What is IDR?
IDR stands for Incident Detection and Response. It’s a systematic approach to identifying, analysing, containing, and remediating security incidents within an IT infrastructure. An effective IDR process helps organisations minimise the impact of security breaches and cyberattacks.
Use cases_
- Security incident identification: IDR systems continuously monitor IT systems and network activity for suspicious behaviour that might indicate a security incident. This can include unauthorised access attempts, malware activity, or unusual data exfiltration.
- Incident analysis: Once a potential incident is identified, the IDR process involves investigating the nature and scope of the attack. This includes collecting evidence, analysing logs, and determining the root cause of the incident.
- Incident containment: The goal of containment is to stop the ongoing security incident and prevent further damage. This might involve isolating infected systems, restricting user access, or blocking malicious activity.
- Incident eradication: After containment, eradication focuses on removing the threat from the system entirely. This could involve removing malware, patching vulnerabilities, and regaining control of compromised systems.
- Incident recovery: Recovering from a security incident involves restoring affected systems and data to a functional state. This might involve backups, system restores, and user data recovery procedures.
Key components_
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): A central platform that collects and analyses security event data from various sources across the IT infrastructure.
- Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR): Tools that automate repetitive tasks within the IDR process, allowing for faster and more efficient response to security incidents.
- Threat intelligence: External and internal threat intelligence feeds provide valuable data about current threats and vulnerabilities, helping to identify and prioritise potential security incidents.
Microsoft offers various security solutions that support different aspects of IDR:
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: This endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution continuously monitors endpoints for suspicious activity and can be integrated with broader IDR systems.
- Microsoft Sentinel: A cloud-native SIEM platform that collects, analyses, and correlates security data from across Microsoft 365, Azure, and on-premises environments, enabling centralised incident detection and investigation.
- Microsoft Azure Security Center: This cloud security posture management solution provides threat intelligence and recommendations to help organisations improve their overall security posture and incident response capabilities.
By implementing a robust IDR strategy and leveraging Microsoft’s security solutions, organisations can significantly improve their ability to detect, respond to, and recover from security incidents.
