Managed Detection and Response is something all businesses who prioritize cybersecurity should consider. Managed Detection and Response or MDR provides coverage from the cloud to your network and endpoints.
The following are some of the most important things to know about MDR and its role in modern cybersecurity and network management.
1. What It Is
MDR is a term that refers to outsourced cybersecurity services to protect your assets and data, even if there’s a threat that is able to make its way past your typical security controls.
With an MDR platform, you get constant security controls that are geared toward cloud-managed platforms according to provider Expel. Some of the features of MDR services include threat intelligence, advanced analytics, and human-driven investigation and responses to incidents. Investigation and response are deployed at both network and host levels.
Managed Detection and Response Services are for organizations that might not have large-scale resources but need to be able to improve how they detect and respond to threats.
2. There Are Shared Features of MDR Providers
While MDR companies may have their own procedures for detecting a threat and also unique tools for detection, they tend to share some core features, which are:
- MDR is primarily for threat detection, as opposed to compliance.
- MDR solutions are deployed on-premises for users.
- There’s a significant reliance on advanced analytics with managed detection and response.
- There is automation, but there is also human monitoring often involved.
3. Managed Detection and Response Differs from Managed Security Services
There’s often confusion between managed detection and response and managed security services. With managed security services, there are varying contexts and event logs, and the user can decide which security data is sent. With managed detection and response services, on the other hand, they work with the event logs provided only by their own tools.
An MSSP is usually a combination of hardware and software that monitors your network security, looking for anomalies or threats. Then, however, it is up to your own team to go through those alerts and decide if they’re a true threat or not. An MSSP, as compared to managed detection and response, isn’t able to perform the in-depth research needed to know what needs to be done about a threat, if anything.
Since it’s not often used for compliance, it’s uncommon for managed detection and response to provide compliance reports.
4. MDR Is a Superior Cybersecurity Option
MDR is something that bridges the gap for organizations when they lack a dedicated security team. It provides an organization of any size with threat detection, and it’s a better and more in-depth overall approach to cybersecurity. There’s a growing shortage of necessary cybersecurity skills, meaning companies need outsourced options.
5. There Are Certain Steps in the MDR Process
The MDR process typically looks like the following:
- Detection: During this phase of the process, there is continuous monitoring and threat sweeps. Then, if a threat is identified, there are decisions made as far as how to prioritize the threat.
- Analysis: After a threat is identified and then prioritized, security operations center personnel go over the origin as well as the scope of that attack. Then, a detailed threat analysis can be created.
- Response: The third step is a response. The organization is alerted of the threat and incident, and they’ll then be provided with an analysis of the root cause.
6. Choosing an MDR Service
MDR solutions are broad, and when you’re comparing them and choosing one that works for your business, there are certain things to consider and also to ask providers. First, you’ll want to learn more about the level of expertise the analysts have that are actually staffing the MDR.
You’ll want to learn whether or not there is broad and comprehensive data availability. You should also ask providers how their team keeps up with the latest threats since this is such a rapidly changing landscape. What about the communication that will happen between the provider and your team?
Finally, does the MDR service operate around the clock? Attackers aren’t working during traditional business hours. Overall, MDR represents significant advances in monitoring and response capabilities for organizations.
MDR services are proactive and threat-focused, while an alternative like a Managed Security Services Provider is going to be more reactive and primarily focused on vulnerabilities. An MDR should have the capabilities for better forensics and high-level investigations, and the end result is a reduced security investment but an increased ROI.
