EDR: Endpoint Detection and Response
Think of EDR as your guard that sits directly on your devices—laptops, desktops, and servers. Its main job is to watch for suspicious activity on those endpoints and respond when something looks off. EDR solutions can detect malware, investigate what it’s doing, and often roll back changes the threat made. It does more watching and assessing than an Anti Virus product, though there is a lot of crossover.
The key thing here is visibility at the endpoint level. EDR tools are incredibly detailed and allow IT (or outsourced provider) to dig into exactly what happened during an attack. But here’s the catch: while EDR tells you what happened, it’s up to you (or someone else) to interpret and act on that information. For many small businesses without a dedicated cybersecurity team, this can be overwhelming.
MDR: Managed Detection and Response
That’s where MDR steps in. MDR takes the EDR concept and layers a managed service on top of it. You still get endpoint protection, but now you’ve got a team of cybersecurity pros monitoring your systems 24/7. They’ll investigate alerts, determine if it’s a real threat, and respond—often within minutes.
For small businesses, this is often a perfect sweet spot. You get expert-level protection without hiring a full-time security team.
XDR: eXtended Detection and Response
XDR takes what EDR and MDR do, but goes beyond just endpoints. It connects and correlates data from across your entire environment—including email, cloud apps, servers, and network traffic. By combining these data points, XDR gives a broader picture of threats and allows for faster, more accurate detection and response.
Imagine XDR as a control room pulling in feeds from all parts of your digital infrastructure. Instead of just relying on endpoint data, it pieces together information from everywhere to catch threats that may otherwise slip through the cracks.
XDR often still requires management—either by your team or a provider. However, some MDR services now offer MDR powered by XDR, meaning you get that broader visibility plus a managed team to act on it.
So, which one do you need?
If you’re managing things yourself and only need visibility into your computers and servers, EDR might be enough. If you want experts to handle detection and response for you, MDR makes more sense. And if your business uses multiple platforms—cloud, on-prem, email, etc.—and you want smarter, connected protection, XDR (or MDR with XDR) is worth a look.
The right choice depends on your resources, risk level, and how much help you need. But understanding these tools is a big step toward smarter cybersecurity for your business.