Why Managed Detection and Response is a Key Component to any Security Plan

The overnight move to remote and hybrid work models instantly created a more complex infrastructure for many organizations as they shifted their workers from corporate offices to their homes. The threat surface expanded exponentially as devices moved off-prem and into potentially unsecured environments and grew again as workers added their own devices to the mix.

Organizations compounded this situation by simultaneously moving their operations to the cloud and adding new and unfamiliar cloud security tools to monitor their newly dispersed networks. Unfortunately, this has led to security teams being overwhelmed, which means they could end up being more reactive than proactive as they attempt to handle the flood of alerts that flow from their Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) software.

All these changes and the strain they have placed on cybersecurity teams make it even more apparent that having a Managed Detection and Response program is no longer a security feature that is nice to have but a mandatory tool. A point that Trustwave has taken to heart.

In the Forrester Wave™: Managed Detection and Response, Q1 2021, the company ranked Trustwave as a "strong performer" in the category.

Please click the image above to view the report.

In its report, Forrester stated that a good MDR provider cannot just be an "alert factory" but in fact should deliver:

• A "squad model" where a dedicated team of analysts, responders, and customer support specialists that work within a given vertical and geography.
• Combine strong hunting methodologies with organic threat intelligence capabilities that take indicators from an active incident in one client and apply that to endpoints at scale.
• Syncing with their client's security technology stack, specializing in specific types of detection and response activity, and acting as a complement to the existing security team.

Trustwave's MDR solution covers all these points.

Trustwave security experts are on the job 24/7; our threat hunters employ hypothesis-driven threat hunting techniques based on observations, threat intelligence and years of experience. In addition, account managers are assigned to each client to handle all communications and notify the correct personnel if an incident occurs.

Behind the solution is the Trustwave Fusion platform. Fusion connects to a client's existing security tools with advanced analytics and best-in-class Trustwave SpiderLabs threat intelligence and expertise.

The Fusion Platform consolidates Trustwave people and processes by connecting to a client's environment, where it synthesizes alerts and drives effective detection and response outcomes. Real-time analytics and best-in-class Trustwave SpiderLabs threat intelligence enable our experts to contextualize threats and automate containment actions while investigating or hunting for threats. All new information is used to bolster the security of all other Trustwave clients.

Additionally, Fusion integrates with 700 plus third-party security products to further strengthen a client's cybersecurity posture.

Having an MDR partner levels the playing field for smaller firms or those without a large security budget. MDR enables such organizations in every industry sector to proactively search for emerging threats and actively monitor risk to protect themselves – and respond quickly if a threat is identified.

These are complex tasks to take on in-house. Not only does it require specific technology and automation to conduct but it must be combined with people trained and dedicated to keeping an organization safe. Deploying and properly configuring complex technologies like XDR and SIEM platforms across many endpoints, servers, clouds and networks can often take months. Even after these technologies are implemented, it takes additional time for an organization's in-house security team to gain expertise with their systems, learning how to configure and maintain them properly.

This situation is made more complicated as organizations continue to struggle to find enough cybersecurity professionals to staff their teams.

• Let our experts be your experts – we'll remove the pain of finding resources to cover your resource gaps.
• Our offerings are designed to simplify your cyber environment, optimize your use of industry leading security technologies (including the tech you've already invested in)
• Our experts can partner with you to 'right size' the security plan and adopt solutions in stages as needed
• Evolving as the market and landscape evolves (future proofing your security controls)

A Dynamic Duo: MDR and MSS

On its own, MDR is a powerful tool, but when combined with a Managed Security Service (MSS), it becomes even more omniscient, a task Trustwave has accomplished.

Trustwave has been named in most major analyst reports on MDR, and as a leader in the Forrester Wave for MSS. The introduction to this report shows how a managed service can help organizations take steps towards cyber resiliency.

Please click the image above to view the report.

A key component of this leadership position is due to our ability to successfully integrate our elite Trustwave SpiderLabs team and its world-class threat intelligence into our core MSS offerings. Leveraging data from across Trustwave's 5,000+ MSS global customers along with discreet security research to home in on attack vectors, indicators of compromise (IoCs) and attacker behaviors across a multitude of verticals, SpiderLabs makes Trustwave who we are.