Cyber risk and advisory programs that identify security gaps and build strategies to address them.
MDR that provides improved detection, 24/7 threat hunting, end-to-end coverage and most of all, complete Response.
Our team delivers the fastest response time in the industry. Threat suppression within just 4 hours of being engaged.
Visibility and response across your entire Microsoft security ecosystem.
XDR with Machine Learning that eliminates noise, enables real-time detection and response, and automatically blocks threats.
Be protected by the best from Day 1.
24/7 Threat Investigation and Response.
Expert threat hunting, original research, and proactive threat intelligence.
TRU is foundational to our MDR service. No add-ons or additional costs required.
Stop ransomware attacks before they disrupt your business.
Detect and respond to zero-day exploits.
Protect against third-party and supply chain risk.
Adopt a risk-based approach to cybersecurity.
Protect your most sensitive data.
Meet cybersecurity regulatory compliance mandates.
Eliminate misconfigurations and policy violations.
Prevent business disruption by outsourcing MDR.
Meet insurability requirements with MDR.
Defend brute force attacks, active intrusions and unauthorized scans.
Safeguard endpoints 24/7 by isolating and mediating threats to prevent lateral spread.
Enhance investigation and threat detection across multi-cloud or hybrid environments.
Remediate critical misconfigurations, security vulnerabilities and policy violations across cloud and containerized environments.
Detect malicious insider and identity-based behavior leveraging machine learning models.
Our Threat Response Unit (TRU) publishes security advisories, blogs, reports, industry publications and webinars based on its original research and the insights driven through proactive threat hunts.
eSentire is The Authority in Managed Detection and Response Services, protecting the critical data and applications of 2000+ organizations in 80+ countries from known and unknown cyber threats. Founded in 2001, the company's mission is to hunt, investigate and stop cyber threats before they become business disrupting events.
We provide sophisticated cybersecurity solutions for Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), Managed Service Providers (MSPs), and Value-Added Resellers (VARs). Find out why you should partner with eSentire, the Authority in Managed Detection and Response, today.
We believe a multi-signal approach is paramount to protecting your complete attack surface. See why eSentire MDR means multi-signal telemetry and complete response.
See how our 24/7 SOC Cyber Analysts and Elite Threat Hunters stop even the most advanced cyberattacks before they disrupt your business.
Choose the right mix of Managed Detection and Response, Exposure Management, and Incident Response services to strengthen your cyber resilience.
Try our interactive tools including the MITRE ATT&CK Tool, the SOC Pricing Calculator, the Cybersecurity Maturity Assessment, and our MDR ROI Calculator.
Read the latest security advisories, blogs, reports, industry publications and webinars published by eSentire's Threat Response Unit (TRU).
See why 2000+ organizations count on eSentire to build resilience and prevent business disruption.
Engaging a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) or a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider can help you strategically manage your cyber risk and augment your internal resources. In the current macroeconomic climate, where security leaders are facing more pressure to achieve more with less, selecting the right partner who can deliver measurable improvements to your security posture is critical.
Ensuring your team possesses 24/7 threat detection, investigation, and response capabilities to build cyber resilience and prevent revenue disruption is vital. However, navigating the competitive MSSP and MDR market riddled with marketing jargon and bold promises can be challenging even for the most experienced buyers.
In this post, we will explore the limitations of engaging a legacy MSSP, highlight how multi-signal MDR empowers organizations to achieve cyber resilience and emphasize the importance of considering MDR in your MSSP Request for Proposal (RFP).
We will also provide you with key questions to ask an MSSP during the RFP process, enabling you to navigate the complexities of the security provider market and make an informed choice.
A Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) is a specialized cybersecurity services provider that offers outsourced monitoring and management of security devices and systems to businesses. Common services offered by MSSPs include managed firewall, intrusion detection, virtual private network, vulnerability scanning and antiviral services.
MSSPs leverage their expertise, technology infrastructure, and advanced tools to remotely monitor network security events and alert your team if they notice any anomalies. MSSPs deliver continuous security monitoring and asset management, so they’re typically best used for threat prevention. With an MSSP, you can get the benefits of the latest monitoring technology without having to acquire, configure, and monitor it yourself.
MSSPs also augment your internal security team by monitoring security events 24/7, helping reduce the impact and cost to your company. This allows you to focus your internal cybersecurity resources on cyber threats that are more likely to become legitimate security incidents.
Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) can play a critical role in enhancing your organization's cybersecurity posture. However, it's crucial to gain a comprehensive understanding of their differentiators and limitations before deciding to outsource your security to an MSSP.
“A CISO absolutely needs to value fast and accurate response, but what I’ve found is that not enough security leaders truly understand that the accuracy of the response is powered by the maturity of the threat investigation. As a security leader, you must question how can the vendor respond to a threat if they haven’t done the necessary legwork for the threat investigation portion?”
- Tia Hopkins, Chief Cyber Resilience Officer & Field CTO, eSentire
In summary, MSSPs are typically best used for threat prevention, so you get the benefits of the latest monitoring technology without having to acquire, configure, and monitor it yourself.
However, if you’re looking for threat detection, hypothesis-driven threat hunting, deep investigation and response to threats on your behalf, you need to be aware of the limitations MSSPs may have.
Choosing the right Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) is a significant decision that can greatly impact your organization's cybersecurity posture. Navigating through this process comes with its own set of challenges that require careful consideration and evaluation.
Defining your organization's specific security requirements, compliance mandates and business objectives can help you select an MSSP that effectively addresses your needs.This process involves assessing your current cybersecurity posture, identifying vulnerabilities, and understanding the potential threats you face.
MSSPs vary in expertise, technologies, and services offered, so thoroughly evaluating their capabilities is essential. To ensure your provider has the necessary skills and knowledge, assess the MSSP's team expertise, certifications, and training programs. Consider what investigation processes and tools they use to learn how effective their incident response will be.
Look at their ability to provide actionable intelligence to ensure your MSSP can mitigate existing threats and proactively enhance your organization's defenses. This evaluation will help determine whether their offerings align with your organization's unique requirements.
Integrating an MSSP's services with your existing security infrastructure can be complex. To ensure an MSSP’s tools and processes complement your internal systems without causing disruptions, understand the technology stack the MSSP is using. A lack of integration with your existing tool stack can lead to inefficiencies in collecting or accessing critical data, delays in detecting security incidents and potential threats, reduced effectiveness of threat detection capabilities, and manual investigation required from your team.
Many organizations partner with an MSSP to achieve cost efficiency by outsourcing security operations. Therefore, cost to value considerations are crucial in selecting an MSSP. Balancing the costs with the benefits, capabilities, and expertise of the MSSP is key to making an informed decision.
Your cybersecurity needs will evolve as your organization grows or faces new security challenges. Choosing an MSSP that can scale with your growing requirements and adapt to changing threat landscapes is vital. To make sure your MSSP continues to strengthen your security posture, you need to understand its ability to adapt to changes, such as cloud migrations or remote workforce enablement, and evaluate contractual flexibility, including the possibility of adding or removing services based on your evolving needs.
In conclusion, selecting an MSSP requires a thorough and systematic approach. Understanding your organization's security needs, evaluating capabilities, ensuring seamless integration, and aligning with your organizational culture are all crucial considerations. By carefully assessing these factors, you can make a well-informed investment decision into a solution that strengthens your cybersecurity posture and augments internal resources.
Crafting a thorough and well-structured Request for Proposal (RFP) is an essential in the evaluation cycle of Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs. An effective RFP sets the stage for transparent communication, informed decision-making, and a successful partnership.
Start by articulating your organization's security objectives. In the ever-expanding threat landscape, compliance adherence is rarely enough to anticipate, withstand and recover from sophisticated threats. Instead, focus on meaningful risk reduction and strategies that help you build long-term cyber resilience. Having clear security goals will help potential MSSPs understand the outcomes you seek from their services.
Every year, new compliance regulations and frameworks are introduced globally. Whether HIPAA, PCI DSS, NIS2, Essential Eight, or other industry-specific standards, your MSSP provider should play an integral role in helping you achieve compliance and demonstrate adherence to compliance standards.
Detail the specific services and capabilities you expect from a security provider in your MSSP RFP. This could include around-the-clock monitoring, advanced threat detection, complete incident response, regular vulnerability assessments, etc. If any third-party software or subscription services are required, ask your short-listed MSSPs to include these in this assessment. Clearly defining the scope helps the MSSP tailor their proposal to your organization's needs, avoiding misunderstandings later.
