Emerging from the traditional managed security service provider (MSSP) model, Managed Detection and Response (MDR) addresses the fact that threat actors have increased their ability to circumvent traditional detection measures. As early as 2011, MDR emerged (uncategorized at the time) with a single guiding principal: Acknowledge that a breach will happen. When it does, minimize threat actor dwell time to reduce risk.
In 2016,
Gartner formally recognized the emergence of MDR and its departure from the
traditional MSSP model, citing 14 organizations as being representative
vendors. Just
three years later, the 2019
edition states: “Gartner estimates
that there are now over 100 providers claiming to offer MDR services.”Recognizing market demand, traditional security service providers have promoted existing services to align themselves to MDR. Unfortunately, marketing messages do not translate to actual service delivery, leaving potential customers at risk with legacy models. And, while many analyst firms have released reports or guides that include broad category definitions and guidance on MDR, none currently stipulate objective, measurable attributes.However, as the MDR market has evolved,
four criteria remain constant as key to minimizing threat actor dwell time in
the event of a breach: visibility, fidelity, detection capabilities and response.
When these criteria are measured against in-house resources, risk tolerance and
available budget, they can be used to choose the appropriate MDR vendor based
on your organizational requirements.FOUR CRITERIA
Visibility: Signal sources such as endpoints, IPS/IDS, logs, cloud, vulnerabilities, etc.
Fidelity: The depth of information provided by each of the signal sources
Detection capabilities: Ability for the provider to detect known and unknown attacker methodologies using commoditized and advanced methodologies
Response: Delineation of provider and client responsibilities from investigation, alert, containment and recovery
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF EXAMPLE MDR APPROACHES/VENDORSTo be clear, not all criteria must be met
to be categorized as an MDR vendor. Thus, no singular definition will
comprehensively cover the MDR marketplace as a whole. The definition of MDR is
contextual to each organization’s unique requirements. Consequently, a number
of clear categories have emerged representing the intersections of different
levels of risk mitigation and cost:
Security Operations Center (SOC)-as-a-Service/Managed Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Endpoint Detection and response (single telemetry)
Managed Detection and response (multi-telemetry)
Managed Detection and response (full telemetry)
Endpoint Detection and Response (single telemetry)
Managed Detection and Response (multi-telemetry)
Managed Detection and Response (full telemetry)
While this article provides a snapshot of the MDR market, the intricacies and interdependencies are complex. To help organizations make an informed cybersecurity solutions choice, eSentire has authored, The Definitive Guide to Managed Detection and Response (MDR) to define:
The current marketplace definition of MDR
Technical criteria for evaluating MDR providers
The strengths and weaknesses for
each of the seven categories of MDR
There are many ways to do DevSecOps, and each organization — each security team, even — uses a different approach. Questions such as how many environments you have and the frequency of deployment of those environments are important in understanding how to integrate a security scanner into your DevSecOps machinery. The ultimate goal is speed […]
It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but security awareness is about much more than just dedicating a month to a few activities. Security awareness is a journey, requiring motivation along the way. And culture. Especially culture.That’s the point Proofpoint Cybersecurity Evangelist Brian Reed drove home in a recent appearance on Business Security Weekly.“If your security awareness program […]
