choosing the right Service provider
MSP
MSP
MSP
Managed Service Provider
Ensures your information systems and data are available and useful to your employees and customers
- Engaged for IT service implementation, ongoing management, usability and performance related issues.
- Responsible for designing, implementing, hardening and maintaining IT infrastructure, systems and security products.
- Primary focused on CTO level guidance, helpdesk, network and system engineer/administration duties.
- Network & Cloud Operations Center focused on monitoring availability, performance/scale of infrastructure and point security products.
- Conducts IT infrastructure and technology product roadmap review, outlines and helps prioritize technology investment, training and informs best practice. Tests MSSP capabilities such as penetration testing, vulnerability scanning.
- Performs incident response and threat remediation activities identified by the client, a third-party, point security product(s) and/or MSSP.
MSSP
MSP
MSP
Managed Security Service Provider
Ensures your information systems are not accessed by anyone except your employees and customers
- Engaged for designing, implementing, monitoring and managing Security Information Event Management (SIEM) and 24x7 detection and response services.
- Responsible for identifying vulnerable systems, malicious entities probing IT systems and detecting insecure user behaviors.
- Primarily focused on CIO level guidance, DLP, security monitoring, alarm triage, threat hunting, vulnerability scanning and forensics duties.
- Security Operations Center (SOC) focused on security monitoring and cross-correlation of threats across all disparate security.
- Conducts IT security reviews, outlines and helps prioritize security risk(s), compliance initiatives and helps direct continuous security. improvements. Monitors the MSP for configuration or design gaps, third-party supply chain risk.
- Performs threat analysis, directs or orchestrates threat remediation and provides breach detection/response guidance to MSP or internal IT team.
- Conducts post breach forensics with support of the MSP and or internal IT team.
*Most providers are geared to do one or the other. Not many providers do both well at scale. Yes, there will sometimes be service overlap, but find providers that complement each other vs complete (or consider taking certain responsibilities in house).
In 2025 you should start considering AI-powered MSSP capabilities in vendor renewals.
Well-Managed XDR can prevent a data breach
Not all Managed XDR services are created equal. Look for XDR that covers these key areas:
Identity Access Managment + Conditional Access
Controls typically offered in IAM are designed to establish and enforce a security baseline (user and a device requirements) to enable access to company resources. XDR provides visibility into user activity and can detect anomalous behavior, such as unauthorized access, privilege escalation or impossible travel alerts. Most XDR products integrate with IAM. Microsoft Defender XDR is the only native XDR to Azure AD / EntraID, which many businesses are already leveraging today.
Email and Messaging Security
XDR typically offers or integrates advanced email protection, including spam filtering, malware detection, and (Data Loss Prevention) DLP.
Aside from XDR don't forget DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Spender Policy Framework). These work to authenticate the sender of an email, helping to prevent spoofing and phishing attacks.
Endpoint Protection:
EDR/XDR typically provides comprehensive controls such endpoint protection, including antivirus, anti-malware, and fundamental anti-ransomware capabilities. EDR provides real-time visibility into endpoint activities whereas XDR extends coverage and integration to other security products (native or non-native to the XDR toolset).
Ransomware Prevention:
Given ransomware was the number 1 cause of cyber insurance payouts and represents a painful cyber-attack for all parties, this threat deserves its own spot. We see that extending XDR to effectively prevent Ransomware requires a specialized layer that enables encryption key recovery- something that no EDR does today.
Logging:
SIEM is not dead- security information event management is evolving with XDR. Logging remains important both for compliance and for forensic purposes. Security logging and SIEM (Security Information Event Management). If anything, SIEM is more crucial than ever in today’s complex threat landscape. A SIEM provides detailed logs that can be used by a security analyst or forensics specialist to investigate security incidents to identify the root cause.
Free Microsoft License and XDR Assessment that outputs a security program roadmap!
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