Cybersecurity is still a major point of concern for businesses of all kinds, as companies continue to experience data breaches and hackers keep finding newer, more innovative ways to get around IT security defenses.
Traditional security tools like anti-virus programs depend on known signatures or definitions of malicious programs. Due to the constant evolution of malware and the emergence of new threats every day, it’s only a matter of time before something makes it past your anti-virus solution.
A malicious program finding its way around your traditional IT security defenses can have serious consequences for your business. First, you’ll have to realize what happened and contain the threat. It takes an average of 197 days to identify a data breach, according to the IBM Security and Ponemon Institute 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study.
Once the breach is identified, it then takes an average of 69 days to contain. Overall, the average total cost of a data breach worldwide was $3.86 million in 2018, the study found.
Luckily, businesses can take measures beyond traditional defenses like anti-virus solutions and firewalls to reduce their data breach risk level. Managed Detection and Response (MDR) can supplement other cybersecurity solutions and help keep your IT environment safe from cybercrime. Here’s everything you should know about this IT security tool and how it can potentially benefit your business.
What MDR is and How it Works
Essentially, MDR solutions keep an eye out for suspicious behavior at all times and can identify and take care of any threats before they cause too much damage, according to the D!giltalist article “5 Reasons to Consider Managed Detection and Response for Cybersecurity.”
Generally, MDR will provide automated responses to any suspicious behavior detected based on threat intel. If the solution can’t categorize a threat that way, it will refer the issue to an analyst at the solution provider’s Security Operations Center (SOC).
Different MDR solutions might focus on specific aspects of your IT environment – for example, there are network MDR offerings and endpoint MDR solutions. It makes sense to have MDR solutions covering your entire environment for comprehensive security.
MDR offerings commonly include the following features, according to the Masergy blog entry “Managed Security Services vs. Managed Detection and Response: What’s the Difference?”
- Cloud security
- Threat intelligence
- Constant proactive monitoring
- Machine learning
- Team of security analysts
- And more
Why Your Business Should Consider MDR
MDR can make a big difference for businesses with limited in-house cybersecurity expertise, according to D!giltalist. Having access to a SOC full of security analysts can be incredibly helpful for overworked internal IT staff members at your company.
Additionally, MDR can help your business with the following key benefits, Masergy states.
- Faster identification of threats
- Quicker response to threats
- Reduced time between a breach occurring and its identification (a.k.a., dwell time)
Overall, at a time when IT security threats evolve rapidly and new ones emerge constantly, you can’t afford to rely on anti-virus, firewall, and other traditional defenses alone to stay ahead of cybercriminals. Consider implementing MDR to achieve the highest level of security possible.
If you’d like to learn more about MDR and other cybersecurity services and solutions, don’t hesitate to contact our team of IT security experts. We work with various cybersecurity products from vendors in our partner network, in addition to offering our own multilayered IT security solution. Learn more by calling 877-599-3999 or emailing sales@stratospherenetworks.com.
