Managed detection and response (MDR) is a type of cybersecurity tool that is gaining popularity due to its robust capabilities and effectiveness. It’s estimated that the managed security services market is currently worth about $13 billion—and is only growing. One MDR provider, Open Systems, saw its Microsoft Cloud-native platform’s adoption grow by 200 percent in just a single year. While this is certainly the sign of good vendors building a fantastic product, it’s also a sign of how MDR is rapidly becoming the go-to service of organizations over the globe. Let’s look at how providers are delivering outcomes from alerts with MDR.
What Is MDR?
Before your company goes out and decides on any new products or service, it’s essential to understand the basic principles of MDR and its place within an organization’s security framework. These are a few things stakeholders have to know about MDR and what to look for in MDR providers:
- Data collection and synthesis matter – A good MDR is going to utilize advanced technologies to collect data from across enterprise networks, and then identify irregularities. These capabilities will be built on top of AI-powered tools that can learn to identify anomalous network behavior.
- Top-tier security operations center – Considering MDR services are inherently managed by an outside firm, you better hope the provider has some good people on their teams. In the event of a breach or identification of an advanced threat, there’s no time to pass around responsibility. The right people need to be able to step in and triage before critical data is compromised by the attackers.
- Look for rapid response – Continuing with the train of thought from the last point, MDR isn’t worth it if there’s no substantial efforts being made to minimize threat response times to the maximum degree. It’s essential for MDR to be able to identify and respond to any security issues right away, following the correct protocols and playbooks. A great MDR provider will have an extensive lexicon of knowledge here.
Those who understand MDR and how it can benefit organizations of all kinds will be able to keep their networks as safe as possible. While many associate breaches with large enterprises, this is only part of the story. Despite big breaches grabbing more headlines, small and medium-sized businesses are often at greater risk due to lack of proper cybersecurity. It’s been proven that 60 percent of SMBs will end up closing within six months of a breach. This means every organization should consider how MDR might be able to fit into their overall security posture.
How Can MDR Alerts Help Deliver Better Outcomes?
When evaluating security tools, two main elements need to be considered —improving defenses and saving money. While it’s not immediately clear how alerts play a key role in this, they’re actually a major part of realizing more effective security and lower expenses.
In today’s world, it’s not an option to skimp on security. Foregoing these measures can cost your organization dearly—both in terms of financial and reputational losses. Every business and agency needs to have a certain level of protection. Many will even be mandated to follow certain protocols due to regulations.
The other aspect to this, cost savings, needs to be thought about in a few ways. Of course, you want to find an MDR service that comes at a lowest price point while still offering a strong lineup of features. But stakeholders also need to think about potential cost savings from minimizing the damage caused by a breach. When you consider the potentially sky-high costs associated with data breaches today, it shows how getting the right MDR can substantially impact the bottom line.
For security teams with limited personnel, or even just those that need to leverage resources somewhere else, an MDR solution with intelligent alerts can be a game-changer. Instead of having to direct internal team members to dealing with endless false positive alerts, an MDR can use its advanced threat detection systems to sift out anything not worthy of escalation—saving time and money in the process.
MDR has become a sought-after security service for a reason. Adopting the right MDR solution for your businesses can help keep you a step ahead of threats.