Network Detection and Response for Effective Network Visibility
Network Detection and Response (NDR) is not just a threat detection tool—it's a core enabler of effective network visibility, offering deep insights into everything happening across your environment.
Network Detection and Response (NDR) is not just a threat detection toolit's a core enabler of effective network visibility, offering deep insights into everything happening across your environment: on-prem, cloud, or hybrid.
Unlike traditional monitoring solutions that rely on logs or endpoints alone, Network Detection and Response sees actual network traffic, making it uniquely capable of detecting blind spots, rogue devices, lateral movement, and encrypted threats.
What Is Network Visibility?
Network visibility is the ability to observe, track, and understand traffic, users, devices, applications, and behavior across your network in real time.
NDR solutions extends visibility beyond logs and endpoints by focusing on the actual communication between assetspackets, flows, and protocols.
Why NDR Is Critical for Network Visibility
| Visibility Aspect | NDR Contribution |
|---|---|
| Device Discovery | Identifies unmanaged or rogue devices through passive monitoring |
| User Behavior Monitoring | Detects unusual access patterns, privileges, or login times |
| Application Visibility | Maps app-to-app communication and protocol usage |
| Traffic Flows | Analyzes volume, timing, and patterns of data transfer |
| Encrypted Traffic Insight | Uses metadata (e.g., SNI, JA3) to classify TLS traffic without decryption |
| Cloud/Hybrid Visibility | Monitors east-west traffic in cloud VPCs or across hybrid networks |
| Lateral Movement | Detects internal threat propagation via SMB, RDP, SSH, etc. |
Visibility Gaps NDR Fills
| Visibility Challenge | NDR Advantage |
|---|---|
| Unmonitored internal traffic | Passive monitoring of east-west flows |
| Blind to encrypted traffic | Behavioral analysis + encrypted metadata inspection |
| Rogue/IoT devices on network | Detects devices with no endpoint agent |
| Cloud service traffic | Visibility into VPC-level communications |
| Shadow IT or unauthorized apps | Application fingerprinting and anomaly detection |
NDR vs Traditional Monitoring Tools
| Tool | Data Source | Strength | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIEM | Logs | Correlation & compliance | No raw traffic visibility |
| EDR | Endpoint agents | Host activity | Misses unmanaged/IoT/rogue devices |
| Firewall/IDS | Perimeter traffic | Control & known threat detection | Blind to internal traffic |
| NDR platform | Network traffic (all directions) | Deep visibility + anomaly detection | Needs strategic deployment and tuning |
Benefits of Using NDR for Visibility
-
Real-time and retrospective insight into all network activity
-
No dependency on endpoint agents or logs
-
Improved detection of stealthy attacks and policy violations
-
Supports compliance audits and forensics
-
Uncovers infrastructure weaknesses (misconfigurations, exposed services)
Use Cases for NDR-Based Network Visibility
-
Detecting unauthorized IoT devices
-
Monitoring third-party vendor connections
-
Tracking sensitive data movement (PCI, PII)
-
Observing traffic to/from sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud services
-
Visualizing lateral movement during a red team exercise or attack simulation
Leading NDR Platforms Supporting Visibility
| Vendor | Visibility Strengths |
|---|---|
| Darktrace | Autonomous monitoring, self-learning baselining |
| ExtraHop Reveal(x) | Full east-west visibility, encrypted traffic analysis |
| NetWitness NDR | Full-packet capture, metadata andnetflowonpremises, in the cloud and across virtual infrastructures. |
| Cisco Stealthwatch | Scalable NetFlow visibility across enterprise networks |
| Vectra AI | AI-powered threat detection with visual attack mapping |
Deployment Best Practices
-
Start with core switch/tap traffic aggregation for central visibility
-
Deploy cloud-native NDR sensors in VPCs or virtual networks
-
Integrate with SIEM/SOAR/EDR for full-stack visibility and response
-
Baseline normal behavior early to reduce false positives later
-
Leverage dashboards and flow maps to visualize network activity
Summary
- Network Detection and Responseprovides real-time, passive, and intelligent network visibility
- It detects blind spots, anomalies, and encrypted threats others miss
- It complements your SIEM, EDR, and firewall stacknot replaces them
- It's foundational for zero trust, threat hunting, and incident response
