Defined by Gartner, User Behavior Analytics (UBA) was the precursor to UEBA—as it was a cybersecurity tool that strictly analyzed user behavior patterns on networks or computer systems. While UBA solutions still applied advanced analytics to identify behavior pattern anomalies, they were unable to analyze other entities—such as routers, servers, and endpoints.
Gartner later updated the definition of UBA and created UEBA—which included the behavioral analysis of both users and entities (either individually or in peer groups). UEBA solutions are more powerful than UBA solutions, as they use ML and deep learning to recognize complex attacks—such as insider threats (e.g., data exfiltration), advanced persistent threats, or zero-day attacks—across individuals, devices, and networks (including cloud-based networks) rather than relying on user-defined correlation rules.