Your computer network is simply a network of devices, whether they’re phones to computers, computers to computers, computers to printers or, with the advent of smart technology, even computers to fridges! Both at work and home, your computer network is a prize target for hackers.
If they successfully infiltrate your computer network with malware, they can commit a whole litany of crimes, from stealing money directly from your bank account to stealing and selling your entire digital identity. One of the best ways to stay on top of these potential threats is to perform regular health-checks to monitor the integrity of your system. One of the most effective network security strategies in network detection and response or NDR.
The Easy Way Out
NDR does require you to have some technical knowledge. If you don’t have that knowledge, it might be safer to get a network audit from a professional. That’s because, if you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re tinkering about with your network settings, you can cause irritating damage and dangerous loopholes that can make the problem even worse! Companies like 24×7 IT Solutions offer completely free audits that can highlight the loopholes in your network, as well as any existing malware and is by far the safer option for those who have less confidence in their technical ability.
What is NDR?
NDR is the use of a specific security system, one developed for EDR (a type of endpoint security protocol). Its basic tenets focus on discovering hidden malware and undertaking some form of counterattack to remove this hidden malicious bug and fix the damage it has caused on the network. NDR tools are a repurposed form of NPMs, which look for performance issues.
Analysis
One of the NDR tools’ best features is their ability to perform real-time analysis to find the root cause of a threat and launch a response based on that analysis. When you have properly installed NDR tools, they can continuously monitor your computer network and quashing any threats as soon as they arise. Modern tools use AI to aid this analysis, which helps them to respond faster in the future – a bit like a human immune system.
Setting Up the System
You don’t need any specific hardware to set up your NDR system. They are connected to various servers, including remote, enterprise cloud, and industrial servers, with the ability to monitor all of them. What you do need is a lot of storage space, as NDR systems require a lot of records. You also need the relevant software tools. There are many choices you have when you’re looking for NDR tools, but many of them aren’t cheap and have their own specific set-up and installation requirements. Most people, therefore, choose to partner with a solutions provider.
If that isn’t your style, you’re comfortable with technology, and you don’t mind investing in a bit of hardware, you should start your DIY NDR adventure with network monitoring. Unless you’re a professional back-end coder, you probably won’t be able to build the automatic response functions that NDR tools can give you.
Still, there are open-source tools like Wireshark that capture and analyze packets, as well as Argus and Tcpdump. Once you have configured your network to mirror packets to a monitoring laptop via port mirroring, you can start collecting and analyzing flow records. You have to know what you’re looking for, but there are open-source blacklists that can help.
