Cybersecurity Showdown: Comparing the Top EDR Security Solutions

Endpoint security is a crucial concern for businesses in 2023. The exponential growth of remote and hybrid work models along with the consistently growing use of IoT and OT devices across industries require organizations to support more endpoints than ever before. A recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute revealed that the average enterprise now manages approximately 135,000 endpoint devices. Additionally, 63% of respondents find that the lack of visibility into their endpoints is the most significant barrier to achieving a strong security posture. Perhaps that's why 70% of cyber attacks begin at an endpoint.

Endpoint security is the practice of securing all devices on a network, such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, operational technology, IoT devices, etc. It's far too big of a job for IT teams to take on manually. As such, an automated solution is the best approach to protecting the endpoints that communicate with your organizational network. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a system that collects data from endpoints to detect cybersecurity attacks. EDR platforms use behavioral analysis, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor suspicious activities and detect malware, advanced persistent threats, and exploit attacks related to data breaches. 

If you're unfamiliar with EDR, these articles can help you learn more.

• The Essentials of Endpoint Detection and Response
• Endpoint Security
• EDR vs XDR: Comparing Options
• EDR vs MDR vs XDR: How they Differ and Which One is Right for You

There's no doubt that a comprehensive endpoint security system is crucial to protect your organization from cyberattacks. However, finding the right EDR security solution for your organization can be a complex endeavor that yields more questions than answers. This guide will help you compare top EDR providers to assess which solution is right for you. 

Cylance

BlackBerry CylancePROTECT is an AI driven EDR platform that allows organizations to automate and streamline their overall endpoint security efforts. The platform uses AI and ML to detect and mitigate highly advanced security threats as they emerge. The platform is designed to easily integrate with your existing technology stack and allow you to manage all devices with interactive dashboards and real-time statistics.

Key Features

• Strong MITRE ATT&CK-based protection for Windows and Linux
• Endpoint protection that works with little intervention
• Zero-day threat prevention even without a cloud connection
• Application control and device policy enforcement

Pros and Cons of CylancePROTECT

Reviews from Gartner Peer Insights note these pros and cons for Cylance EDR.

Pros

• Support for hybrid (network and cloud-based)
• Lightweight administrative load
• Hands-off protection

Cons

• Limited, slow, and unresponsive support
• Difficulties incorporating the platform with SIEM
• No historical reporting 
• No alerts
• Steep learning curve

Integrations

Secure your entire infrastructure with a unified solution that easily integrates with your existing technology stack. Blackberry endpoint ISV technology integration partners include:

• Absolute
• Aruba
• Attack IQ
• Chronicle
• Duo
• ForeScout
• IBM
• JASK
• LogRythm
• Rapid7
• SafeBreach
• Securonix
• Soft Warfare
• Splunk
• Swimlane 
• ThreatConnect
• Thycotic

Price Range

According to the website, CylancePROTECT is an enterprise Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) that requires a user license and software installation. Customers must contact the company to purchase licenses and schedule onboarding for teams. The consultation would likely include custom quotes for interested companies. Another source states that costs start at $45 per endpoint for 1-99 endpoints. Price decreases based on volume to $36 for 5,000 endpoints, and $26 for over 50,000.

CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike Falcon Endpoint Protection Pro is a next-gen antivirus platform that protects systems through a single lightweight sensor. The platform is made up of four modules which include: Falcon Prevent, Falcon Intelligence, Falcon Device Control, and Falcon Firewall Management. They combine to offer clients improved visibility into endpoint activity, automated incident investigations, and rapid breach response.  

Key Features

• Protects against known and unknown threats with integrated threat intelligence
• Fully protects endpoints online and offline
• Cleans up known artifacts left behind from blocked malicious activity
• Uses AI to automate investigation and response activities

Pros and Cons of CrowdStrike EDR

Reviews from Gartner Peer Insights note these pros and cons for CrowdStrike Falcon.

Pros

• Real-time incident response
• Content-rich dashboards
• Easy installation
• Falcon Complete is backed with a Breach Prevention Warranty up to $1M

Cons

• More expensive than other options
• Threat-hunting data is only available for 7 days
• Interface can be difficult to navigate for new users
• Slow responses from support
• Difficulties eliminating false positives

Integrations

CrowdStrike's open ecosystem allows partners to build value-add solutions on their cloud endpoint protection platform. The CrowdStrike Store presents a list of partners and applications that are integrated with the Falcon platform.