Alignment with your current security tools and system with technology solutions provided by MSSP is crucial for seamless integration. If you have existing security tools and systems, ask your potential MSSP to specify how their solutions will integrate with your existing infrastructure. This helps ensure their technology stack can provide full visibility across your attack surface and minimize setup challenges.
It’s crucial that you gain an understanding of how the provider will report on the efficacy, how often they will deliver the reports, how much visibility you will have into the health of your environment, and how your KPIs compare against those of your industry peers. Outline the reporting and metrics you require in your RFP. This will allow potential MSSPs to demonstrate how they measure and communicate their impact.
While not all MSSP RFPs include budget details, providing a budget range or understanding of your financial constraints can help potential MSSPs tailor their proposals accordingly. Ask to see the pricing model of each component of the service package to evaluate the value proposition and align the services to your organizational priorities. In addition, inquiring about discount rates for longer-duration contracts can help discover cost-saving opportunities.
Including timeline considerations in your MSSP RFP is essential. If you have a desired start date and critical service implementation milestones indicate them in your RFP. Request a proposed timeline for rollout, setup and deployment to align expectations and plan accordingly.
Modern threats can move to a hands-on intrusion phase in minutes, so consider any Incident Response time commitments your MSSP may have. If an incident occurs, you will need to have confidence that your security partner can rapidly contain threats, restore your systems and minimize business disruption.
Define how you evaluate the MSSP proposals. Whether based on technical capabilities, experience, references, cost, or a combination of factors, outlining your evaluation criteria ensures a fair and consistent assessment.
By crafting an MSSP RFP that covers these essential elements, you will set a foundation for meaningful proposals that potential providers can address effectively.
The MSSP market is saturated with vendors promising to end cyber risk and deliver complete protection. However, in this fiercely competitive market, it’s important that you know how to differentiate between different service delivery approaches and technologies used by MSSPs.
When reviewing MSSP RFP responses, be vigilant for red flags. Responses that lack detailed explanations, propose a one-size-fits-all solution or fail to address your questions and concerns may indicate an MSSP provider that doesn't fully grasp your requirements or prioritize your organization's security.
Instead, look for security service providers who demonstrate expertise in human-led investigation and response, the ability to drive multi-signal visibility, automated blocking and threat detection capabilities, and clearly outlined expectations around risk management and support after deployment in their RFP responses.
Given the limitations of traditional MSSPs, engaging a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider can be an effective way to build resilience, prevent business disruption and reduce downtime.
MDR focuses on delivering 24/7 threat detection, investigation, and response capabilities by ingesting multiple signals across endpoint, network, log, cloud, identity, and vulnerability sources. This multi-signal capability is crucial to maintain full visibility across your entire attack surface and rapidly contain threats – simply monitoring endpoints and network is no longer enough.
Unlike legacy MSSPs, MDR providers offer a more tailored approach to security, eliminating false positives, identifying real threats and helping remove the burden on your internal resources through automated threat blocking and expert-led threat response.
Deciding between an MSSP and MDR provider depends on your organization's security needs, risk tolerance, and long-term goals. If you’re looking to respond to known and unknown advanced threats fast, minimize the risk of business disruptions and alleviate resource constraints, a true MDR provider will help you maximize the ROI on your investment and deliver stronger security outcomes than a legacy MSSP.
By taking on threat containment and response capabilities, MDR providers deliver greater value to IT teams that are unable to hire, train, and retain highly skilled and certified 24/7 cybersecurity staff. In addition, when you partner with an MDR provider, you adopt a collaborative approach to your cybersecurity program to provide the right level of support, guidance, and expertise you need to build cyber resilience.
To learn how eSentire MDR can help you build a resilient security operation, connect with an eSentire cybersecurity specialist.
eSentire, Inc., the Authority in Managed Detection and Response (MDR), protects the critical data and applications of 2000+ organizations in 80+ countries, across 35 industries from known and unknown cyber threats by providing Exposure Management, Managed Detection and Response and Incident Response services designed to build an organization’s cyber resilience & prevent business disruption. Founded in 2001, eSentire protects the world’s most targeted organizations with 65% of its global base recognized as critical infrastructure, vital to economic health and stability. By combining open XDR platform technology, 24/7 threat hunting, and proven security operations leadership, eSentire's award-winning MDR services and team of experts help organizations anticipate, withstand and recover from cyberattacks. For more information, visit: www.esentire.com and follow @eSentire.