What is threat detection and response (TDR)? Complete guide

Cybersecurity threats and risks are growing at an alarming rate. Businesses of all sizes are increasingly being targeted by attackers, criminals, and even nation states looking to steal data, disrupt operations, and extort money. To protect against these escalating cyber threats, organizations need to have the right detection techniques and incident response methods in place. This is where threat detection and response comes in.

What is threat detection and response (TDR)?

Threat detection and response, often abbreviated as TDR, refers to the continuous tools, processes, and strategies used to identify potential cybersecurity threats on a company's network and systems, and take action to mitigate them before they can cause a security incident or breach. The goal of TDR is to provide 24/7 monitoring  for indicators of compromise or attack, generate real-time alerts when a threat is detected, and enable a rapid response to contain and eliminate the threat.

Key aspects of TDR include:

• Analyzing network traffic and user behavior to detect suspicious activity
• Leveraging threat intelligence to identify advanced persistent threats and attackers
• Using XDR platforms to correlate alerts across endpoints, networks, and cloud environments for improved threat visibility and coordinated response
• Proactively threat hunting to uncover hidden malware and vulnerabilities
• Following a predefined incident response plan to coordinate actions

The importance of threat detection and response (TDR)

Having strong threat detection and response capabilities is absolutely critical in today's perilous cybersecurity environment. A delayed response can lead to serious consequences, including data breaches, ransomware attacks, compliance violations, and reputational damage. 

Implementing robust TDR capabilities provides several essential benefits:

Proactive threat identification

One of the biggest benefits of TDR is that it allows you to proactively hunt for threats, rather than just sit back and wait to be alerted of an attack in progress. By continuously monitoring networks, endpoints, and user activity for anomalies and indicators of attack, you can potentially identify and stop hackers during the early reconnaissance and lateral movement stages, before they're able to steal data or launch an attack.

For example, TDR tools leveraging threat intelligence may be able to flag suspicious activity like a phishing email carrying malware that made it past spam filters, a malicious process masquerading as legitimate software, or an admin account exhibiting anomalous behavior that could indicate a compromised password. Proactive detection means less attacker dwell time and damage.

Minimized downtime and losses

Every minute of an undetected cyberattack puts your organization at greater risk. As the attack progresses, more systems become vulnerable to infection. Critical data faces increased risk of theft or encryption; financial assets become more exposed to theft. TDR enables rapid response to limit the attack's blast radius and restore normal business operations quickly.

Consider a typical ransomware incident: Criminals first infiltrate the network, then methodically spread across systems before encrypting data. With TDR in place, you can stop the attack as soon as the first signs of malicious traffic appear—long before systems are locked down. Even if ransomware activates, TDR solutions can quickly isolate infected endpoints to prevent further spread.

Regulatory compliance

Many industries and jurisdictions now impose strict data security and privacy requirements, including mandatory breach notification to authorities and affected individuals. The ability to quickly detect, investigate, and document a security incident is key for compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. TDR tools can provide detailed timelines and forensic evidence to help meet reporting obligations.

Failure to comply can result in costly penalties, as demonstrated by the $575 million settlement Equifax reached with the FTC and CFPB following its massive 2017 breach. The hack, which went undetected for months, compromised the personal data of over 147 million people.

Improved security posture

At the end of the day, strong threat detection and response helps an organization reduce its overall cybersecurity risk. By making it harder for threats to slip in unnoticed and minimizing attacker dwell time, you shrink the window of opportunity for causing damage. Undetected threats are ticking time bombs that allow attackers to spy, spread, and strike at will, so plugging these security gaps makes your organization a harder target.

