Many organizations believe that having anti-virus software is enough to protect their systems. As cyber crime has become more sophisticated, our defenses must as well.
So instead of just installing anti-virus to prevent a cyber attack (which is only 40% effective), how can you protect your organization? An effective cyber security approach is no longer only based on prevention but also detection and response. That is Managed Detection & Response (MDR).
Large corporations have internal cyber security teams of people that focus entirely on protecting the information technology (IT) of the organization. However, having internal resources like that is cost-prohibitive for smaller organizations. Not to mention the fact that there is a huge shortage of cyber security experts in the workforce. The solution is to have a cyber security consultant who has the most up-to-date automated technology and expertise to implement MDR.
The benefits of procuring these services include 24-hour monitoring of your network traffic in and out to ensure no one is getting in who shouldn’t be and no data is going out that shouldn’t be. MDR will also provide monitoring of all assets (devices) and ensure no malware is present. Another benefit is that MDR shortens the lifecycle of a breach by conducting vulnerability scanning and installing patches. This is even more critical when you consider that on average there are 14 vulnerabilities discovered each month.
In the case of a breach, MDR will provide event logs to detect an attack and stop it as well as providing the data for analysis and potential law enforcement action (i.e., where and/or who originated the attack). In addition to detection and response, backups can be automated in order to return to normal operations and ensure data is not lost.
Lastly, your security consultant will help with implementing policies as well as providing training for employees to ensure that everyone is part of your security team.