The Evolution of Endpoint Security: From Antivirus to XDR

The evolution of Endpoint Security is a story of adaptation, each stage building on the lessons of the one before it. In the late 1980s through the mid 2000s, antivirus defined the frontline of defense. It scanned files on each endpoint and matched hashes against a central database, blocking known viruses, worms and trojans. However, it had a critical weakness, anything new and unknown slipped through the cracks. By 2007, the Endpoint Protection Platform signaled a shift. It combined next generation antivirus with host firewall, intrusion prevention, application control and device use policies in a single agent. Layered prevention methods like vulnerability shielding and behavioral controls were added, making endpoints less dependent on signatures alone. From 2013 onward, Endpoint Detection and Response redefined the approach. Instead of focusing only on prevention, EDR continuously recorded process activity, network connections and system changes. Security teams gained the ability to hunt threats in real time and perform forensic investigation. Fileless attacks and stealthy intrusions could be detected, and defenders could pivot laterally to contain them. It was a shift from building walls, to shining lights inside the system. By 2018, Extended Detection and Response expanded the scope even further. XDR ingested and correlated telemetry not just from endpoints but also from networks, cloud, email and identity systems. It unified cross layer analytics and automated playbooks, giving security teams a centralized view to detect, prioritize and remediate threats across the entire infrastructure. This marked the transition from siloed defenses to integrated ecosystems, where insights from one layer could inform protection across many. Each stage represents a response to the growing sophistication of attackers. What began with scanning files for known signatures, has grown into a discipline that integrates signals from every layer of the enterprise. #Cybersecurity #EndpointSecurity #EDR #XDR #InfoSec #ThreatDetection #SecurityOperations #CyberResilience #NetworkSecurity #CloudSecurity

Peleg Cabra

Cybersecurity | Director of Product Marketing | Entro

6d

Didn't XDR dissolve back into EDR and marketing fluff?

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Barry Rabkin

Drafting 2nd book. Focus on insurance commerce and cyber. Insurance industry veteran. Analyst background launching / leading insurance strategy practices at The META Group, Financial Insights (IDC), & Omdia.

6d

Interesting

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