Beyond traditional threat detection | TechRadar

There is a widening gap between the sophistication of cyber attacks and the traditional methods employed by many organizations to detect and neutralize these threats. The industry is at a critical juncture, requiring a shift from outdated paradigms to innovative approaches that can effectively combat evolving threats. The opportunity lies in recognizing and addressing this gap in thinking.

The Industry’s Struggle with Detection

Currently, organizations are predominantly focused on three main strategies for threat detection: deploying firewalls, leveraging Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) systems, and utilizing deterministic decision-making tools. Firewalls and EDRs are designed to identify and block malicious software by relying on known signatures and patterns of attack. Deterministic tools, on the other hand, aim to differentiate harmful activities from benign ones by analyzing data and making binary decisions about what constitutes a threat.

However, this traditional approach is proving increasingly inadequate in the face of sophisticated tactics like “living off the land” (LotL) attacks. LotL attacks are particularly challenging because they use legitimate tools and processes within a target’s environment to conduct malicious activities, thereby evading traditional detection mechanisms. There is no malware to flag, no signatures used to detect, and no obvious indicators of compromise for traditional tools to catch. This is where the crux of the problem lies: the existing tools are not equipped to handle such nuanced and covert threats.

The Gap in Industry Thinking

The main gap in the industry’s approach to cyber is the reliance on deterministic tools that are inherently limited in dealing with advanced persistent threats (APTs) and LotL techniques. Companies often believe that their current arsenal of cybersecurity tools is sufficient, failing to realize that these tools were not designed to counter the subtle and sophisticated methods used by modern attackers.

One significant…