Gartner defines an endpoint protection platform (EPP) as security software designed to protect managed endpoints — including desktop PCs, laptop PCs, mobile devices and, in some cases, server endpoints — against known and unknown malicious attacks. EPPs provide capabilities for security teams to investigate and remediate incidents that evade prevention controls. EPP products are delivered as software agents, deployed to endpoints, and connected to centralized security analytics and management consoles. EPPs provide a defensive security control to protect end-user endpoints against known and unknown malware infections using a combination of security techniques (such as static and behavioral analysis) and system controls (such as device control and host firewall management). EPP prevention and protection capabilities are deployed as a part of a defense-in-depth strategy to help reduce the attack surface and minimize the risk of endpoint compromise. EPP detection and response capabilities are used to uncover, investigate, and respond to endpoint threats that evade security prevention, often as a part of broader security operations platforms.
Gartner defines managed detection and response (MDR) services as those that provide customers with remotely delivered security operations center (SOC) functions. These functions allow organizations to perform rapid detection, analysis, investigation and response through threat disruption and containment. They offer a turnkey experience, using a predefined technology stack that commonly covers endpoints, networks, logs and cloud. Telemetry is analyzed within a provider’s platform using a range of techniques. The MDR provider’s analyst team then performs threat hunting and incident management to deliver recommended actions to their clients. MDR offers outcome-driven security incident management that is predicated on the detection, analysis and investigation of potentially impactful security events and the delivery of active threat disruption and containment actions to respond to and mitigate the impact of cyber breaches.