Improving threat detection for unmanaged network assets

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Executive Summary

Enterprise networks face an expanding threat landscape where unmanaged assets create significant security blind spots. With 73% of CISOs reporting security incidents from unmanaged assets and only 17% of organizations maintaining comprehensive asset visibility, detecting indicators of compromise (IOCs) across these ungoverned endpoints has become critical for cybersecurity resilience.

This whitepaper examines the most effective methods for identifying IOCs across unmanaged network assets, drawing from recent research, industry best practices, and emerging technologies. Key findings include:

• Hybrid detection approaches combining multiple data sources achieve detection rates of 62-100% with false positive rates as low as 0.000034%

• Network Detection and Response (NDR) solutions provide critical visibility for assets that cannot host traditional security agents

• Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platforms correlate signals across managed and unmanaged systems to surface hidden IOCs

• Zero Trust architectures and network segmentation contain potential breaches from unmanaged assets

• Organizations implementing comprehensive detection strategies see significant reductions in dwell time and breach impact

The research emphasizes that technical solutions alone are insufficient. Success requires organizational changes including continuous asset discovery, third-party risk management, security-aware culture development, and executive-level governance. As enterprises continue adopting IoT, BYOD, and cloud services throughout 2025, implementing robust IOC detection for unmanaged assets will determine which organizations thrive versus those that become breach statistics.

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