EDR vs. Antivirus: What’s the Difference?

EDR vs. AV

To protect your business or organization against cyber threats, it’s important to be aware of the difference between endpoint detection and response (EDR)  and traditional antivirus (AV). These two approaches to security are different, but one is better for handling modern threats.

Comparing AV vs. EDR

Years ago, antivirus offered businesses a way of blocking malware attacks by reviewing – or scanning – files as they were written to a disk on a computer. If the file was known to the scanner’s database of bad files (aka a signature), the antivirus software would prevent the malware file from being installed.

Antivirus protection software is not fool-proof and cannot protect you from every virus attack, every time. Using different antivirus tools can give you better protection, but as long as computer viruses change, and change as much as they do today, there will not be a program that is a cure for everything.

An EDR, in contrast, collects data from the endpoint and reviews that data for malicious or suspicious patterns in real time. As the name (endpoint detection and response EDR) implies, EDR solutions find infections and initiate a response. The faster an EDR can do this without human intervention, the more effective it will be.

Not only does a good EDR tool include measures to block harmful files, it takes account of other modern attacks beyond those files.

Benefits of Antivirus vs. Endpoint Protection

EDR vs. antivirus. Antivirus offers the ability to detect and respond to malware on an infected computer using a variety of different techniques. EDR uses antivirus and other endpoint security tools, providing more ways to protect you against a wide range of unknown threats.

While antivirus is can identify malware on a computer, cyber criminals are getting smarter and more tricky. For example, signature based detection is no longer effective at identifying modern malware. Bad actors today are using all kinds of techniques, such as fileless malware, to avoid detection by antivirus tools.

Detection of advanced threats to endpoint security requires more information and context than is available to AV systems. EDR uses a range of security functions, noticing trends and other signs of a attack and invasion. The response options provided by EDR allow security experts to quickly address potential risks. In the event of an infection, they can isolate an endpoint and limit the impact of an attack.

NetGain Security Analyst Braxton Molton weighs in on Antivirus vs. Endpoint Protection.

What’s Ultimately Best For Your Business?

It’s not EDR vs. antivirus. Antivirus is a tool that all businesses should to have. It’s more than a good practice; it’s a need. The world of cybersecurity is growing, and the abilities of threat actors is also changing. As a leader for your business and its IT strategy, you need to stay one step ahead. Antivirus alone isn’t enough to protect your company. 

You need a complete endpoint protection platform. At the height of the COVID-19 health scare, we saw more businesses move to a remote or hybrid workplace. Not matter what your workplace looks like today, protection of your company and employee data is important. You need to make sure your remote systems, mobile devices and each individual device is protected from different kinds of attack. Effective EDR protection tools will include antivirus, so you won’t be at a disadvantage.

Get a Reliable Endpoint Security Solution for Your Business

Sophos Endpoint Protection has some of the highest standards of protection in the industry. Sophos’s primary endpoint control, Sophos Central, is a solution based in the cloud. Sophos Central houses itself on the endpoint in the form of an agent, which means it can actively monitor and protect your assets.

Sophos Central uses real-time file scanning and ransomware protection through Intercept X. Not every attack occurs at the file-level, and you need a solution that can combat the different bad actors that are currently out there. 

Is that all? No. Sophos Central has other controls and management options for other popular attack routes – web filtering, peripheral controls and application control are a few examples. Web filtering is an tool that will allow you to have control over the web actions of your users, even in a remote workplace. Cybersecurity cleanliness requires you to keep track of software installed on the endpoint. Fortunately, Sophos is capable of providing this control either through a blacklist or a whitelist. 

In our ever-evolving digital world, don’t let your endpoints become weak or open to attack. Sophos is one tool that can keep them more secure.

If you’re ready to meet with a cybersecurity company that can handle everything from endpoint to business continuity, contact us.