MDR-as-a-Service – Is It The Holy Grail As Some Say?

Every few months it seems there is another wave of new ideas, and with it the need to sift out which are worth taking a closer look at versus those that are just hype. Security leaders must be careful in all ways, first and foremost as they listen to their teams, who will always be challenging them with new ideas and the latest cool ‘tool.’ And on the other side of the coin, they need to protect their business from technology that is not matched to the company’s risk factors. Either way, finding balance is key and is the right answer.

So I chose MDR (Managed Detection and Response)-as-a-Service. There is a lot of hype out there about it, helping organizations find value in managed offerings versus build it and maintain it in house. Managed services are growing 6 to 10 percent annually.  That said, MDR-as-a-Service is growing even faster₃. With growth seemingly baked in, you can see why so many managed providers are looking at it and why so many vendors say they do it well.

MDR in short is advanced threat detection and response. Think of a multi-faceted attack throughout the kill chain, something most mid-sized companies struggle with, and most of them have no protection in place whatsoever. With attacks increasing in sophistication, MDR is timely.