EDR vs. SIEM

Modern security teams have to navigate a security landscape where visibility gaps, alert fatigue, and operational complexity can make finding real cyber threats harder rather than easier. So, choosing the right security investments is about deploying the right solutions that improve detection without overwhelming analysts with noise.

This is where Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) come into play. Both serve critical roles in identifying and mitigating threats, but distinguishing and choosing one over the other can be tough. This article explores the fundamental differences in EDR vs SIEM, including the advantages and limitations of each tool and how to determine whether EDR, SIEM, a combination of both, or something else entirely is the right approach for your organization. 

What is EDR?

Definition and Core Functions

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a security solution designed to monitor, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats targeting endpoints, from desktops to VMs, containers, and network and IoT devices.

Core functions of EDR include:

• Continuous Endpoint Monitoring: Tracks system processes, registry changes, network connections, and file modifications in real time.
• Behavior-Based Threat Detection: Uses AI-driven analytics and heuristics to identify suspicious activity beyond known malware signatures.
• Automated Incident Response: Isolates compromised endpoints, kills malicious processes, and rolls back unauthorized changes.
• Forensic Investigation & Threat Hunting: Stores historical endpoint activity for retrospective analysis and proactive threat hunting.

How EDR Works

EDR focuses on active monitoring of endpoint behavior, detecting unusual activity such as privilege escalation, credential dumping, or lateral movement. Solutions usually deploy lightweight agents on endpoints to continuously collect telemetry data related to system activity. Modern EDR solutions go beyond signature-based detection to use AI-driven behavioral analysis and automated response actions like isolating compromised endpoints, terminating malicious processes, and rolling back unauthorized system changes.

Key Benefits of EDR

EDR tools give companies deeper endpoint visibility, faster response to cyberattacks, and greater control over endpoint security. Key advantages include:

• Proactive Threat Detection: Identifies fileless malware, credential theft, and advanced attack techniques that bypass traditional AV solutions.
• Automated Incident Response: Reduces attacker dwell time by automatically quarantining compromised endpoints and terminating malicious activity.
• Reduced Analyst Workload: Uses machine learning and automated correlation to filter out false positives and prioritize high-risk threats.
• Improved Forensic and Compliance Capabilities: Logs detailed endpoint activity for auditability, compliance (PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2), and post-incident investigation.

Limitations of EDR

While EDR is an essential tool, it has inherent limitations. For one, it leaves security gaps in network activity, cloud workloads, and identity security because its visibility doesn’t reach beyond endpoints. Further, if improperly configured, EDR can generate high volumes of alerts, overwhelming SOC analysts. EDR also lacks broad security analytics, compliance reporting, and multi-domain correlation. 

To address some limitations, today, teams can combine network, cloud, and email security with endpoint detection and response with Extended Detection and Response (XDR) tools. They can even have an outside team with multiple tools and expertise handle security with Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services.

What is SIEM?

Definition and Core Functions

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a centralized security platform that aggregates, correlates, and analyzes security data from across an organization’s IT environment. 

Core functions of SIEM include:

• Log Collection and Aggregation: Captures security events from endpoints, servers, network traffic, cloud platforms, and applications.
• Threat Detection and Event Correlation: Uses predefined rules, AI-driven analytics, and threat intelligence to identify suspicious patterns across multiple systems.
• Incident Investigation and Forensic Analysis: Stores logs for long-term threat hunting, root cause analysis, and security audits.

How SIEM Works

SIEM functions as the central nervous system of a security operations center (SOC), collecting and analyzing data from a vast array of IT systems. It relies on log ingestion, correlation engines, and threat intelligence feeds to surface high-risk incidents for security teams, and can survey data from endpoint security solutions, but also from tools monitoring network infrastructure, cloud environments, identity and access management (IAM), applications, and databases.

SIEM collects logs from various security tools and standardizes them into a structured format for analysis. The platform applies correlation rules and machine learning-based anomaly detection to connect seemingly unrelated events into a single security incident. Enrichment from external threat intel sources can add even more useful context. Security teams investigate incidents flagged by SIEM solutions, prioritize them based on risk scoring, and take manual or automated response actions.

