Keeping up with the rapidly changing cyber threat landscape can be challenging. Sometimes it’s best left to experts. But creating dedicated teams or hiring security specialists who have the necessary skills and to investigate, identify and respond to potential cybersecurity threats can be expensive. Not only that, Having to deal with multiple vendors can lead to security overlap or even conflict. This can quickly turn into a nightmare, especially for large organizations with multiple sites.That’s where Managed Detection and Response comes in.
Managed Detection and Response is a complete, end-to-end security solution that will do several things. For one, it provides effective help in the investigation of incidents. It also responds to and remediates incidents to ensure business continuity. And it does so in real time, with a human touch.
What is MDR?
Managed detection and response helps organizations better understand the cybersecurity risks they face and improve how they identify and react to threats.
The aim of Managed Detection and Response is to handle threats, as opposed to making sure a company is following the most recent compliance regulations. However, a company can be brought into compliance after using an MDR because of the enhanced security measures.
The tools are provided and managed by the service provider. There are a number of reputable vendors, like ESET, Fortinet, and Sophos. And this alleviates the need for you to source your own threat detection and response resources. It focuses on security events and analyzing data gathered during an event. The data is then used to make the organization safer going forward.
Managed Detection and Response goes by slightly different names depending on the vendor, but it usually uses man and machine. Even though MDR uses automation, human involvement is necessary for some of the most crucial facets. These include around-the-clock monitoring, analyzing security events, and communicating with the client.
Sounds expensive. Is it worth it?
MDR might sound like an enterprise solution; something larger organizations will employ. But not necessarily. That’s because security is a major concern for all organizations. We all have to protect our systems and networks from information disclosure, theft, or damage to hardware, software, and data.
A small organization with limited IT support and expertise finds it difficult to manage and address all the IT-related day-to-day issues, support and services.
Managed Detection and Response offers not only 24/7 monitoring and improved communications mechanisms with experienced SOC analysts, but also experienced security analysts to oversee your organization’s defenses. All without adding full-time staff and resources. It’s a complete, managed endpoint threat detection and response service.
Figuring ROI alone is difficult. One way to approach it is to model a successful cyberattack on your organization. Compare results when there is no solution in place at all, vs when your own team and tools are in place, vs when an MDR is contracted. The real advantage of the MDR is to have cyber experts that you cannot find and hire, 24/7.
Build vs. Buy
Research shows the percentage of IT budget spent on cybersecurity is generally the same, regardless of an organization’s size and industry. Most companies spend approximately 10% of their IT budget on cybersecurity, with most of that budget spent on employee salaries. Whether expanding an existing team or building a security operations program from scratch, it is difficult for most companies to find the people or expertise needed to staff security teams.
Resource Efficiency
Monitoring for and investigating threats requires a considerable time investment. Companies of all sizes generate thousands to tens of thousands of event logs a day. It is a manual, full-time job to monitor and make sense of an increasingly high volume of events, resulting in missing detections, slow response time and employee burnout. In addition, many companies spend additional budget on third-party incident response firms to respond to threats.
Any hour spent monitoring logs for incidents or threats and investigating potentially benign activity is that much less time focusing on their primary job responsibilities. According to an industry survey: “respondents estimate that it would take their organization 146 hours to detect a cybersecurity incident, compared to 117 hours in 2020, and 120 hours in 2019.” Large scale breaches take even longer.
That means your IT staff detect threats 146+ hours after the initial event and then will need to spend at least 16 work hours away from their normal job responsibilities to respond to each incident identified.
Risk Reduction
Of course, not every company will suffer a significant breach if they don’t leverage an MDR. However, it is still valuable to consider the average cost of a data breach both directly and indirectly (damage to brand, increase in insurance premiums).
According to IBM’s “Cost of a Data Breach” report, on average most companies take 200 days to identify a breach within their environment. It’s typically another 80 plus days to respond. They found that the average time to identify and resolve a breach is 287 days. The amount of damage that can be done not only directly to your data and infrastructure but also indirectly to your business and brand within that time frame can be extraordinary.
ROI benefits of MDR in a nutshell
It’s less expensive than hiring, training, and retaining the additional in-house team members needed to manage a 24×7 security operations program. Plus, you’ll reduce the risk of incurring significant financial damages from a breach event. You can save hours of time by eliminating alert fatigue and only focusing on high-priority events. You can also actually improve your ability to acquire an adequate cyber insurance policy if you have Managed Detection and Response. Believe it or not, partnering with an MDR is now required to obtain many cyber insurance policies.
Is MDR better than a Managed Security Service Provider?
They’re similar. But also different. With an MSSP, coverage is often more comprehensive. It’s similar to SOC-as-a-Service. The client makes the decision as to which data gets sent to the MSSP. With MDR, the service provider uses the event logs their tools provide. In addition, compliance reporting is a common facet of an MSSP, but it is rarely performed by MDR.
However, MDR involves more interaction with human analysts, whereas MSSPs typically involve electronic communication, such as through emails. And, with MDR, you may have easier access to on-site incident response by simply adding it to your retained services for a fee. Also, you tend to get remote incident response included in the service package. With MSSP, you need a separate retainer for both on-site and remote incident response.
It’s a big, fairly complex subject, and Corporate Armor would love to answer any questions you may have, and save you time and money on your MDR solution. We represent several of the most reputable EDR?MDR innovators in the world, and we can help you build a solution that’s perfect for your organization. So email us, or call 877-449-0458.
Advantages of Managed Detection and Response
| Less expensive than hiring, training, and retaining the additional in-house security staff |
| Reduces the risk of incurring significant financial damages from a breach |
| Can save hours of time by eliminating alert fatigue and only focusing on high-priority events |
| Provides experienced security analysts to oversee your organization’s defenses |