Managed Detection & Response (MDR) Services

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provides ongoing log and threat monitoring, alert triage and analysis, and incident response. MDR services incorporate various technologies such as SIEM, EDR, and threat intelligence tools while also performing proactive threat hunting. Each alert is essential, telling a story such as a precursor or indication of a cyberattack. As a result, MDR can reduce threat detection and response time.

MDR compliments and fills many gaps within enterprise security posture, such as providing skilled and experienced Security Analysts and eyes-on-glass monitoring and visibility and reducing costs and mean times to detect and respond to security incidents. Read an in-depth article on choosing an MDR Provider here.

Choosing an MDR provider is a complex decision. The MDR service must fit your financial budget, align with business goals and security strategies, and effectively detect threats and reduce risk. In addition, you will be interfacing with the SOC Analysts supporting the MDR service; they must add value and positively complement your security team. Read in in-depth article here.

A Security Incident & Event Management (SIEM) system aggregates logs from your environment, providing a single pane of glass to correlate, review, and triage alerts. MDR is a managed service providing security event and threat monitoring, often using SIEM or similar technologies. For many companies, the work effort required to manage their SIEM overwhelms their personnel and resources to manage it effectively. An MDR provider can step in and fulfill this need.

Alert fatigue and noise are key concerns for an MDR service. Alert enrichment through machine learning and threat intelligence reduces false positives. In addition, it adds additional details surrounding the alert’s activity and the root cause.

The process to onboard you to SecureBlu MDR can be done in hours as much of it is automated. In general, the complexity of your environment (on-premises, AWS, Azure, etc.) and the number of log sources will dictate total onboarding time. Our overall goal is to start monitoring threats to your business as quickly as possible.

Yes. Security teams comprised of system and network engineers may lack the security analysis skills, experience with blue teaming, and understanding of IOCs (Indicators of Compromise) and TTPs (Tools, Tactics, and Procedures) used by cybercriminals and bad actors. MDR provides Security Analysts with the relevant expertise, experience, education, and certifications.  Additionally, the New Era Technology SecureBlu solution is 24x7x365, giving your security team the downtime they need.

Managed Endpoint Detection and Response is a service where an MSP/MSSP manages your chosen EDR solution for you. This provides peace of mind through endpoint monitoring, threat intelligence updates, creating rule sets, and alert fine-tuning managed by a knowledgeable managed services provider.

Cyber threat intelligence consists of data that provides context to bad actor motives, how they are attacking you, and the Indicators of Compromise (IOCs). This intelligence enriches alerts and SOC analysis, helping shape incident response and data-driven decisions.

Alert fidelity or accuracy is critical for MDR or a SOC-as-a-Service. The goal of monitoring an environment for threats is recognizing and being alerted to true positives. Achieving high fidelity requires alert tuning and understanding of how alert engines work, the context and logic, and how to create and implement them efficiently.

Legacy antivirus solutions detect and remove known malware through signature comparison (binaries), heuristics (code examination for suspiciousness), and file integrity checks. Next-generation antivirus (NGAV) solutions add elements of artificial intelligence but still come up short compared to EDR.

EDR has the same AV/NGAV capabilities but adds additional preemptive abilities to protect and respond to endpoint threats and remediate them. An EDR agent captures important system events and changes (i.e., registry, network activity, processes), monitors endpoint behavior in real-time, and applies attack rule sets.

A SOC provides continuous event and threat monitoring of your environment. Additionally, the SOC reduces costs through its security experts and performing alert analysis on your behalf.