Five years ago, antivirus was enough. You’d install Norton or McAfee, run occasional scans, and call it done.

That’s not the world we live in anymore.

Modern attacks bypass traditional antivirus. Fileless malware. Living-off-the-land techniques. Attacks that use legitimate tools maliciously. Antivirus signatures can’t keep up.

That’s why Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) has become essential.

What EDR Actually Does

Traditional antivirus asks: “Is this file known malware?”

EDR asks: “Is this behaviour suspicious?”

EDR capabilities:

Continuous monitoring: Records activity on endpoints - processes running, network connections, file changes, registry modifications. Creates a timeline of what happened.

Behavioural detection: Uses AI and rules to identify suspicious patterns. Ransomware encrypting files. Processes spawning unusual child processes. Lateral movement attempts.

Threat hunting: Enables searching across all endpoints for indicators of compromise. “Show me every machine that connected to this suspicious IP.”

Response capabilities: Isolate compromised machines. Kill malicious processes. Remove malware. Collect forensic data.

Investigation support: When something happens, EDR provides the data to understand what occurred, when, and how.

Why SMBs Need EDR Now

Insurance requirements: Many cyber insurers now require EDR. It’s becoming table stakes for coverage.

Attack evolution: Attackers know traditional antivirus is widespread. They specifically craft attacks to evade it. EDR catches what AV misses.

Essential Eight alignment: While not explicitly required, EDR supports several Essential Eight controls - application control, detecting malicious activity, incident response.

Affordable options exist: EDR used to be enterprise-only. Now there are SMB-appropriate options at reasonable price points.

The Options Landscape

Enterprise leaders (probably overkill for most SMBs):

CrowdStrike Falcon: Best-in-class detection and response. Excellent threat intelligence. Premium pricing. Their Charlotte AI features are genuinely useful.

• Best for: Larger businesses with significant security budgets
• Price: $$$$

Microsoft Defender XDR (formerly Defender for Endpoint): Integrated with Microsoft ecosystem. Strong if you’re already on Microsoft 365 E5.

• Best for: Enterprise Microsoft shops
• Price: Included with E5, or add-on for other plans

SentinelOne: Strong autonomous response capabilities. Good AI-driven detection.

• Best for: Organisations wanting automation
• Price: $$$

SMB-focused options:

Microsoft Defender for Business: Included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Surprisingly capable for an included feature.

• Best for: SMBs already on M365 Business Premium
• Price: Included (effectively free if you’re already paying)

CrowdStrike Falcon Go: Simplified CrowdStrike for smaller businesses. Same engine, simpler packaging.

• Best for: SMBs wanting top-tier detection
• Price: $$

Huntress: Managed EDR specifically designed for SMBs. Includes human analysts reviewing threats.

• Best for: SMBs without security staff
• Price: $$

Sophos Intercept X: Solid protection with managed service options.

• Best for: SMBs, especially those using Sophos firewall
• Price: $$

Malwarebytes EDR: Affordable EDR from a trusted name.

• Best for: Budget-conscious SMBs
• Price: $

Making the Choice

If you’re on Microsoft 365 Business Premium: Start with Microsoft Defender for Business. It’s included. Configure it properly. For many SMBs, this is sufficient.

If you want minimal management: Consider Huntress or a managed EDR service. Human analysts triage alerts so you don’t have to.

If you have IT staff but no security team: CrowdStrike Falcon Go or Sophos Intercept X. More capability than Defender for Business, still manageable.

If budget is primary concern: Malwarebytes EDR or stick with Defender for Business.

Key Evaluation Criteria

Detection effectiveness: This is the core function. Third-party tests (AV-TEST, SE Labs, MITRE ATT&CK evaluations) provide independent assessment.

False positive rate: Too many false positives cause alert fatigue. Ask vendors about false positive rates in environments like yours.

Management overhead: How much work does this create? Some solutions require constant tuning. Others are more hands-off.

Response capabilities: What can you do when something is detected? Isolate? Remediate? Roll back?

Integration: Does it work with your other tools? Microsoft environment? Google? Existing security stack?

Reporting: Can you get the reports your insurance and management need?

Support: When you have questions or problems, can you get help?

Implementation Tips

Start with pilot: Don’t deploy across all endpoints at once. Start with 10-20 machines. Tune alerts. Understand the tool.

Plan for false positives: Legitimate software sometimes triggers alerts. Be ready to whitelist and tune.

Define response processes: When EDR detects something, who does what? Document it before you need it.

Train your people: Someone needs to understand the console. Invest time in learning the tool.

Test detection: Run simulated attacks (safely) to verify the tool detects them. Several frameworks exist for this.

