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NDR in the Era of Cloud and Hybrid Environments: Why It’s Essential

  • Srestha Roy

"The PwC Cybersecurity Outlook Report reveals that 39% of UK senior executives expect cloud-related threats to significantly impact their organizations this year, surpassing traditional threat concerns."

With cloud infrastructures expanding across private, public, hybrid, and multi-cloud models, effective security monitoring is essential. Gartner’s 2024 Hype Cycle for Workload and Network Security suggests that NDR solutions are becoming critical in these diverse environments and could reach widespread adoption within the next two to five years. This trend underscores the importance of NDR for visibility and rapid threat detection in today’s complex cloud landscapes (see Figure 1).

2024 Hype Cycle for Workload and Network Security
Fig 1: 2024 Hype Cycle for Workload and Network Security

What Is Cloud Network Detection and Response (NDR), and Why Is It So Important?

Cloud network security refers to the strategies, controls, and technologies that protect cloud-based systems and data from threats. Traditional methods often struggle to keep up with the dynamic nature of cloud networks, where workloads, applications, and resources are continually changing. This is where NDR solutions make an impact, offering deep visibility into network traffic, detecting unusual patterns, and automating responses across cloud-native environments.

By continuously monitoring network activity, cloud NDR adapts to these unique architectures, identifying risks in real time—even within 75% of traffic that is encrypted. It offers the deep visibility required to spot unusual patterns, mitigate potential risks, and maintain a high level of security across cloud services.

What Detection and Response Mechanisms Does NDR Use for Cloud Threats?

NDR solutions are equipped with advanced detection and response capabilities for common cyber threats, especially in cloud-native NDR systems. Let’s look at some specific examples:

  • Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
    NDR tools can identify unusual spikes in traffic that could signal a denial-of-service attack. By establishing thresholds based on normal traffic behavior, NDR solutions can alert teams early, often before significant service disruptions occur.
  • Data Breaches
    Continuous monitoring means NDR can spot unauthorized access attempts or signs of unusual data exfiltration—both indicators of a data breach. When NDR detects such activity, immediate alerts enable teams to respond before the breach escalates.
  • Other Malicious Activities
    Leveraging machine learning models, NDR solutions identify patterns associated with known threats and adapt to evolving attack tactics. This adaptability is essential in today’s cloud environments, where malicious activities continuously evolve, and rapid, real-time responses are crucial.

What Key Challenges Does NDR Face in Monitoring Cloud Network Traffic?

"PwC reports that over a quarter of global CFOs faced data breaches costing more than $1 million in recent years, emphasizing the urgent need for enhanced NDR solutions in today’s hybrid cloud environments."

Monitoring network traffic in cloud and hybrid environments comes with unique challenges:

1. Limited Visibility and Control

Cloud resources are often spread across various regions, making it hard to maintain visibility over network performance and security. Continuous monitoring helps, but distributed infrastructure and rapidly changing resources require sophisticated tools to provide full visibility.

2. Performance Variability

Shared cloud resources can experience performance fluctuations due to network congestion or SLAs with providers. NDR solutions can help monitor and diagnose these variations, although limited control over cloud infrastructure may hinder optimization.

3. Complexity of Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Environments

Many organizations now use multiple cloud providers, each with unique monitoring tools. NDR solutions can integrate these tools, offering comprehensive monitoring across multi-cloud setups.

4. Data Overload and Alert Fatigue

With high volumes of alerts, teams can experience alert fatigue. Effective NDR configuration helps ensure that only the most critical threats are flagged, reducing noise and enabling faster response times.

5. Security Concerns

Traditional protocols aren’t always effective for cloud-based network security, so modern security controls and identity and access management (IAM) are essential to protect against unauthorized access.

How Does Cloud NDR Integrate with Cloud Platforms in hybrid environment?

Cloud NDR seamlessly integrates with cloud platforms through several mechanisms designed to offer continuous protection and response capabilities. Here are some of the main ways it works:

1. API Integration

NDR leverages APIs to connect with cloud service providers (CSPs), gaining access to crucial data like activity logs, security events, and asset inventories. This integration allows NDR systems to monitor for unusual patterns, like compromised accounts or suspicious data flows, offering a comprehensive security view across cloud ecosystems.

2. Ingestion of Cloud Logs and Flow Data

By ingesting logs from cloud platforms (e.g., AWS VPC Flow Logs or Azure Network Watcher), NDR solutions can track east-west traffic, which is essential for spotting lateral movement between cloud workloads and detecting internal threats.

3. Sensor Deployment

Some NDR providers offer lightweight sensors for intra-cloud traffic monitoring. These sensors enable a detailed view of network interactions across various cloud resources, improving detection of potential threats arising from internal communications.

“Plan sensor types and deployment locations so that the most relevant network traffic can be analyzed. Proper positioning of the NDR sensors is critically important to achieve complete visibility, limit the number of false positives, and control the cost of the deployment.”

