event correlation, and compliance reporting across the entire IT infrastructure.

EDR zeroes in on endpoint security. Its focus is on monitoring, detecting, and responding to threats specifically at the endpoint level, such as laptops, desktops, and mobile devices. EDR solutions are designed to identify and mitigate attacks that bypass traditional security measures, with an emphasis on rapid detection, detailed forensic analysis, and immediate response to incidents affecting endpoints.

3. Response Capabilities

SIEM systems excel in identifying and alerting on potential security incidents across the network, but they often rely on manual intervention for response. While they provide the necessary information and insights for decision-making, the actual mitigation actions, such as patching vulnerabilities or updating firewall rules, typically require human oversight. This is changing in modern SIEM systems, which are able to integrate with other IT tools to trigger response actions, such as changing firewall rules or quarantining emails.

EDR solutions enable both manual and automated response to security incidents. They can automatically isolate a compromised device, kill malicious processes, and even roll back changes made by malware, minimizing the impact of an attack. This allows organizations to respond to endpoint threats quickly and effectively. They also enable security teams to deeply investigate threats on endpoints, supporting response to more complex threats.

4. Data Collection

A SIEM’s data collection scope is broad, encompassing logs and events from a wide array of sources within the IT environment. This includes network devices, servers, security appliances, and application logs, providing a holistic view of security events and patterns that could indicate a threat or compliance issue.

EDR solutions focus their data collection on endpoints, gathering detailed information about process executions, file changes, network connections, and other activities specific to individual devices. This granular data is crucial for detecting suspicious behavior, analyzing the impact of an attack, and performing root cause analysis to prevent future breaches.

EDR vs. SIEM: How to Choose?

Choosing between Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions depends on your organization’s specific needs, security posture, and existing infrastructure. Here are some key considerations to help you make the decision:

• Understand your security objectives: If your primary concern is to protect against threats at the endpoint level, including laptops, desktops, and mobile devices, EDR is essential. It’s particularly crucial if you have a mobile workforce or utilize BYOD policies. On the other hand, if you aim to have a comprehensive overview of your entire IT infrastructure’s security posture, SIEM would be more beneficial.
• Consider the nature of your assets: For organizations with a significant number of critical assets distributed across endpoints, EDR’s focus on detecting and responding to endpoint threats might be more relevant. However, if your assets are more centered around network-based applications and services, the broad coverage of SIEM could be more advantageous.
• Assess your compliance needs: If you are in a highly regulated industry requiring detailed compliance reporting, SIEM’s extensive log management, and reporting capabilities can help streamline compliance efforts. SIEM systems are designed to aggregate and correlate data from across your IT environment, aiding in compliance management.
• Integration with existing infrastructure: Evaluate how well each solution integrates with your existing security and IT infrastructure. SIEM solutions can provide value by correlating data from various sources, but they require integration with those sources. EDR solutions can provide more value when integrated with other existing security tools.
• Response capabilities: If you require the ability to not just detect but also immediately respond to incidents, especially at the endpoint level, EDR’s automated response capabilities could be a deciding factor. While modern SIEM solutions are starting to include automated response features, at the endpoint level, EDR solutions offer more direct and immediate action.
• Future scalability: Think about the scalability of the solution in line with your organization’s growth. Cloud-based SIEM and EDR solutions offer scalability and flexibility, but the costs and logistical implications of scaling should be considered.

Ultimately, it’s not always a choice between EDR and SIEM; many organizations find that a combination of both provides the most comprehensive security posture. EDR can address endpoint-specific threats effectively, while SIEM offers a broader view of the security landscape and compliance reporting, making them complementary solutions in a layered security strategy.

Exabeam Platform Capabilities: SIEM, UEBA, SOAR, Insider Threats, Compliance, TDIR

The Exabeam Security Operations Platform applies AI and automation to security operations workflows for a holistic approach to combating cyberthreats, delivering the most effective threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR): 

• AI-driven detections pinpoint high-risk threats by learning normal behavior of users and entities, and prioritizing threats with context-aware risk scoring. 
• Automated investigations simplify security operations, correlating disparate data to create threat timelines. 
• Playbooks document workflows and standardize activity to speed investigation and response. 
• Visualizations map coverage against the most strategic outcomes and frameworks to close data and detection gaps. 

With these capabilities, Exabeam empowers security operations teams to achieve faster, more accurate, and consistent TDIR.