Threat Detection

What is Threat Detection?

Threat detection involves identifying and analyzing potential security threats within an organization’s digital environment. The purpose is to recognize suspicious activity, vulnerabilities, or malicious behavior before these issues can escalate into larger security incidents. This reduces the chance of data breaches, financial loss, and reputational damage, while also assisting in regulatory compliance.

What is Threat Response?

Threat response is actions taken after a security threat has been detected to contain, mitigate, and eliminate it. The goal is to minimize damage and restore normal operations as quickly as possible. Key steps in threat response include identifying the scope and severity of the threat, containing the threat to prevent further spread, eradicating any malicious code or compromised components, and recovering systems to a secure state.

What Makes Threat Detection And Response Essential?

In 2023, security breaches saw a 72 percent increase from 2021, which held the previous all-time record. Today’s cyber adversaries employ increasingly sophisticated techniques and automated tools, dramatically speeding up their operations within targeted networks.

These attackers quickly escalate their activities, moving from initial access at an endpoint to gaining situational awareness, securing credentials, and pivoting towards critical systems. The average cost of a data breach was $4.88 million in 2024, the highest average on record.

This acceleration in hostile activities has led to a significant reduction in “adversary breakout time” — the period from initial compromise to substantial lateral movement within the network — which has decreased from 98 minutes in 2022 to just 62 minutes in 2024.

The significant decrease in adversary breakout time necessitates a swift response from cyber defense teams.

What Are the Key Elements of Threat Detection And Response?

Some of the key elements of Threat Detection and Response include:

* Threat Intelligence: Information gathered from various sources about potential or active threats that helps in understanding threat actors, their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

* Detection Mechanisms: Uses known patterns to identify threats and identifies unusual activity by comparing it to normal behavior baselines.

* Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Focuses on detecting and responding to threats at the endpoint level, like individual computers or servers.

* Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): A platform that aggregates, correlates, and analyzes security event data from various sources. Provides a central view of the security environment, aiding in faster detection and response.

* Incident Response: A predefined process and set of procedures to handle a cybersecurity incident.

* Automation and Orchestration: Uses automation to perform repetitive tasks and orchestration to coordinate responses across various tools. Increases response speed and enables security teams to handle more incidents with fewer resources.

* Continuous Monitoring and Logging: Consistent, real-time observation of networks, endpoints, and systems. Enables quick identification and analysis of suspicious activities.

What are the different types of Threat Detection systems?

Different types of threat detection systems are used for identifying, monitoring, and mitigating security risks in various environments and focused on different parts of the enterprise network.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Provides continuous monitoring and threat detection on endpoints, with response capabilities.

Extended Detection and Response (XDR): Integrates and correlates threat data across multiple security layers, including endpoints, networks, servers, and applications.

Network Detection and Response (NDR): Monitors and analyzes network traffic to identify and respond to threats. By using behavioral analytics and machine learning, NDR detects anomalies, suspicious patterns, and potential intrusions in real-time.

Email threat detection: Identifies and mitigates email-based threats, such as phishing, malware, and spam, before they reach users’ inboxes. By analyzing email content, sender reputation, and attachment behavior, these systems detect and block malicious messages.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR): Provides organizations with continuous threat monitoring, detection, and response by specialized cybersecurity teams. It combines advanced technology with expert analysis to quickly identify and respond to threats, helping organizations improve their security without needing extensive in-house resources.

What threats can be detected by Threat Detection and Response systems?

Threat detection and response systems can detect various kinds of cyberthreats:

* Malware and Ransomware: Malicious software designed to disrupt systems or steal data. Includes Viruses, Trojans, and Worms.

* Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks: Fraudulent attempts to steal sensitive information via fake emails or websites.

* Insider Threats: Employees whose accounts have been hijacked by external attackers, or who intentionally misuse access to harm the organization.

* Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs): Where attackers gain access to networks and remain undetected for long periods to steal data.

* Credential Harvesting: Using phishing or malware to steal usernames and passwords.

* Brute Force Attacks: Repeated attempts to guess login credentials.

* Network-Based Attacks: Flooding a network or service with traffic to make it unavailable. Includes Denial-of-Service (DoS), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks.

* Cloud and API Threats: Data breaches involving cloud storage or services.

* Zero-Day Exploits: Attacks that exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities before a patch is available.

* Lateral Movement and Privilege Escalation: Where attackers move within a network to gain deeper access and also gain elevated access permissions to sensitive systems and data.

How does Acalvio enhance threat detection for enterprises?

Defense teams aiming to detect threats early and reduce the Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) can effectively utilize deception technology. By deploying deceptions broadly—across endpoints, identity stores, and networks—teams can create targeted traps for attackers. Should an attacker gain initial access to an endpoint and start executing offensive steps, they are likely to encounter one or more of these strategically placed traps. Interaction with these traps provides immediate detection, giving the defense team an early warning and enabling quick response actions to isolate the threat and prevent further adversary movement.

By incorporating Acalvio’s Advanced Threat Defense into their defensive strategy, security teams can detect stealth actions more quickly and effectively than traditional methods allow.

Frequently Asked Questions