Key Benefits of SIEM

Major advantages include:

• Aggregated Security Data: Collecting data across endpoints, networks, identity systems, and apps for wide security visibility. 
• Identification of Potential Threats: Offering broad identification capabilities beyond the endpoint level, including unauthorized access, insider threats, lateral movement, and cloud misconfigurations.
• Staying Compliant: Automatically generating security reports and audit logs to meet regulatory requirements like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.
• Providing Historical Log Storage: Allowing analysts to trace attack chains, investigate past incidents, and improve future detection capabilities.

Limitations of SIEM

SIEM isn’t a one-stop solution. For example, it correlates events, but can’t remediate them on its own. For that, teams will need their SIEM solution integrated with a Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platform. Here are other key drawbacks:

• Without proper tuning, SIEM generates excessive alerts, which amplifies the problem of SOC analyst fatigue and slow investigations.
• SIEM detection often relies on predefined correlation rules, which struggle to detect novel attack techniques that don’t fit expected patterns.
• SIEM detections often rely on retrospective log analysis, making them less effective for stopping fast-moving threats.
• SIEM doesn’t provide deep behavioral analysis at the endpoint level or real-time runtime visibility into cloud workloads, requiring integration with EDR or a cloud tool for full coverage.

The Role of EDR and SIEM in Modern Security Strategies

The rise of both Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) reflects how cybersecurity has evolved to address different attack surfaces. 

EDR emerged in the 2010s to detect endpoint-centric threats that traditional antivirus (AV) and intrusion detection systems (IDS) could not catch. With the rise of fileless malware, advanced persistent threats (APTs) like nation-state actors, and ransomware, security teams needed real-time visibility into endpoint activity, process execution, and behavioral anomalies.

Endpoints are such common points of ingress that they’re often synonymous with cybersecurity risks. Some even call it a “grand delusion” that endpoint protection means ecosystem protection.

Early EDR monitored system behavior for anomalies rather than simply blocking known threats. It introduced forensic capabilities so security teams could investigate and trace attacks, and it focused on process execution monitoring, registry changes, and network connections. Today, EDR uses deeper behavioral analysis, AI-driven detection, automating responses, and integrating with broader security technologies. 

But even before EDR, there was SIEM.

SIEM solutions originated in the early 2000s as organizations struggled with log overload and fragmented security data. 

Before SIEM, security teams relied on isolated logs from firewalls, IDS/IPS, authentication systems, and application logs, forcing analysts to manually correlate security incidents across various sources — and often, to miss correlations entirely. SIEM introduced a centralized log aggregation and correlation model, allowing organizations to detect patterns, analyze trends, and generate alerts for anomalous behavior. 

That allowed organizations to scale their ecosystems without burdening teams with tedious and ineffective manual reviews of an overwhelming number of logs across systems.

Over time, SIEM solutions integrated threat intelligence feeds, compliance reporting capabilities, and even machine learning-based anomaly detection, making them valuable for identifying multi-stage attacks that unfold over time. 

However, SIEMs lack real-time enforcement capabilities, making them great for detection but weak on immediate response — this gap was part of what gave rise to EDR.

Key Differences and Comparisons 

Teams often ask whether they need both tools. The answer is typically “yes.” If organizations are looking for a dedicated solution for endpoints, they’ll benefit from either EDR or its cousins — XDR or MDR. But they’ll also want to correlate that new data with other security layers for a comprehensive security strategy that combines all their data sources. 

Let’s start by comparing how EDR and SIEM stack up against one another for different use cases, capabilities, and resource requirements.

Use Case/Capability	Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)	Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Threat Detection and Response	Detects and blocks endpoint-specific threats (malware, ransomware, insider threats) in real time using behavioral analytics.	Correlates logs across systems (endpoints, cloud, network, identity) to detect organization-wide threats but doesn’t respond automatically.
Data Collection and Analysis	Monitors process execution, file changes, registry modifications, and script activity to detect anomalies.	Aggregates logs from firewalls, authentication systems, and cloud workloads, relying on predefined correlation rules.
Scalability & Integration	Focuses on workstations, servers, and VMs; integrates with SIEM and XDR for broader security.	Scales across the entire IT environment; needs EDR, NDR, and other tools for full visibility.
Compliance & Regulatory Requirements	Helps with endpoint security compliance (PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2) but lacks full audit reporting.	Critical for compliance audits (GDPR, PCI DSS, NIST, ISO 27001), offering long-term log storage.
Cost & Maintenance	Lower upfront cost but requires endpoint agent deployment and ongoing tuning.	Higher cost due to storage and log ingestion fees; requires SOC analysts for management.