Price Range

CrowdStrike Falcon Pro offers a free trial and three additional pricing editions, including Falcon Enterprise, Fallcon Premium, and Falcon Complete. Falcon packages are priced per endpoint and billed annually. Falcon Pro: $6.99 per endpoint/month for 5-250 endpoints. Falcon Enterprise: 14.99 per endpoint/month. Falcon Premium; $17.99 per endpoint/month. An endpoint minimum applies to all price groups for the listed pricing.

SentinelOne

SentinelOne Singularity is an extended EDR platform that maximizes visibility into the user's environment and uses automation to launch responses across the entire connected security system. The platform enables users to identify all endpoints and centralize the data into a single view for extended visibility. Automated detection and response provides immediate responses to relevant threats. 

Key Features

• Identify and protect unmanaged endpoints in real time
• System isolation to contain threats
• Real-time detection
• Automated remediation
• Auto immunization against new threats targeting endpoints

Pros and Cons of SentinelOne EDR

Reviews from Gartner Peer Insights note these pros and cons for SentinelOne Singularity.

Pros

• Easy to deploy with few requirements for configuration
• Ability to stop and remediate threats instantly
• Easy navigation on the management console

Cons

• Real-time threat detection is not supported on Linux
• Complex updates 
• Extra cost for adding mobile solution
• Complex tuning to eliminate false positives

Integrations

SentinelOne provides "limitless" integrations with no-code automation, available in the Singularity Marketplace. Singularity Marketplace Premier Partners and Marketplace Partners include:

• Recorded Future
• Splunk
• ServiceNow
• Zscaler
• AWS
• Netskope
• IBM
• Microsoft
• AT&T Alien Labs OTX
• Mimecast
• Okta
• Proofpoint
• Armis
• Mandiant
• Ping Identity
• Anecdotes
• Arctic Wolf
• Arista
• Armorblox
• Cloudflare
• Exabeam
• Fidelis
• Rapid7
• LogRhythm
• Securonix
• Slack
• ThreatConnect
• and more

Price Range

SentinelOne Singularity has 5 pricing editions. Each cloud-based package is billed monthly per agent. Singularity Ranger IoT: $4 per agent/month. Singularity Core: $6 per agent/month. Singularity Control: $8 per agent/month. Singularity Complete: $12 per agent/month. Singularity Cloud: $36 per agent/month.

Sophos

Sophos Intercept X Endpoint Protection is an EDR platform that supplies users with threat hunting, automated response, and root cause analysis. Machine learning and AI enable the system to detect never before seen malware and stop ransomware. The platform is simple to administer even for users with limited experience. 

Key Features

• Automatically detect and prioritize potential threats
• AI that detects known and unknown threats
• Manage endpoint detection and other Sophos solutions from a unified console
• Aero-trust network access

Pros and Cons of Sophos EDR

Reviews from Gartner Peer Insights note these pros and cons of Sophos Intercept X.

Pros 

• User interface makes managing endpoint policies straightforward and easy
• Interactive dashboards with complete visibility of all alerts and logs
• Easy installation

Cons

• Too many false positives
• Some complaints about support
• Frequent product model changes

Integrations

Sophos Intercept easily integrates with existing software to easily automate monitoring, security, and administration activities in Sophos Central. Current integrations and API partners include:

• Aruba Networks
• Cigent
• Auvik
• BrightGuage
• ServerEye
• Datto
• ConnectWise Automate
• SolarWinds N-central
• Ninja RMM
• Syncro
• VSA RMM
• Rapid7
• Cortex XSOAR
• Swimlane
• Liongard
• Respond
• Sumologic
• Microsoft
• Amazon
• Slack
• Azure
• and more

Price Range

Sophos Intercept X has 3 pricing platforms, each of which is billed annually. It's an on-premise solution, so a per-user starting price also applies. Intercept X Advanced: $28 per year per user. Intercept X Advanced with XDR: $48 per year per user. Sophos Managed Threat Response is $79 per year per user.

Carbon Black

VMware Carbon Black EDR is an incident response and threat-hunting solution designed for teams with offline environments or on-premises requirements. It continuously records and stores endpoint activity data so security professionals can hunt threats in real-time.  Rapid response gives you the power to respond in real-time and remediate threats instantly.