– 2024 Gartner Hype Cycle report

4. Behavioral Analytics

Using machine learning models to analyze network and user behavior, NDR solutions detect abnormal patterns, such as command-and-control communications or data exfiltration attempts. These advanced analytics allow NDR to stay ahead of threats that traditional tools may miss.

5. Automated Response Capabilities

If suspicious activity is detected, NDR solutions can trigger automated responses, such as isolating compromised resources or halting unauthorized data transfers. This level of automation accelerates incident response and lightens the load on security teams.

6. Integration with Other Security Tools

Cloud NDR integrates with existing security solutions—like Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR), and endpoint detection tools—supporting a unified approach to threat management across the security ecosystem.

How Does NDR Address Cloud and Hybrid Security Challenges?

In a hybrid environment, resources are spread across data centers and cloud platforms, making network security in the cloud a key concern. NDR solutions provide continuous monitoring and real-time threat detection across all network segments. Here’s how NDR enhances security across both cloud and on-premises systems in a hybrid setup:

1. Unified Visibility Across On-Premises and Cloud Networks

  • Cloud network detection and response solutions offer centralized visibility across both cloud-based networks and physical infrastructure. This ensures that security teams can monitor network traffic in real-time, identifying malicious activities in both environments.
  • Hybrid Threat Detection and Response: By enabling cloud NDR capabilities, organizations can track data flows and access patterns to catch unauthorized access attempts, data breaches, and denial-of-service attacks regardless of whether they occur on-premises or in the cloud.

2. Protecting Data and Network Traffic

  • Data Security: In hybrid environments, data encryption and security controls become vital. NDR systems monitor encrypted traffic for hidden threats, helping to detect suspicious activity without compromising data security.
  • Continuous Monitoring and Risk Reduction: With NDR solutions, organizations can set thresholds based on normal behavior to catch anomalies like spikes in traffic or unusual remote access patterns, thereby reducing the risk of intrusions.
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How Does NDR Secure Remotely Accessed Resources in Hybrid Setups?

As remote work becomes more prevalent, NDR is essential for securing access to cloud and on-premises systems. With cloud network security measures, NDR solutions monitor gaining access events to protect against unauthorized attempts and threat actors. Here are the main strategies for securing remotely accessed systems:

1. Monitoring Remote Access with Cloud Network Security Controls

  • NDR provides security control mechanisms tailored to remote access. These controls are essential to ensuring that only authorized users can access hybrid resources, from virtual machines to sensitive databases.
  • Limiting Compromised Credential Impact: With network security cloud features, NDR tools monitor for signs of credential theft and unauthorized access, catching issues early before they lead to significant breaches.

2. Automated Response to Security Threats

  • By utilizing security information and event management (SIEM) integration, NDR can trigger automated responses across the hybrid network. For example, if NDR identifies a threat actor attempting malicious activities, the system can automatically block IPs or isolate compromised resources.

Is Cloud-Native NDR the Future of Network Security?

“By 2029, more than 50 percent of incidents discovered by NDR technology will come from cloud network activity, up from less than 10 percent today.”

– 2024 Gartner Hype Cycle report
Lets see why?
  • The future of network security lies in cloud-driven solutions that adapt to the complexities of cloud networks.
  • Cloud-native NDR offers scalable, agile protection against cloud threats, ensuring that as network perimeters expand, security keeps up.
  • With increasing remote access and more sophisticated cloud threat detection capabilities, cloud NDR is essential for robust protection.

"With 64% of UK executives acknowledging they haven’t fully mitigated cloud adoption risks, the PwC report underlines the essential role of proactive security tools like NDR to fill critical gaps in network and cloud security."

How Fidelis NDR Enhances Security in Cloud-Native Applications

  1. Comprehensive Visibility: Monitors traffic across all cloud networks, including components like data centers and cloud-native environments, to capture threats and maintain visibility at all times.
  2. Real-Time Threat Detection: Detects abnormal network behavior early, reducing risks associated with data breaches and helping organizations apply cloud data security best practices.
  3. Encrypted Traffic Analysis: With more data encryption in place, Fidelis NDR uncovers hidden threats in encrypted data streams without compromising security.
  4. Automated Incident Response: Automates responses to threats, such as isolating compromised resources or blocking malicious activities, while securing remotely accessed resources.
  5. Advanced Threat Hunting: Combines real-time monitoring with historical analysis to hunt for vulnerabilities within network and cloud security setups, strengthening security across all network perimeters.

Through these advanced mechanisms, Fidelis NDR brings unmatched network and cloud security capabilities to cloud-native applications and data centers alike, ensuring that cloud data security best practices are met in every interaction.

About Author

Picture of Srestha Roy
Srestha Roy

Srestha is a cybersecurity expert and passionate writer with a keen eye for detail and a knack for simplifying intricate concepts. She crafts engaging content and her ability to bridge the gap between technical expertise and accessible language makes her a valuable asset in the cybersecurity community. Srestha's dedication to staying informed about the latest trends and innovations ensures that her writing is always current and relevant.

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