But SIEM and EDR aren’t the only options. Other tools, like EDR, SOAR, CNAPP, and MDR, also play a role in detection and response. Here’s how they all compare and often combine:

Tool	Primary Focus	Best At	Limitations	Can Be Combined With
EDR(Endpoint Detection & Response)	Protecting individual endpoints (laptops, servers, cloud VMs)	Stopping malware, ransomware, and insider threats at the device level	Limited to endpoints; doesn’t track cloud, network, or identity threats	SIEM, SOAR, MDR Replaced by: XDR
XDR(Extended Detection & Response)	Varies by provider; visibility is limited to the tools they manage	Detecting and stopping cross-platform attacks with real-time automation	Vendor-specific; not all XDRs offer full-stack coverage	SIEM, SOAR, CNAPP, MDR Replaces: EDR
SIEM(Security Information & Event Management)	Aggregating and analyzing logs from across the IT environment	Security visibility, compliance reporting, forensic analysis	Passive detection; requires manual investigation or automation tools	SOAR, CNAPP, MDR, (sometimes XDR)
SOAR(Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response)	Automating incident response playbooks	Reducing response time and analyst workload	Not a detection engine; relies on input from other tools	SIEM, XDR, EDR, CNAPP
CNAPP(Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform)	Securing cloud-native infrastructure (cloud configs, workloads, containers)	Cloud misconfiguration detection, runtime protection, IaC scanning	Focused on cloud; doesn’t cover endpoints or traditional IT	XDR, SIEM, SOAR
MDR(Managed Detection and Response)	Outsourced threat detection and response, typically via EDR/XDR	24/7 security monitoring without needing an in-house SOC	Varies by provider; visibility limited to the tools they manage	XDR, SIEM, CNAPP Replaces: In-house SOC operations

When to Use EDR, SIEM, or Both

Choosing between EDR, SIEM, or a combination of both depends on a company’s security priorities, attack surface, and operational needs. 

While EDR is purpose-built for endpoint threat detection and response, SIEM provides a broader, centralized view of security events across an organization. And it benefits from the data that EDR can offer, making SIEM better when used in combination with EDR or XDR. 

It’s common for security-conscious enterprises to deploy both tools in tandem to maximize visibility and detection accuracy. When do you need just one? Here’s how to tell:

• Use EDR only when you lack an SOC and want direct endpoint protection without analyzing logs, and when active defense is your primary need, not compliance.
• Use SIEM without EDR rarely. This approach makes sense only if your concerns center on compliance, log visibility, and network/cloud security, but not active endpoint threat response.

Use Cases for EDR

But how do you know when you need active endpoint protection? EDR is ideal when organizations need granular endpoint telemetry and rapid response to security incidents. It excels at:

• Stopping malware, ransomware, and advanced persistent threats (APTs) before they spread. EDR continuously monitors process execution, registry changes, and system calls, detecting behaviors that indicate malware execution or privilege escalation.
• Detecting and responding to fileless attacks and living-off-the-land (LotL) techniques. Traditional security tools often miss script-based or PowerShell attacks, but EDR detects suspicious script execution and memory injections.
• Minimizing dwell time through automated response actions. EDR handles the automatic remediation of compromised endpoints, terminates malicious processes, and rolls back changes to prevent escalation.
• Enabling proactive threat hunting. EDR provides historical endpoint telemetry for forensic investigations, allowing security teams to search for indicators of compromise (IoCs), analyze attack paths, and prevent future breaches.

Use Cases for SIEM

And when teams need to survey endpoints alongside other layers, SIEM makes the job easier. SIEM is necessary when organizations need a centralized view of security events across their IT ecosystems. 

Key SIEM use cases include:

• Enterprise-wide threat correlation to detect multi-vector attacks that span beyond endpoints.
• Detecting insider threats and unauthorized access attempts. 
• Compliance and regulatory auditing. Organizations subject to GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and DORA compliance need SIEM’s log retention, forensic analysis, and automated compliance reporting capabilities.
• Long-term security event storage and threat intelligence. SIEM enables historical log analysis, helping analysts trace attack chains, investigate security incidents, and improve detection rules over time.