6 common cybersecurity and network threat examples

What exactly are TDR solutions looking for? Here are some of the most prevalent types of cyber threats facing organizations today:

• Malware: Short for malicious software, malware refers to any program designed to harm systems. Viruses, worms, and trojans are all malware that infect machines to steal data or enable remote control by an attacker.
• Ransomware: A type of malware that encrypts an organization's data and demands payment for the decryption key. Ransomware can paralyze operations, with recovery costs averaging millions.
• Phishing attacks: Phishing emails try to trick users into clicking malicious links, downloading malware attachments, or giving up sensitive info like passwords. Spear phishing targets specific high-value victims.
• Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks: DoS attacks attempt to overwhelm a network, server, or application with bogus traffic and requests to crash or degrade them. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks harness large botnets of compromised devices to amplify the impact.
• Insider threats: Not all threats come from external attackers. Rogue employees or partners who abuse access privileges can steal data or plant logic bombs. Insider threats often go unnoticed for long periods since they come from authorized users.
• Advanced persistent threats (APTs): APTs are sophisticated, long-term attack campaigns by well-resourced groups. Attackers use advanced tactics to infiltrate networks and quietly exfiltrate data over extended periods. Victims may not discover the breach until far too late.

Threat detection methods and techniques

How can organizations go about detecting these myriad threats? A comprehensive approach requires multiple methods and data sources for maximum visibility across the potential attack surface.

Start by establishing a robust security policy that defines your protection needs and risk appetite. Identify what systems and data are most critical to the business, which threats and attack vectors pose the highest risk, and what security controls and practices need to be in place.

Next implement essential cybersecurity threat detection technologies, which may include:

• Intrusion detection systems (IDS) / Intrusion prevention systems (IPS): These monitor networks for malicious activity and suspicious traffic patterns. IDS detects and alerts on threats, while IPS actively blocks identified threats in real-time. Together, they form a critical component of network threat detection.
• Security information and event management (SIEM): These aggregate log and event data from multiple sources to provide a centralized view for threat detection and investigation.
• Endpoint detection and response (EDR): Endpoint security solutions monitor and collect data from individual endpoints for threat hunting, incident investigation, and remediation.
• User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA): This uses machine learning to establish baseline patterns of normal user activity. It can then detect insider threats and account takeovers by identifying abnormal behavior patterns that deviate from these baselines.
• Threat intelligence feeds: Bring in the latest data on malware signatures, malicious IPs and domains, and new attack techniques to inform monitoring and hunting.

Since each security tool specializes in specific types of threat detection, organizations usually need multiple complementary solutions for comprehensive coverage.

How to respond to cybersecurity threats: 6 best practices

Detecting threats is only half of the equation; you also need to respond effectively to limit damage and restore normal operations. Haphazard or incomplete responses can leave backdoors for attackers to return or fail to notify affected parties. 

Here are some best practices to ensure a rapid, thorough, and well-coordinated response:

1. Establish a clear incident response plan (IRP) 

Your IRP should lay out clear procedures for handling different types of security incidents, including steps for investigation, containment, eradication, and recovery. Define roles and responsibilities for the incident response team, escalation paths, and communication plans for both internal and external stakeholders (customers, regulators, law enforcement, etc.).

2. Conduct real-time monitoring and threat detection

As discussed above, you need to be continuously monitoring all networks and systems for signs of malicious activity, using multiple data sources and tools for cross-correlation. Effective monitoring means being able to identify threats in real-time or near real-time, not hours or days after the damage is done.

3. Isolate affected systems immediately

Once a threat is identified, immediately disconnect any infected machines from the network to prevent lateral movement. Use tools like NAC (network access control) and EDR (endpoint detection and response) to isolate endpoints, and consider shutting down servers if there's a risk of ransomware spreading. Containment should be a top priority to limit the blast radius.

4. Conduct a thorough investigation

Next, dig deep to understand the full scope and root cause of the incident. What was the initial infection vector—phishing, ransomware, malicious insider? What systems were compromised, and for how long? Was data stolen or encrypted? Use SIEM and EDR to pull forensic data to build a timeline and footprint.

