The Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution represents a combination of advanced security technologies, tools and expertise.
It is offered to customers through specialized suppliers, based on a security-as-a-service delivery model.
Rather than incurring considerable expenditure on an in-house solution comprising several products, the organization outsources its IT security to a third-party MDR provider.
In this configuration, the service provider monitors the customer’s infrastructure while actively detecting and resolving current and emerging threats.
An MDR service offers state-of-the-art protection, making it an ideal solution for all organizations, especially those lacking the tools and skills to secure today’s complex IT environments.
It complements the security systems offered by the Managed Service Provider, with sophisticated tools and highly qualified experts, ensuring 24/7 monitoring and advanced threat detection and response, outperforming other cybersecurity solutions.
As a result, organizations can benefit from the latest and most effective security technologies and expertise, without having to invest in costly in-house solutions.
MDR service benefits
One of the main benefits of an MDR solution is theoverall improvement of security within an organization.
It also provides actionable threat intelligence and reports containing data to identify and resolve vulnerabilities and gaps in security systems and practices.
Other benefits of an MDR solution include:
- 24/7 monitoring: ensures rapid, real-time detection and remediation of all threats, reducing the number of successful attacks and potential damage.
- Better visibility of IT infrastructure: this enables organizations to monitor user activity and detect any suspicious or malicious activity.
- Reduced costs: It eliminates the need to invest in costly in-house security systems and teams.
- Compliance with industry and regulatory standards: helping organizations to comply with various industry standards and regulations.
In short, an MDR solution offers enhanced protection, constant monitoring, reduced costs and increased compliance, making it a wise choice for strengthening organizations’ security.
How does MDR differ from other cybersecurity solutions?
An MDR service differs from other cybersecurity solutions in that it is managed by a specialized provider, totally complementary to the MSP.
Although an organization may have an in-house solution, the MDR service complements the customer’s existing security solutions , such as antivirus programs, firewalls, intrusion detection systems and other tools.
However, customers don’t need to invest heavily in expensive in-house technologies or hire experts.
Instead, the MDR service provider offers security tools and expertise as a service at a reduced cost.
The provider proactively monitors the organization’s infrastructure, endpoints, network traffic, applications, log files, user activity and other data points.
When a threat or suspicious activity is detected, the provider quickly investigates and mitigates the incident without necessarily consulting the customer.
This stops the attack before it causes damage or compromises systems.
It’s important to make a clear distinction between the two roles:
- your IT managed services provider, who manages your global IT ;
- an MDR service, which complements the service already in place, and which can be provided either by your service provider itself, or by a third-party service provider specialized in MDR.
The main features of an MDR service
The main features of an MDR service are as follows:
- Advanced threat hunting: thanks to the latest advanced tools and highly qualified experts, MDR solutions are able to detect constantly evolving threats that bypass other security solutions.
- Use of advanced security analytics: MDR solutions use techniques such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, behavioral modeling, network investigation, user and entity behavior analysis (UBEA), and cloud security posture management (CSPM) to understand how attackers compromise IT systems.
- Real-time protection: by providing continuous 24/7 monitoring, MDR services are able to detect current and emerging threats, as well as any suspicious activity.
This enables them to react quickly to counter threats before they cause damage. - Proactive threat response: when a threat or suspicious activity is detected, the MDR service provider’s experts investigate the situation and take immediate action to stop the attack.
With the exception of new emerging threats, some outsourced solutions perform automatic remediation by quarantining suspicious files or blocking access to an IT resource in the event of suspicious activity. - Continuous automated monitoring: MDR services provide continuous automated monitoring of the organization’s IT infrastructure, networks, endpoints, applications and other resources and activities, to identify and resolve any threats.
They also inform security teams of any attempted attacks and potential threats.
Why do organizations choose MDR services?
As the IT landscape evolves, traditional security solutions are proving insufficient to protect complex IT infrastructures.
MDR helps fill critical IT security gaps resulting from inadequate technology, expertise and monitoring capabilities.
Most providers invest in highly qualified personnel with advanced threat-hunting expertise.
In addition, they deploy highly effective EDR tools and other technologies.
Consequently, organizations lacking the skills, time and budgets to invest in a robust security solution can outsource security services to MDR providers.
The service provides organizations with the technologies and expertise needed to effectively detect and stop any threats that bypass in-house cybersecurity solutions.
Ideally, outsourced services offer continuous monitoring and in-depth analysis to gain complete visibility of an organization’s infrastructure, and reliably detect and respond to threats beyond what in-house solutions and teams can handle.
Can my company use an MDR service?
Here are a few examples of organizations that can benefit from MDR services:
- Small businesses: these companies can achieve comprehensive protection of their assets without having to invest as much in in-house tools and skills.
Small businesses often lack the resources to purchase a multitude of security solutions and to employ highly qualified personnel.
So security outsourcing gives them access to the latest technologies and resources at a fraction of the cost. - Large organizations: as organizations and businesses continue to grow in size, headcount and infrastructure, security teams can become overwhelmed by the complexity of systems.
What’s more, a large organization may have offices spread across several regions, with a diverse user base, including employees working remotely and a variety of devices.
An MDR service can monitor and protect the cloud environment, endpoints, internal systems, workloads, data and identities. - Government entities: most government institutions manage large, complex IT systems containing sensitive and private data.
What’s more, these systems must operate without interruption to ensure efficient and rapid service delivery.
Consequently, internal and external systems and applications need to be protected. - Financial institutions: financial organizations handle a large amount of sensitive and private data, which requires a high level of security to prevent attacks, fraud and theft.
An MDR solution can provide an additional layer of round-the-clock security, monitoring and analysis to detect and respond rapidly to suspicious activity. - Healthcare providers: healthcare providers handle sensitive patient data that must not be accessible to unauthorized persons.
In addition, they must comply with various regulations, such as HIPAA, concerning the management of private data.
An MDR solution enables them to quickly identify and mitigate threats, while helping them to comply with the various regulations.
Conclusion
As cyber attacks continue to evolve, most organizations are unable to deal with all threats due to a lack of tools, technology and skills.
On the other hand, MDR service providers are investing in the latest technologies and expertise to enable them to deal with current and emerging threats.
By offering advanced security as a service, MDR providers give organizations access to highly reliable, efficient and cost-effective security.
In addition to protecting the organization against threats in real time, most MDR solutions feature in-depth analytics and comprehensive reporting that help organizations gain visibility into their security posture, identify and close gaps, and prevent recurring problems.
For more information on how to set up an MDR service, take a look at our short dedicated video, and if not, don‘t hesitate to contact our team! We’ll soon be publishing an article featuring some of the MDR solutions we know about.
