How ITDR Works with Infrastructure Security Operations to Detect and Respond to Identity Threats
Identity is the new attack surface.
As organizations accelerate cloud adoption and hybrid work, attackers increasingly target identities—not just machines. Once a user or service account is compromised, adversaries can move laterally, escalate privileges, and access sensitive data without relying on noisy malware. That’s where Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR) comes in. ITDR continuously monitors authentication events, entitlements, and session behavior across your environment and orchestrates rapid, coordinated responses with your broader security stack.
Why Identity Threats Evade Traditional Detection
Traditional controls like endpoint detection and response (EDR) and network detection and response (NDR) excel at spotting device or traffic anomalies. Identity‑centric attacks, however, often look like “normal” logins until you consider who is logging in, from where, with which privileges, and what they do next. Common identity threats include:
- Password spray & brute force: Low‑and‑slow credential attacks against portals and IdPs
- Credential scanning & token theft: Harvesting cached secrets or abusing session tokens
- Pass‑the‑hash & Kerberos/SAML forgery: Reusing credentials to impersonate accounts
- Privilege escalation: Exploiting misconfigurations or shadow admin roles
- Lateral movement: Pivoting across endpoints, servers, and cloud workloads after compromise
Without identity context—roles, entitlements, session risk—many of these moves slip past device‑only or network‑only tooling.
What ITDR Is (and How It Fits)
ITDR is the identity brain in your SOC. It ingests signals from directories, IdPs, cloud apps, endpoints, and network sensors; correlates behavior + entitlements; and turns those insights into high‑fidelity alerts and orchestrated actions. Where ITDR shines is in its integration with infrastructure security operations:
- EDR & NDR: ITDR flags risky identities; EDR isolates endpoints and NDR hunts for credential‑abuse patterns (e.g., anomalous SAML or Kerberos behavior).
- XDR: Identity alerts (impossible travel, privilege changes, unfamiliar device + admin action) are correlated across email, endpoint, SaaS, and cloud for unified incident context.
- SIEM: Identity telemetry is normalized with role and entitlement data, enabling identity‑aware detections and clearer narratives.
- SOAR: Playbooks automate token revocation, MFA re‑challenge, step‑down privileges, endpoint isolation, and network containment—driven by ITDR risk signals.
- IGA, PAM, MFA: Posture improves continuously; excessive entitlements are trimmed, standing admin rights reduced, and MFA coverage enforced.
The outcome: identity threats become cross‑domain incidents with shared visibility and decisive actions.
Detection: From Signals to Insight
Strong ITDR blends analytics with entitlement‑aware context:
Behavioral baselines Establish normal patterns per identity—login times, geolocation, devices, resource use. Flag deviations (e.g., off‑hours admin logins from rare locations or unfamiliar devices).
Risk scoring & chaining
Combine signals like failed MFA, unusual token issuance, privilege changes, and sensitive resource access. Elevate severity when multiple tactics chain together (e.g., password spray → privilege escalation → lateral movement).
Entitlement criticality
Prioritize alerts based on identity risk: domain admins, service principals with broad permissions, and human users with access to crown‑jewel apps.
Known tactic detection
Detect and label pass‑the‑hash, SAML forgery, and suspicious Kerberos activity. Correlate with endpoint and network indicators via SIEM/XDR to confirm and enrich alerts.
Response: Identity‑Centric Playbooks that Move Fast
When ITDR confirms an identity threat, automation matters. Build SOAR/XDR playbooks that:
- Contain the identity: Revoke refresh tokens and active sessions; immediately re‑challenge with MFA; temporarily disable the account or step‑down privileges.
- Contain infrastructure: EDR isolates affected endpoints; NDR blocks suspect traffic; just‑in‑time firewall policies restrict risky flows during the incident window.
- Remediate posture: IGA reviews excessive entitlements; PAM rotates credentials and enforces least‑privilege for admins and service accounts.
- Close the loop: SIEM/XDR record evidence and attack paths; learnings feed back into ITDR analytics so your detections strengthen over time.
Architecture: Identity Everywhere
Identity signals must span on‑premises, cloud, apps, and devices. Your architecture should:
- Ingest: Directory logs, IdP events, endpoint agent telemetry, network detections, and SaaS audit trails.
- Normalize & correlate: Unify identities (human/machine), roles, and entitlements; apply risk models that consider behavior + privilege tiers.
- Orchestrate: Send alerts, risk scores, and recommended actions to SIEM/XDR; trigger SOAR playbooks across identity, endpoint, and network.
- Measure: Track MTTD/MTTR for identity incidents, false‑positive rates, and standing‑privilege reduction.
Benefits You Can Quantify
- Faster detection & response (lower MTTD/MTTR) for identity‑based incidents
- Reduced standing privileges and better entitlement hygiene
- Higher MFA enforcement and resilient session controls
- Lower false positives via identity‑aware correlation in SIEM/XDR
- Clear incident narratives that accelerate triage and decision‑making
Implementation Blueprint (Practical Steps)
- Inventory identities & entitlements: Catalog human and machine accounts, roles, and access—prioritize admins and service principals.
- Baseline behaviors: Seed detections for password spray, brute force, token anomalies, and unusual session activity.
- Integrate with SIEM/XDR: Stream identity telemetry; enrich rules with role criticality and privilege tiers; build correlations with endpoint/network signals.
- Automate SOAR playbooks: Start with low‑risk actions (MFA re‑challenge, session expiry), then graduate to privilege step‑down and endpoint isolation.
- Tighten IGA/PAM: Reduce standing admin rights, adopt just‑in‑time access, and rotate secrets frequently.
- Continuously learn: Feed post‑incident outcomes into models and policies; report improvements to stakeholders.
CTA: Strengthen Your Identity Defense Today
Ready to turn identity into your strongest control? Schedule a consultation with our team to assess your identity posture, integrate ITDR with your existing stack (EDR, NDR, XDR, SIEM, SOAR), and launch automated, identity‑centric playbooks that reduce risk fast.