How EDR and SIEM Work Together for Maximum Security

While EDR and SIEM solve different challenges, they are most effective when used together. Here’s what that would look like in an example of a ransomware attack:

1. Initial Execution: EDR detects unusual process execution (e.g., PowerShell launching encoded scripts), isolates the endpoint, and stops encryption before widespread damage.
2. Lateral Movement Detection: SIEM correlates failed authentication attempts, unusual RDP connections, and access to critical file shares, alerting security teams to a potential network-wide compromise.
3. Incident Investigation & Response: SIEM logs all related security events, while EDR provides endpoint-specific forensic data to help SOC teams reconstruct the attack and prevent future incidents.

In the previous example of a ransomware attack, without EDR, the attack might have gone undetected at the endpoint level until the attacker escalated privileges. Without SIEM, the security team might not have seen the larger attack campaign unfolding across the organization’s infrastructure. Together, these tools:

• Reduce attacker dwell time by detecting threats at multiple levels (endpoint and network).
• Improve investigation speed by providing contextualized security data rather than fragmented alerts.
• Enable automated response capabilities across both endpoint and enterprise environments, minimizing damage before attackers gain full access.

So, by integrating EDR and SIEM, organizations gain the ability to detect endpoint threats immediately while also uncovering larger, coordinated attack campaigns. This helps build a proactive and highly effective security posture.

Upwind Complements EDR and SIEM

EDR and SIEM are both useful security tools for most businesses, especially large ones, but they serve different security needs. Smaller and midsize companies might get away with not using a SIEM solution because the relative simplicity of their IT environments and workflows don’t justify the need for broader coverage and a single dashboard governing a suite of tools. 

The downside? Neither EDR nor SIEM is designed to secure cloud-native environments. EDR focuses on traditional endpoints like workstations and servers but lacks visibility into Kubernetes workloads, serverless functions, and cloud API activity. SIEM collects cloud logs but doesn’t provide real-time protection or workload-level security. As businesses of all sizes shift toward cloud-first strategies, even EDR and SIEM working together won’t be able to erase blind spots that attackers exploit.

That’s where Upwind comes in. Upwind extends security beyond endpoints and SIEM logs, providing real-time runtime security, workload visibility, and API protection for cloud-native environments. By combining CSPM, vulnerability scanning, and workload protection with deep runtime context, Upwind ensures security teams can identify, prioritize, and respond to cloud threats in ways EDR and SIEM cannot. For modern enterprises in cloud and containerized environments, Upwind fills the security gaps and delivers the visibility needed to stop threats before they escalate.

Want to see what the future of container endpoint security looks like? Schedule a demo.

Frequently Asked Questions 

What security gaps do EDR and SIEM address? 

EDR focuses on detecting and responding to endpoint threats in real time, closing the gap between detecting a threat and doing something about it. Without EDR, malware may sit undetected in a laptop for hours or days before it’s noticed, while teams attend to antivirus alerts or user reports instead.

SIEM fills a visibility gap. With EDR, teams may get eyes on their endpoints, but not be able to see their entire environment, including multiple security layers, at once. SIEM aggregates security logs across an organization’s entire IT environment, helping detect broader attack patterns, insider threats, and compliance violations. Without SIEM, a team may get a firewall alert that a strange login occurred, but not be able to see that a user just clicked a phishing link in an email.

Can one platform replace the other?

No. EDR and SIEM solve different problems. EDR provides deep visibility and active response at the endpoint level, while SIEM correlates security events from multiple sources to detect multi-stage attacks.

EDR does things that SIEM can’t, like detecting and stopping malware in real time on devices and quarantining the compromised endpoint. And SIEM does things that aren’t part of EDR’s capabilities, like correlating data from endpoints with identity, cloud, and network.

How do integration challenges impact security?

If EDR and SIEM are not properly integrated, teams face a weaker security posture. Some key issues they may find include:

• Alerts from EDR don’t feed automatically into SIEM, leaving gaps in correlation.
• Response tools like SOAR can’t trigger actions because upstream systems aren’t sharing data appropriately.
• Cloud and container tools can’t identify multi-stage attacks as well, with more limited knowledge.
• Security analysts toggle between dashboards and must manually interpret how they connect, slowing response and leaving room for errors.
• Important context is lost between tools.

What are the implementation requirements? 

EDR requires deploying lightweight agents on all endpoints, tuning detection rules, and configuring automated response actions. SIEM requires log ingestion from multiple sources, correlation rule setup, and dedicated storage infrastructure. Both need ongoing tuning to minimize false positives and optimize threat detection.