Following on from our blog: ‘From Phishing to Worms: A Deep Dive into Microsoft Defender’s Detection.’ In today’s ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, having robust investigative capabilities is of paramount importance for businesses to swiftly detect, respond to, and mitigate threats effectively. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, a cutting-edge Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution, plays a pivotal part in equipping security teams with the investigative capabilities needed to identify and neutralise threats with unprecedented precision.

In this blog post, we show how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s insights can be leveraged to enhance response times by sending raw telemetry and alert information into other leading security toolsets such as Darktrace and Exabeam.

Integration and Collaboration

A key feature of the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product is its ability to output alert and telemetry information, allowing organisations to integrate this solution with other security products. This integration offers several notable benefits:

1. Comprehensive Protection: By establishing a multi-layered defence system, each tool can focus on specific threats or attack techniques, resulting in more comprehensive protection against emerging security threats.
   
   
2. Faster Incident Response: The integration facilitates rapid detection and response to security incidents. When tools collaborate, they can automatically trigger actions, minimising the time between threat detection and mitigation.
   
   
3. Enhanced Telemetry Sharing: The synergy between integrated security products enables Analysts to pivot between the different data points. This cross-tool collaboration enhances the accuracy of threat detection and aids in identifying sophisticated attack patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

As part of our managed service offerings, Cyberseer has successfully integrated Microsoft Defender for Endpoint with toolsets such as Exabeam, Darktrace and our own in-house automation platform, ‘ASPECT’.

The following demonstrates the information available to an Analyst.

Darktrace Integration

The amalgamation of Darktrace with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint harmonises network behaviours with endpoint telemetry. The following screenshots overlay the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alerts relating to the use of the Bloodhound Active Directory Enumeration tool and the noticeable increase in network connections from the source device during enumeration:

Exabeam Integration 

Exabeam, a User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA) tool, integrates with many security tools, seamlessly stitching together raw telemetry and employing behavioural analytics, to furnish analysts with a clear and concise timeline of user and asset activities.

In a recent incident, a user unknowingly downloaded and executed a malicious file. The combination of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alerts and Exabeam’s user risk scoring saw the user become notable very quickly, allowing the customer to be alerted, the device to be quarantined and incident response to begin:

ASPECT Integration

At Cyberseer, we have integrated Microsoft Defender for Endpoint into ASPECT, the automation platform at the heart of our Managed Security Service (MSS) offering. ASPECT automates repetitive and time-consuming analyst tasks, enforcing a 24/7 standardised workflow that eliminates human error whilst increasing the speed and effectiveness of our analysts, by escalating validated, enriched and fully anonymised priority threats that require attention. The synergy between Defender and ASPECT means Cyberseer analysts ensure swift responses to priority issues, ultimately reducing threat dwell time.

Conclusion

In the face of evolving cyber threats, robust security strategies are imperative. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s integration with other top-tier security tools amplifies its capabilities, providing an all-encompassing defence against sophisticated threats. Cyberseer’s utilisation of this synergy ensures proactive and efficient threat mitigation, preserving businesses' safety and reputation in an increasingly treacherous digital landscape.

About Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) combines anomaly-based detection, deterministic countermeasures, and automated response in a single modern interface to cover all tactics of the MITRE ATT&CK framework. MDE empowers your enterprise to rapidly stop attacks, scale your security resources and evolve your defences by delivering best-in-class endpoint security across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and network devices.

About Cyberseer

Keeping your business safe is your number one priority. It’s ours too. Fusing advanced detection technologies with deep forensic expertise, we help you join all the dots to rapidly distil threats. Our innovative solutions give you the confidence and proactive control you need – whatever comes your way. We’re here to help you keep your people and your reputation safe 24x7. It’s what we do for companies around the world every day.

With Cyberseer, you’re no longer on your own.

If you would like to know more about our Managed Security Service or the advanced technologies that we use, then please get in touch.