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How Managed Detection and Response Is Boosting Cyber Security for Smaller Businesses

 

As an increasing amount of our day to day business is shifting online and, with technological innovations like the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, automation, and next gen wireless communications systems all driving further connectivity, it has never been more essential to protect your systems.


In this article, we’ll be looking at what managed detection and response services are, how they work, how they are provided and what benefits do they bring to businesses looking to enhance their cyber security resources. Many different businesses and enterprises choose to do this for a number of reasons including on the recommendation of their own risk analyses or in response to new threat intelligence.

So, let’s dive straight in.

What is Managed Detection and Response?

Sometimes, however, it can be extremely difficult for companies to stretch their network security resources far enough to cover them adequately. This can cause vulnerabilities and susceptibility to cyber-attacks. This where managed detection and response (MDR) services come in.

So, what are managed detection and response services? These offerings include a range of cyber security tools, technologies and services that focus on 24/7 monitoring and threat prevention services alongside the ability to react to cyber-attacks and incidents as they occur through the use of resources from a managed security service provider.

Managed service providers deploy the technology such as specialized MDR software on application specific hardware and they will have teams of security analysts performing network surveillance and alerting customers of any cyber incidents or intrusions that may have occurred as well as take control of security resources as and when is required. This allows companies that are less equipped to deal with cyber incidents access to the cyber security technologies of specialists.

         Lanner’s FW-7526 Firewall CPE for Managed Detection and Response

The Benefits of MDR

There are several benefits to using managed detection and response services, so let’s now look at a few reasons why so many businesses and enterprises are turning to these services to enhance their cyber security abilities.

Detection

Being able to detect cyber security attacks and intrusions as they occur is of enormous benefit to any organisation. With managed detection and response services, that’s exactly what they get. Knowing that an attack is currently underway allows businesses and enterprises precious time in which they can react to the situation and deploy the best available countermeasures to mitigate any damage that may have already occurred. Being aware of a threat is always one of the first steps to effectively combating it. Once you’ve found the threat, it’s time to react.

Response

Responding to an incident or cyber-attack is something that not too many organisations are prepared for as not too many enterprises live under constant fear of cyber-attack. However, with MDR services, specialists are on hand and ready to react to any cyber situation a business or enterprise may find themselves in. Responding effectively is in large part down to knowing what to do in certain situations and, unless they’ve been specifically trained to be, it is unlikely many staff have adequate knowledge of cyber security to react appropriately. Managed detection and response service providers are experts in the field and will most likely know what to do in a vast number of different scenarios.

Monitoring

One of the key benefits of any managed detection and response service is the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year monitoring that is provided to customers. It’s done with the help of purposely designed cyber security software solution in many cases using advanced artificial intelligence tools to monitor and notify of any anomalies. However, MDR does not rely on artificial intelligence and automatically generated alerts alone, it involves constant monitoring and assessment of the network integrity by analysts working in MSP’s security operation centers (SOC’s). Being able to monitor the network without hiring your own 24/7 staff and purchasing equipment is a lucrative way for companies to get top class cyber security on budget.

Real-Time Intelligence

Access to analysts with vast experience of cyber security is one of the key factors propelling the popularity of managed detection and response services. Unless your own staff and management have undergone specific cyber-security training to make them more aware of the threats and the process of protecting against them, it is never safe to assume that they will have an adequate knowledge of either the threat vectors or security resources available to them. Using MDR services allows enterprises to tap into the expertise of cyber security specialists and ensure that their systems are protected by people that know what they are doing. Managed service providers will also be acutely aware of the threat landscape and the latest techniques and trends of cyber attackers and their technologies.

Analytics Reporting

The vast majority of managed detection and response services will also provide customers with detailed analytics reporting on a timescale of their own devising. This is an incredibly useful part of the service as it allows customers to see where the majority of cyber security resources are being leveraged, where they are most vulnerable, and they might look to improve their own cyber security systems. The actionable data is invaluable to businesses and organisations in the long run as it could also enable them to strategically build their own more advanced cyber security systems in the future and become much more independent in the process.

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