5. Clean up and strengthen security

Once the incident is contained and investigated, you can move to cleanup and recovery. Use anti-malware tools and reimaging to remove any remnants of infection. Harden security by patching vulnerabilities, strengthening access controls, and filling gaps in monitoring.

6. Document and learn

Conduct a formal post-mortem review with all stakeholders to document the key details of the incident: timeline, root cause, scope of impact, steps taken, areas for improvement. Incorporate lessons learned into your security strategy, IRP, and training/awareness programs to avoid repeating mistakes. Provide reports to senior leadership to communicate business impact.

Threat detection and response software and tools

While the techniques above provide a framework for threat detection and prevention, automation is key to scaling TDR across complex enterprise environments. There are a variety of software platforms and managed services available to help organizations centralize and streamline their TDR efforts.

Key features to look for include:

• Multi-vector visibility: The ability to ingest data from multiple control points (network, endpoint, email, cloud, etc.) to detect threats across the full attack surface.
• Behavioral analytics: Using machine learning and behavioral modeling to spot anomalies and outliers that could indicate a compromised entity.
• Automated response: Defining pre-approved actions (isolating endpoints, blocking IPs, killing processes, etc.) to enable rapid containment with minimal human intervention.
• Investigation tools: A centralized console for investigators to ask questions of the data, hunt for threats, and understand the scope of incidents.
• Case management: Workflows for assigning, tracking, and documenting incidents from detection through response

Market-leading TDR platforms include SentinelOne, Trend Micro, Cortex XDR, CrowdStrike Falcon, and Palo Alto Cortex.

Streamline IT management and data security with Rippling

For organizations looking to strengthen their overall IT and security posture, Rippling offers a comprehensive platform for workforce management, device management, and data protection. Rippling's centralized platform unifies employees, devices, apps, and data for streamlined administration and better security orchestration.

Through its partnership with SentinelOne, Rippling provides enterprise-grade endpoint protection against ransomware, malware, and other cyber threats. The AI-powered platform detects and blocks threats in real-time while giving IT teams complete visibility into security events across all devices. Key features include zero-touch installation, automated threat remediation, and integrated security reporting—all managed directly through the Rippling console.

The platform offers comprehensive security capabilities including:

• Automated onboarding/offboarding to ensure proper access provisioning
• Single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for identity assurance
• Device inventory and management to maintain endpoint hygiene
• Next-generation endpoint security through SentinelOne integration
• Insider threat monitoring of user and device activity
• Endpoint encryption and remote wipe for data protection

Rippling's platform is designed from the ground up to meet strict data security and privacy requirements. The company is certified compliant with global security standards like SOC 2 Type 2, ISO27001, and AICPA Trust Principles. Granular permissions let you restrict access to sensitive data on a need-to-know basis.

By consolidating workforce data and devices within Rippling, organizations can more easily enforce consistent security policies and maintain a strong security posture from hire to retire. Rippling serves as the central clearinghouse to manage all users, apps, and endpoints while providing a real-time lens to monitor for potential threats.

Thread detection and response FAQs

What is the difference between TDR and a security operations center (SOC)? 

TDR is a practice area focused specifically on identifying and responding to potential cybersecurity threats on an organization's networks and systems. A SOC is the team of people, processes, and technologies that implements security monitoring, detection, and response. SOCs use TDR tools and techniques to hunt for and investigate threats.

What are the four main types of security threats? 

The four main types of cybersecurity threats are:

1. External threats from criminal hackers and nation state attackers
2. Internal threats from rogue or careless employees and partners
3. Distributed threats like viruses, ransomware, and botnets
4. Physical threats to facilities, devices, and infrastructure

What is managed threat detection and response? 

Managed threat detection and response refers to a service model in which an outside provider handles some or all of an organization's TDR efforts. This can include deploying and managing TDR software, monitoring networks for threats, investigating incidents, and coordinating response actions. Managed TDR appeals to small to mid-sized businesses that lack in-house security skills and staff.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of December 10, 2024.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.