Key Features

• Continuous visibility into your endpoint environment
• Custom and cloud-delivered threat intelligence
• Respond and remediate to threats in real-time for minimal damage
• Isolate infected machines to prevent lateral movement 

Pros and Cons of Carbon Black EDR

Reviews from Gartner Peer Insights revealed these pros and cons for VMware Carbon Black EDR.

Pros

• Easy-to-use interface
• Integration from various threat intelligence feeds
• Impressive analysis capabilities

Cons

• Issues with remote connectivity
• Too many false positives
• Resource intensive
• More overhead than expected

Integrations

Carbon Black Marketplace provides a datalog of 2,100+ third-party and open-source solutions. Supported integrations and partner integrations include:

• Air Gap Feed
• Event Forwarder
• QRadar
• Splunk
• Threat Connect
• Yara Connector
• IBM
• Ericisson
• GitLab
• CloudVector
• Apache
• Nasuni
• and more

Price Range

Carbon Black doesn't provide pricing information because they offer custom pricing based on customer endpoints and desired features. There are three separate platforms, including Endpoint Standard, Endpoint Advanced, and Endpoint Enterprise. Customers can contact VMware to get a price quote. 

BitLyft Cybersecurity

BitLyft AIR® integrates EDR security services into its high-performance MDR offering. We couple a team of security experts with powerful automation to remediate cyberthreats in seconds, across all organizational endpoints and devices. BitLyft AIR® offers the same visibility and threat detection and response capabilities across endpoints as the organizational network.

EDR from BitLyft provides deep-level visibility into your endpoint activity to detect malicious behavior, rapid response with automated tools, and 24/7 support from a dedicated team of cybersecurity professionals. Endpoints are automatically protected against new threats with validated threat intelligence from multiple sources. BitLyft AIR® is a proactive cybersecurity solution that integrates EDR into managed services for a seamless solution that protects all of your network devices.

Key Features

• EDR as part of MDR services to provide a fully integrated cybersecurity solution
• Complete visibility into endpoint activity through interactive dashboards
• Advanced MITRE ATT&CK integration to provide unrivaled threat detection capabilities
• Machine learning and AI to provide rapid detection and response actions
• Convenient monthly billing with minimal start-up costs
• Central threat intelligence to curate a contextualized and validated threat feed
• Vulnerability scanning included in the service package
• Advanced reporting in the Mesosphere and Thermosphere packages

Pros and Cons of BitLyft AIR®

Reviews from Gartner Peer Insights revealed these pros and cons of BitLyft EDR.

Pros

• Initial planning and configuration are great
• Fast and responsive support
• Competitive pricing
• User-focused instead of device focused

Cons

• Limited reporting with some packages
• Some deployment issues with cloud vendors

Integrations

BitLyft AIR® is designed to be used across businesses of all sizes across all industries. The platform provides seamless integration with current software for advanced protection. Integrations include:

• Blackberry
• Microsoft
• Carbon Black
• Crowdstrike
• Securonix
• Cisco
• SentinelOne
• Fortinet
• GSuite
• and more

Price Range

Bitlyft pricing is based on annual contracts paid monthly. Prices for each of the four packages can be found on the website's refreshingly transparent pricing page, and are listed as follows:

• Troposphere: $1,899 per  month for unlimited users
• Stratosphere: $2,099 per month for unlimited users
• Mesosphere: $6,499 per month for unlimited users
• Thermosphere: $10,499 per month for unlimited users

Plans vary based on data retention capabilities, reporting level, and integrations. Additional plans are available to help with longer-term data retention, custom rules, and custom automation. Customers are encouraged to contact BitLyft for custom quotes and information regarding pricing discounts for longer term commitments.

Today's cloud-based environment requires businesses to achieve 100% visibility into the entire network environment. With a growing number of IoT and OT devices used in companies across all industries, this task is increasingly difficult. EDR provides businesses with a way to monitor and control endpoint activity in a way that reduces the vulnerabilities these powerful tools can represent. Automated EDR capabilities mean your system stays protected while your teams focus on high-level tasks and IT requirements. 

BitLyft AIR® provides businesses with a complete system to protect all types of endpoints in any business environment. Learn more about how partnering with us can help you protect your complete business network environment from known and unknown cyberthreats.