Is EDR part of XDR?

The short answer is: Yes, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a fundamental and essential component of an Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solution.

XDR is not a replacement for EDR; rather, it is the logical and necessary evolution of EDR. XDR takes the powerful threat detection and context-gathering capabilities of EDR and extends them across the entire IT ecosystem, integrating security data from email, cloud infrastructure, network, and applications.

What is EDR

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) continuously monitors an organization’s endpoints (laptops, desktops, servers, mobile devices) for malicious activity. EDR records endpoint data—such as file changes, process execution, and network connections—and uses analytics and automation to detect, investigate, and respond to threats on those specific devices. Its focus is deep visibility and action at the endpoint level.

What is XDR

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) is a unified security incident detection and response platform that automatically collects and correlates data from multiple security layers (endpoints, email, network, cloud, identity, etc.). XDR provides a centralized, holistic view of an attack, enabling security teams to see the full “kill chain” across the entire infrastructure, leading to faster, more effective threat response than EDR alone. Its focus is cross-domain visibility and coordinated response.

EDR and XDR: A comparison

Hexnode’s Unified Security Approach

Hexnode integrates XDR and UEM to provide a complete “full circle of security,” fundamentally solving the “too many tools” problem for IT and security teams:

• Single Unified Console: Manage all XDR incidents, alerts, and UEM device controls from one intuitive dashboard, eliminating tool-hopping.
• Proactive Defense (UEM): The UEM platform enforces security baselines (e.g., encryption, patching) to proactively harden devices and significantly reduce the attack surface.
• Context-Rich Detection (XDR): XDR correlates endpoint telemetry with rich UEM context (compliance, user status) for high-fidelity threat scoring and faster prioritization.

Commonly asked FAQs

Is XDR a product or a strategy?

XDR is primarily defined as a platform or a product category that implements a security strategy centered on cross-domain data correlation. It represents the industry trend toward vendor-consolidated, simplified security operations.

What is the main benefit of upgrading from EDR to XDR?

The main benefit is enhanced context and reduced noise. EDR can often generate siloed alerts that SOC analysts must manually piece together. XDR automatically connects these alerts into a single, comprehensive incident, reducing the time required for detection, investigation, and mean time to response (MTTR).