Hybrid MDR: A Holistic Security Solution for SMBs

Challenges and Solutions for Protecting Organizations

Hybrid MDR: A Holistic Security Solution for SMBs

Industry Challenges for Small and Midsize Businesses

According to Frost & Sullivan research, businesses use an average of 11 different products for their security needs. This highlights the importance of holistic security solutions and partnering with vendors that can provide such solutions.

The move to a remote/hybrid workforce expanded the cyberattack surface for most organizations leading to difficulties in finding security vendors that provide solutions for everything from endpoints to new cloud environments.

Cyber attackers are automating and scaling attacks on small and midsize businesses (SMBs).

There is a common misperception of a lack of competent cybersecurity providers/partners capable of supporting their security needs.

The insufficient number and expense of cybersecurity specialists is a usual obstacle to organizations’ security.

The same threats affecting large enterprises also affect SMBs, heightening the importance of vendor solutions that provide leading-edge machine learning-enabled capabilities.

The SMB market is significantly underserved, and most organizations cannot afford to purchase or deploy enterprise-grade technologies nor use sub-par security solutions to face pervasive and persistent cyber threats.

Some security solutions are so complex that they are unusable for SMBs in-house expertise, so the organization cannot take direct measures to increase its security posture.

Some vendor partner engagement models that can help SMBs achieve their security goals include:

Scalability and on-demand expertise
High product effectiveness for security efficacy and positive business outcomes
A strong partnership to help SMBs secure their operations and drive greater efficiency.

Hybrid Managed Detection and Response (MDR) as a Holistic Approach

Real-time threat monitoring, detection, and blocking solution within a single platform
End-to-end visibility across the entire threat surface along with endpoint protection in one platform for threat detection, analysis, and response
Automation capabilities utilizing machine learning algorithms and advanced analytics
Focus on attackers’ objectives and techniques rather than only the result of their activity.
Hybrid MDR natively integrating endpoint, network, cloud, document/file/email/email attachment scanning, and external surface scanning components to provide unified protection
Network traffic analysis: known and unknown devices
Machine learning and analytic capabilities
Endpoint, network, and cloud detection and response
Automatic identification and blocking for advanced persistent threats
Active response to mitigate and contain an active threat

End-to-End Holistic Solution Components for Protecting Organizations

ENDPOINT MONITORING

Prevention of ransomware, advanced persistent threats, and malware in real-time.
Normal behavior determined, with response adapted accordingly.
Comprehensive visibility of all activity on the operating systems through user- and kernel-mode capability.
Observation of privileged access to identify attack or exploitation.
Proactive scanning to identify new threats and vulnerabilities.

NETWORK MONITORING

Observation of network traffic such that it is unalterable by threat actors, providing a vantage point to apply security practices to identify threats and vulnerabilities across the network.
Extraction of information from network traffic to support security monitoring, with evaluation of network signatures to alert about known malicious activity.
Collection and analysis of network telemetry to report on threat surface risks and respond to threat detections.
High-res real-time inspection and analysis of all IPv4 and IPv6 network traffic.

CLOUD MONITORING

Analysis of data across various cloud services to identify anomalous events.
Cross-analysis of potential cloud-based security events with data from both the network and associated endpoints.
Detection of and alerting on cloud account risks and threats including phishing attempts, abnormal activity or behavior, and insecure configuration.
Detection of and alerting on data loss which may indicate compromise.
Monitoring of cloud data including audit and event log analysis, cloud provider security logs, and information relating to users, accounts, and groups.

Human Intelligence Must Be Incorporated into Automated Security Solutions

Automated cyber security solutions must balance technology and human intelligence—by incorporating machine learning and advanced analytics designed, maintained, and updated by experienced security analysts.

Security analytics blended with machine learning using both supervised and unsupervised approaches
Powerful and reliable solution with automation to scale the human element
Humans can never be eliminated in a proper security solution

Leveraging Active Response for Next-level Protection

Respond actively and in real time.
Provide insights gained from advanced threat detection analysis designed to be easy to understand—straightforward and concise—and actionable without security expertise.
Recognize the necessary response and action needed to secure an organization.
Reduce the alert fatigue experienced by most cyber security customers and offer clear explanations for critical alerts.

Why the Hybrid MDR Approach is Ideal for SMBs

SMBs are looking for a one-stop shop for their cybersecurity needs—hybrid MDR covering endpoint, cloud, and network security can offer such a solution. Hybrid MDR can ensure concrete business outcomes and strong ROI.

Hybrid MDR provides a new way of transmitting threat and risk information to SMBs with simplicity and a lowered technological and cybersecurity burden for the end-user.
Continuous view of potential cyber risks and malicious activity, enriched by cyber experts, prevents cyber threats and eliminates security vulnerabilities.
A hybrid MDR approach can cover a broad range of use cases. This is essential as organizations move away from on-premises solutions and toward hybrid environments becoming the norm.
A single dashboard delivering straightforward, easy-to-consume information designed for the SMB, allowing for constant awareness and direct control over security posture.