The Difference Between EDR & Antivirus: Which Is Best For Your IT Defence?

Antivirus

Companies often find themselves at the forefront of various attacks - in fact, 80% of UK companies experienced a successful cyber-attack in 2021/22. This is why having a solid firewall and Antivirus program is important for establishing your IT security. Antivirus solutions are the traditional, standardised and economically efficient form of IT security that customers know offers defence against cyber-attacks, including malware, phishing, Man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM), DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service), and Zero-day attacks. Antivirus automatically updates programs and definitions of viruses on your behalf, avoiding unnecessary user intervention, and isolating harmful ware as soon as it is unearthed in your system before it becomes a bigger problem.

Without regularly updating Antivirus software with definitions of virus signatures, ransomware could slip through and infect other computers, devices, and systems on your network. This, however, has its drawbacks. With new cyber threats arising daily, Antivirus protection programs can only be as good as the most recent updates from the AV vendor. Some cyber threats - such as fileless attacks - can sometimes slip past Antivirus programs only to be discovered after they have wreaked havoc on your servers.

Because it has been around for a substantial amount of time, cyber-criminals have developed evasion techniques to slip past Antivirus databases. These techniques range from malware that changes to avoid detection or encryptions that can subtly infiltrate your network.

The gaps and critical issues are there, but this doesn't leave Antivirus users helpless. With the right support from a managed service provider, end users still get firm protection, consultancy, and coverage for a wide variety of potential threats without even giving a second thought. Managed Antivirus offers your servers a host-based intrusion prevention system, 2-way firewall, Botnet Protection, Web Control, Cross-Platform Protection, and Anti-Phishing programs at a much lower cost than EDR. But whilst it may seem the price-conscious of the two, for a truly holistic IT defence, it may cost less in the long run to pay the upfront expense of Endpoint Detection and Response.

Endpoint Detection and Response

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a multifaceted solution capable of elevating your cyber-security to the next level. Unlike Antivirus, EDR doesn’t just watch out for malware, it understands that stealthy threats can evade detection, and hide between disconnected security silos. Endpoint Detection and Response uses machine learning, automation and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor software and endpoints. Once spotted, EDR pinpoints and neutralises suspicious behaviours BEFORE they can develop into harmful infiltrations.

With its focus on modern technologies such as The Cloud, Endpoint Detection and Response can probably save you more in the long run. Without requiring user input, EDR tools will perform endpoint scans to detect and flag suspicious activities, such as unusual file modifications, alert the administrator and take early precautions to prevent server catastrophes. The easily deployable EDR processes can occur locally without resource and time-intensive uploads to the cloud for threat analysis. This hyper-automation will deal with emerging threats rapidly and responsively. Its signatureless approach eliminates coverage gaps and lets you recover faster.

Threat Intelligence

EDR has more than just spam detection capabilities, it maps out a threat overview diagram on reasons for endpoint compromises with active root cause analysis. With full coverage of campaign intel, the Endpoint Detection and Response agent can kill, quarantine, and roll back the attack, whilst also empowering each end-user on how to improve safeguarding their devices in the future.

On the surface, Antivirus might initially seem like the best choice for the cost-conscious, but without the actionable insight Endpoint Detection and Response builds upon and provides, Antivirus could ultimately cost you more in the long run. With cybercriminals lurking and upscaling their methods of threat, EDR is slowly becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. Is it time to invest in this robust end-to-end security solution?