Sophos Managed Detection and Response

One of the major advantages of using an MDR provider over in-house only security operations programs is elevated protection against ransomware and other advanced cyber threats. With MDR you benefit from the breadth and depth of experience of the provider’s analysts. An MDR vendor will experience a far greater volume and variety of attacks than any individual organization, giving them a level of expertise that is almost impossible to replicate in house.

Threat detection and response is time consuming and unpredictable. The urgent nature of the work can prevent teams from focusing on more strategic — and often more interesting — challenges. Working with an MDR service enables you to free up IT capacity to support business-focused initiatives.

An attack can come at any time. Adversaries are most active at the times when your IT team is least likely to be online, such as evenings, weekends, and holiday periods. Consequently, threat detection and response is a round-the-clock task; if you only do it during office hours, you leave your organization exposed. By providing 24/7 coverage, MDR services provide considerable reassurance and peace of mind. For IT teams this means — literally — being able to sleep better at night. They can relax knowing that the buck stops with the MDR provider — not them — and regain their personal time. For senior leaders and customers, 24/7 expert coverage and a high level of cyber readiness at all times provides powerful reassurance that their data and the organization itself are well protected.

Threat detection and response is a highly complex operation. Individuals in this space need to possess a specific and niche set of skills. This rare combination of competencies, exacerbated by a notable skills shortage, makes recruiting threat analyst expertise an uphill — if not impossible — task for many organizations. MDR services provide the expertise for you, enabling organizations to expand their security operations capabilities without expanding their headcount.

Maintaining a 24/7 threat hunting team is expensive. To provide round-the-clock coverage, you need a minimum of five or six cybersecurity staff members working separate shifts. By leveraging economies of scale, MDR services provide a cost-effective way to secure your organization and stretch your cybersecurity budget further.