Memory Forensic vs EDR – Talk

If you look at how cybersecurity has evolved over the past few years, one thing becomes very clear: we finally have the horsepower to see what’s actually happening on our systems in real time.

Thanks to cheaper storage, faster processing, and advances in forensics, we can now monitor both live and historical activity like never before. And that visibility isn’t just for show — we can act on it, whether automatically or manually, before attackers get too comfortable.

A big part of this change is due to a new generation of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools.

BTW I have written complete series on Sentinel One and Carbon If you want you can check out Lin below:

Sentinel One

https://www.cyberengage.org/courses-1/mastering-sentinelone%3A-a-comprehensive-guide-to-deep-visibility%2C-threat-hunting%2C-and-advanced-querying"

Carbon Black

https://www.cyberengage.org/courses-1/carbon-black-edr

Continuing where we left So these solutions don’t just sit and wait for an alert. They use pattern recognition, heuristics, and machine learning on the back end to automatically block suspicious actions. But what really sets EDR apart is that it supports both detection and response. That means security teams aren’t just watching attacks happen — they can dig into the data, hunt for threats at scale, perform historical searches, and quickly understand how far an intrusion reaches.

Here’s why this matters:

once you identify an indicator of attack, being able to look backward in time and see where that same behavior occurred across the network can drastically reduce the time it takes to contain a threat. It also makes life more difficult for attackers, because their methods and patterns get exposed.

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Why Memory Matters More Than Ever

Modern threats aren’t playing by the old rules. Attackers are moving away from traditional, file-based techniques because they know security tools are watching disk activity. Instead, many attacks now live in memory — the rise of “fileless” malware is a perfect example.

That means in-memory detection is no longer optional. It’s critical. EDR tools focus heavily on memory analysis and event tracing, which allows them to catch malicious activity involving PowerShell, WMI, code injection, obfuscation, and other stealthy techniques. Because many EDR platforms have kernel-level access, they can see details that traditional antivirus tools would miss.

Some common data points EDR tools capture include:

• Process information

• Windows API usage

• Command line history

• Process handles and execution tracing

• Suspicious thread creation and memory allocation

• DLL injection and rootkit techniques

• Host network activity

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EDR vs Memory Forensics — They’re Not the Same

It’s important not to confuse EDR with full forensic tools. No one can capture every event across every system all the time — it would be impossible. A single device can log millions of events daily. For instance, Sysinternals Process Monitor can detect over 1000+ events per second, while an EDR system might intentionally limit itself to around 20-30 events per minute to avoid slowing the machine down.

EDR tools focus on scale and practicality. They record a carefully chosen list of data points rather than everything under the sun. You typically can’t customize that list, but you get lightweight coverage across the entire environment.

On the other hand, forensic tools aim for completeness. They capture entire memory and disk images, helping analysts tell the full story of an attack — including activity that may have happened before EDR was installed.

That’s why EDR should be seen as a supplement, not a replacement, for:

• Network monitoring

• SIEM log collection

• Deep memory/disk forensics

EDR is great for real-time detection and quick investigation, but when you need deep answers, forensic tools are still king.

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Tools Are Only As Good As the Analyst

I always say artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning in security — and those technologies absolutely help — but they aren’t magic.

At the end of the day, human analysts are still essential.

Analysts need to understand how attackers think, what techniques they use, and how to connect data from multiple sources. Strong memory forensics and process analysis skills make EDR dramatically more effective. When you know what “normal” looks like, it becomes much easier to spot what doesn’t belong.

The truth is, traditional forensics might eventually uncover everything EDR can reveal, but it would take much longer. EDR brings everything together in one place, speeding up identification of malicious activity and helping analysts make faster decisions.

The goal is simple:

use powerful tools, but keep strong foundational knowledge. That foundation is what lets you sort normal behavior from abnormal and respond confidently when something looks off.

--------------------------------------------Dean-----------------------------------------------------------