Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is the most effective option for detecting and validating suspicious activity across several endpoints. EDR continuously collects endpoint telemetry, including process execution, network connections, file changes, authentication activity, and suspicious behavior, allowing incident responders to correlate indicators and determine whether compromise has occurred. A vulnerability scan identifies weaknesses but does not establish whether those weaknesses have actually been exploited. Manual endpoint inspection is slow and difficult to scale across a potentially compromised R & D segment. Immediately contacting authorities is also premature before the nature and scope of the incident have been validated. ECIH incident handling emphasizes rapid detection, incident validation, evidence collection, and assessment before broader escalation. Therefore, deploying EDR provides the strongest combination of visibility, investigation capability, and validation.

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