A recent CISA red team assessment of a United States critical infrastructure organization revealed systemic vulnerabilities in modern cybersecurity. Among the most pressing issues was a heavy reliance on endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, paired with a lack of network-level protections.

These findings underscore a familiar challenge: Why do organizations place so much trust in EDR alone, and what must change to address its shortcomings?

EDR’s double-edged sword

A cornerstone of cyber resilience strategy, EDR solutions are prized for their ability to monitor endpoints for malicious activity. But as the CISA report demonstrated, this reliance can become a liability when paired with inadequate network defenses. Here’s why:

1. Tunnel vision on endpoints: EDR excels at identifying threats on individual devices but struggles with network-wide attacks. This leaves gaps when hackers exploit lateral movement or unusual data transfers — activities that often require network-level visibility to detect.
2. Playing catch-up with threats: Traditional EDR tools depend on recognizing known indicators of compromise (IOCs). Advanced attackers can easily sidestep these tools by using novel techniques or blending in with legitimate activity.
3. Blind spots in legacy systems: Legacy environments often go unnoticed by EDR, giving attackers free rein. In the CISA case, these systems allowed the red team to persist for months undetected.
4. Overwhelmed defenders: Even when EDR generates alerts, security teams can become desensitized by a flood of notifications. As seen in the CISA assessment, critical warnings can slip through the cracks simply because defenders are too stretched to respond.

Common EDR pain points

The challenges highlighted in the CISA report mirror broader issues organizations face with EDR:

• Detection without context: EDR tools often spot anomalies on endpoints but fail to connect the dots across the broader network. This lack of context can leave organizations blind to coordinated attacks.
• Weak network integration: Without network-layer defenses, EDR struggles to identify malicious activities like unusual traffic patterns or data exfiltration, key tactics in advanced breaches.
• Fragmented systems: Many organizations operate a patchwork of security tools, leaving critical gaps in coverage and making it harder to correlate data across endpoints, networks and cloud environments.

The next evolution of EDR

Recognizing these shortcomings, cybersecurity is rapidly evolving beyond traditional EDR. Here’s how:

1. Extended detection and response (XDR): XDR takes EDR to the next level by integrating endpoint, network and cloud data into a single platform. This broader scope allows organizations to see the full attack picture and respond more effectively.
2. AI-driven insights: Cutting-edge EDR solutions now harness machine learning to detect subtle behavioral anomalies. By identifying deviations from normal activity, these tools catch threats even when no IOCs exist.
3. Zero trust security: Zero trust architectures take endpoint defense a step further by ensuring no device or user is trusted by default. This integration of endpoint, identity and network security reduces dependence on EDR alone.
4. Network visibility: Modern EDR tools are incorporating network traffic analysis to close the gaps identified in the CISA report. Monitoring traffic for anomalies, such as unusual data flows or external connections, bolsters defenses.
5. Cloud-native solutions: As businesses embrace hybrid and cloud environments, EDR is evolving to provide seamless coverage across on-premises and cloud systems, addressing vulnerabilities in these critical areas.

Why do gaps persist?

Even with these advancements, many organizations struggle to fully address EDR’s limitations:

• Resource strains: Small security teams often lack the bandwidth or expertise to implement and manage advanced solutions like XDR.
• Budget constraints: Upgrading to integrated platforms or modernizing legacy systems can be costly.
• Legacy challenges: Outdated environments remain vulnerable, acting as weak points that attackers can exploit.
• Leadership missteps: As the CISA report pointed out, organizations sometimes deprioritize known vulnerabilities, leaving critical gaps unaddressed.

Building a more resilient future

The CISA red team findings are a wake-up call: Endpoint protection alone is no longer enough. To outsmart today’s sophisticated adversaries, organizations must adopt a layered defense strategy that integrates endpoint, network and cloud security. Solutions like XDR, zero trust principles and advanced behavioral analysis offer a path forward — but they require strategic investments and cultural shifts.

The post Insights from CISA’s red team findings and the evolution of EDR appeared first on Security Intelligence.

CISA and the FBI recently released a joint statement that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is targeting commercial telecommunications infrastructure as part of a significant cyber espionage campaign. As a result, the agencies released a joint guide, Enhanced Visibility and Hardening Guidance for Communications Infrastructure, with best practices organizations and agencies should adopt to protect against this espionage threat.

According to the statement, PRC-affiliated actors compromised networks at multiple telecommunication companies. They stole customer call records data as well as compromised private communications of a limited number of people. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) told the Washington Post that the threat actors listened on audio calls and even moved between networks. As a result, many media sources reported that texts between Android and Apple devices are not secure.

Historic and sophisticated cyberattack

The headlines of the Washington Post deemed it the worst telecom hack in our nation’s history, per a top U.S. senator. On the surface, this seems a bit melodramatic, with only 150 identified victims. However, experts predict the affected number of people will go into the millions. Warner, who serves as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, went as far as to say that Salt Typhoon makes Colonial Pipeline and SolarWinds “look like child’s play.”

The data collected during the attack falls into two categories, reported NBC. The first included call records showing the time and number called, with most records in the Washington, D.C. area. The other included listening to live calls of specific targets, which may include Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

However, the most concerning aspect of the attack is the national security implications. Richard Forno, Principal Lecturer in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at UMBC, explained in UMBC Magazine that Salt Typhoon compromised the portals used by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement. As a result, he says that the attackers may have gotten information about which Chinese spies and informants counterintelligence agencies were monitoring, which those targets can then use to avoid detection.

“U.S. officials have said that many of the ways Salt Typhoon penetrated its targets was through existing weaknesses with the infrastructure. As I’ve written previously, failing to implement basic cybersecurity best practices can lead to debilitating incidents for organizations of all sizes. Given how dependent the world is on networked information systems, it is more important than ever to maintain cybersecurity programs that make it difficult for attacks to succeed, especially for critical infrastructure like the phone network,” wrote Forno.

Reducing the risk of Salt Typhoon

With words like espionage and intercepting texts thrown around, the biggest question on people’s minds is how to protect themselves from this threat. Many experts are currently recommending using encrypted apps, such as WhatsApp and X, instead of traditional texting.

“Encryption is your friend, whether it is on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communications, even if the adversary is able to intercept the data if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible, if not really hard, for them to detect it. So, our advice is to try to avoid using plain text,” said Jeff Greene, CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, during a press briefing reported by USA Today.

Forbes also reported that an FBI official recommended citizens use a cell phone that automatically receives timely operating system updates. Additionally, the phone should have responsibly managed encryption and phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA) for email, social media and collaboration tool accounts.

“So it’s somewhat ironic that one of the countermeasures recommended by the government to guard against Salt Typhoon spying is to use strongly encrypted services for phone calls and text messages – encryption capabilities that it has spent decades trying to undermine so that only ‘the good guys’ can use it,” wrote Forno.

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