The Managed Option

For SMBs without security expertise, managed detection and response (MDR) may be better than self-managed EDR.

What MDR provides:

• 24/7 monitoring by professional analysts
• Alert triage (they separate real threats from noise)
• Guided response (they tell you what to do)
• Active response (some services take action on your behalf)

Good MDR options for SMBs:

• Huntress (built specifically for SMBs and their IT providers)
• Arctic Wolf
• Expel
• CrowdStrike Falcon Complete

The tradeoff: MDR costs more than self-managed EDR. But if you don’t have the expertise to respond to alerts, self-managed EDR may just create noise you ignore.

Working with Your IT Provider

If you have a managed service provider, EDR should be on the agenda.

Questions to ask:

• What EDR do you deploy to client endpoints?
• Who monitors alerts?
• What’s your response process when something is detected?
• What reporting do we receive?
• Is this included in our agreement or additional cost?

Many MSPs now bundle EDR into their managed security offerings. Understand what you’re getting.

Configuration Matters

EDR deployed with default settings won’t give you full value.

Key configuration areas:

Detection policies: Enable appropriate protection levels. Some defaults are conservative.

Automated response: Configure what actions should be automatic vs requiring human approval.

Alert routing: Send alerts to the right people through the right channels.

Integration: Connect to your identity provider, SIEM if you have one, ticketing system.

Exclusions: Whitelist legitimate software that triggers false positives (but be careful - attackers can exploit overly broad exclusions).

The Microsoft Defender Option in Detail

Since many SMBs are on Microsoft 365, let me dig into Defender for Business:

What you get:

• Next-generation protection (AI-powered antivirus)
• Attack surface reduction rules
• Endpoint detection and response
• Automated investigation and remediation
• Threat and vulnerability management

Requirements:

• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Devices enrolled in Microsoft Intune (for policy management)

Configuration:

• Enable in Microsoft 365 Defender portal
• Deploy via Intune or script
• Configure security policies
• Set up alert notifications

Limitations:

• Primarily Windows-focused (macOS support exists but is less mature)
• Requires Microsoft ecosystem buy-in
• Advanced features require higher licensing tiers

If you’re already paying for M365 Business Premium, not using Defender for Business is leaving protection on the table.

Measuring Effectiveness

How do you know your EDR is working?

Metrics to track:

• Number of detections (too few might mean misconfiguration)
• False positive rate (should decrease as you tune)
• Mean time to detect
• Mean time to respond
• Coverage (percentage of endpoints with EDR)

Testing: Periodically test with simulated attacks (atomic red team tests, for example) to verify detection.

The AI Factor

Modern EDR relies heavily on AI/ML for detection. This is genuinely valuable.

What AI brings:

• Detection of novel malware without signatures
• Behavioural analysis at scale
• Faster threat identification
• Reduced false positives (when well-trained)

Limitations:

• AI can be evaded by sophisticated attackers
• Training data biases affect detection
• Still requires human judgement for complex situations

Firms like AI consultants Sydney can help select and configure EDR solutions, ensuring the AI capabilities are properly tuned for your environment.

Common Mistakes

Deploying and forgetting: EDR requires attention. Alerts need response. Tuning needs to happen.

Ignoring alerts: Alert fatigue is real, but ignoring all alerts defeats the purpose.

Over-relying on EDR: EDR doesn’t replace fundamentals. Patching, MFA, backups still matter.

Not testing: Verify the tool is actually detecting threats. Don’t assume.

Insufficient coverage: EDR on 80% of endpoints leaves 20% unprotected.

Budget Considerations

Rough pricing (per endpoint per year):

• Microsoft Defender for Business: ~$0 (included with M365 Business Premium)
• Malwarebytes EDR: ~$50-80
• Sophos Intercept X: ~$50-100
• Huntress: ~$50-100
• CrowdStrike Falcon Go: ~$100-150

These are approximate. Actual pricing depends on volume and negotiation.

Total cost includes:

• License cost
• Deployment effort
• Ongoing management time
• Training

Factor in management overhead when comparing “cheap” options that require more work.

Final Recommendation

For most Australian SMBs in 2026:

If on Microsoft 365 Business Premium: Enable and configure Defender for Business. It’s capable and included. Consider Huntress as a complement if you want human-in-the-loop monitoring.

If not on Microsoft: Evaluate Huntress, Sophos Intercept X, or Malwarebytes EDR based on your budget and management capacity.

If you have no security expertise: Go with managed EDR/MDR. Paying for analysts to monitor alerts is better than having alerts nobody reads.

Working with specialists like AI consultants Brisbane can help navigate the selection process and ensure proper implementation.

EDR isn’t optional anymore. The only question is which solution fits your situation.