In 2020, small to mid-sized organizations had “less than half the number of breaches that large organizations showed.” In 2021, those numbers shifted, mostly due to the heavy focus on remote work, and small to mid-sized businesses caught up to larger businesses, showing large businesses at 53% of breaches and small to mid-sized businesses being 47%. (DBIR 2021)
Security teams benefit from the expanded visibility by incorporating an analytics-driven Security Information and Event Management system (SIEM) solution into their threat detection and response approach. However, oftentimes smaller to mid-sized businesses don’t have the resources, financial or personnel-wise, to upgrade their systems to a top-of-the-line SIEM and keep it running with educated, fully-staffed security experts.
These resource-strapped companies can gain expanded visibility by outsourcing and working with a skilled MDR provider to fill these gaps for less than the cost of hiring a security analyst.
Interested in learning how your SIEM can perform with a trusted MDR Provider? Download Choosing the Right SIEM for Managed Detection & Response Service, an eBook explaining the improved outcomes you can expect with a world-class team of experts managing a best-in-class SIEM.
Getting Started: 3 things to Look for with MDR
Security leaders are on the front lines of protecting a rapidly expanding attack surface using complex, expensive security technology that requires specialized expertise to manage. A right-sized solution, particularly to cover the functions of managed detection and response (MDR), can help address the needs of mid-sized businesses with a solution that fits the budget and resource constraints of these companies.
The use of MDRs is a popular solution, as companies look to solve for the shortage of skilled talent and avoid expensive hiring costs associated with cybersecurity talent while increasing both value and outcomes from advanced technologies.
1. A Solid Tech Stack with Best-In-Class Technology Improves a Company’s Security Maturity.
Not all SIEMs are created equal. Modern SIEMs use analytics-driven components, automation and machine learning, which open-source and legacy SIEMs lack. Analytics-driven SIEMs, like Splunk, offer ‘big data’ log ingestion and analysis capabilities, integrated reports, dashboards, and integration with existing IT technologies and workflows.
When selecting an MDR provider, look for a vendor who uses a best-in-class SIEM that integrates with your priority endpoints and technologies. As a result, in-house security and IT teams will gain visibility for the entire IT/security environment improvements in security maturity through comprehensive support.
2. Demonstrating ROI and Cost Savings without Cutting Corners Allows for Confidence In Investment Value.
An initial lower price can make some SIEM solutions more attractive to businesses. However, SIEM implementation costs aren’t the whole picture. Implementation costs do not account for the total cost of ownership, such as staffing, upgrades, management, and maintenance.
Ultimately, many “less expensive” SIEM solutions end up costing businesses more in the long run, because of incremental costs to add critical features and updates, as well as the cost of management, and maintenance.
When considering MDR providers, mid-size businesses should prioritize providers that provide transparent pricing that includes data retention that meets any relevant industry data retention requirements, and allows ease of data portability. Subscription pricing should also include access to security experts, dashboards, and reports to demonstrate ROI.
3. A Team of Skilled Security Experts to Assist with the Onboarding Process and Relieve In-House Team Alert Fatigue.
Managing a SIEM solution in-house requires critical staff expertise that is often expensive and hard to find. Legacy and open-source SIEMs may not be able to support integration with newer cloud-based tools and platforms or data maturity models, limiting scalability. They also may not have a designated team and defined product roadmap to update and upgrade them over time to keep pace with the ever-changing threat landscape.
The breadth of integrations matters to security leaders, who have more risks to manage in recent years, but not necessarily any more budget. As noted by John Woods, Global CISO at RJ O’Brien, “We needed a solution that filled gaps that otherwise would have continued going unfilled due to lack of integrations, a full team, and a process for updates.” Due to these challenges, RJ O’Brien chose Deepwatch’s new MDR Essentials service to provide 24/7 security monitoring and relieve the in-house team from the non-stop flood of alerts they were experiencing every day.
Relieving the Pressures with Increased Visibility
Today more than ever, mid-sized businesses need speed, agility, and adaptability to keep up with increasing threats and changes in the threat landscape. An effective security operations program requires 24/7/365 monitoring using an analytics-driven SIEM.
In the short term, upgrading a legacy SIEM or implementing an open-source SIEM tool may seem like the most cost-effective option. However, these solutions do not account for the mission-critical components necessary to support around-the-clock security operations and longer-term growth.
This is why it is strongly recommended that mid-sized businesses with small security teams and limited budgets work with an MDR service that leverages SIEM capabilities such as ‘big data’ ingestion and analysis, forensics, hybrid operational environments, and integration with existing IT tools and workflows. Doing so will measurably lower risk and protect the organization against advanced and emerging threats.
The selection of an MDR provider can make the difference in the strength of security posture, level of ROI, and impact on work-life balance for the in-house security team.
Leveling-Up the SOC with MDR Essentials
Deepwatch MDR Essentials is designed to meet the needs of mid-sized organizations, providing critical detection and response capabilities that enable even the smallest security team to effectively and efficiently protect their organization—wherever they may be. Deepwatch MDR Essentials provides the benefits of round-the-clock security with an always-on SOC managed by a team of security experts—for less than the cost of hiring one analyst.
To learn more about how MDR Essentials can fortify your security posture with the security operations program you need at the price you want, contact us today for a meeting with one of our Security experts.
Sources:
https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
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