What is a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)?

MSSP Meaning in Cyber Security

A Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) provides outsourced monitoring and management of security devices and systems. An MSSP will remotely monitor network security events and send alerts to your team if they notice any anomalies. Given that MSSPs deliver continuous security monitoring and asset management, they’re 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.

The Responsibilities of an MSSP

MSSPs oversee your security infrastructure, including managing firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and virtual private networks (VPNs). They ensure these elements work seamlessly to protect the organization. MSSPs augment your internal security team's efforts by ensuring they detect cybersecurity incidents as they occur, reducing the impact and cost to your company.

Often, MSSPs will alert on detected threats and leave the incident response and subsequent remediation to the customer. Traditional MSSPs don't investigate the anomaly to eliminate false positives, nor do they respond to security threats, expecting your organization to take the required action instead.

Tools and Technologies Commonly Used by Managed Security Service Providers

MSSPs may offer a fully managed solution, using their own tools to manage and monitor security events, or a co-managed solution, providing support to the teams and tools you already have.

MSSPs use advanced tools such as SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), threat intelligence, intrusion detection, and vulnerability scanning to monitor and protect their clients' environments. In some cases, MSSPs may offer Identity and Access Management tools for user access, authentication, and data governance. The use of all of these tools help prevent, identify and mitigate potential threats.

MSSP Services in Action

MSSPs actively monitor and respond to security incidents, conduct vulnerability assessments, and provide security advisory services. This proactive approach ensures continuous protection against evolving threats.

An organization might engage an MSSP if they already have some preferred technologies in place, but are experiencing challenges meeting their reporting and scalability needs.

In this scenario, an MSSP may help improve detection and alerting, alleviating the pressure on IT and security teams as the organization grows.

What are Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) Used For?

Continuous Security Monitoring and Management

MSSPs provide continuous monitoring of your networks, systems and devices, ensuring any security threats are detected and addressed promptly. Security monitoring logs, investigates, and verifies every security event that occurs within your environment. By leveraging real-time data, MSSPs can identify unusual activities on your network and either alert or respond quickly to minimize potential damage.

Protection of Internal Environment and Assets

MSSPs also help safeguard an organization’s internal environment and assets from cyber threats, maintaining data integrity and confidentiality. Their role often extends to securing sensitive information and ensuring that unauthorized internal access is prevented.

Utilization of 24/7 SOC, Firewalls, Intrusion Detection, and VPN Management

MSSPs provide 24/7 security monitoring through a Security Operations Center (SOC). A SOC is a centralized location where all data pertaining to an organization’s cybersecurity efforts are monitored by dedicated security analysts. These experts leverage managed firewalls, intrusion detection technologies, and virtual private networks to reduce your attack surface and prevent bad actors from disrupting your operations.

Compliance Monitoring

MSSPs provide compliance monitoring to ensure that your organization is operating within required data-security regulatory standards. The MSSP will perform regular scans of your security infrastructure and relevant devices to determine if your data is compliant with relevant privacy laws and regulations. Any changes within your system that might lead to violations are identified and reported.

Check out our blog, “Questions to Ask a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) for key questions to ask an MSSP to help you navigate the complexities of the security provider market.

MSSP vs. MDR: What is the Difference?

Threat actors continue to find new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in software and systems, as well as prey on the weakest link in any organization – its people. A shortage of cybersecurity talent and limited resources make maintaining 24/7 protection against cyber threats both difficult and costly.

Understanding the roles and differences between Managed Detection and Response and Managed Security Service Providers is essential for making an informed decision about your cybersecurity strategy.

For those looking to understand the critical role that both MDR and MSSPs play in protecting businesses in the modern threat landscape, this article will answer:

• What defines MDR vs MSSP solutions?
• What is the role and responsibilities of a Managed Security Service Provider in a resilient cybersecurity strategy?
• What are the core differences between MDR and MSSP solutions?
• Which offering is right for your organization and strategy?
• Do you need both an MDR and an MSSP?

Brief Overview of MDR and MSSP

Both MDR and MSSPs are crucial in defending organizations against cyber threats. An MDR provider focuses on proactive threat detection, continuous monitoring, and swift incident response. On the other hand, a Managed Security Service provider typically offers a broader range of security services, including network monitoring, firewall management, and vulnerability assessments, often incorporating MDR capabilities into their offerings.

The Core Functions of MDR

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services focus on detecting and responding to threats in real time. This involves the use of advanced analytics, threat intelligence, and skilled security analysts to identify and respond to security incidents swiftly, on your behalf. MDR services provide organizations with 24/7 continuous monitoring and proactive threat hunting, ensuring that any signs of a breach or threat are detected and addressed immediately.

The Comprehensive Coverage of MSSPs

Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) offer a wide range of security services designed to protect an organization's entire IT infrastructure. These services typically include firewall management, intrusion detection and prevention, virtual private network (VPN) management, security information and event management (SIEM), and more. MSSPs aim to provide a holistic approach to cybersecurity, ensuring all aspects of an organization's security posture are managed effectively.

Understanding the Differences and Similarities between MDR and MSSP

Different organizations have varying security needs based on their size, industry, and risk profile. Understanding whether MDR or MSSP services are better suited to address these needs is crucial for aligning security investments with organizational goals. To build a robust cybersecurity strategy that fits within your goals and budget, it is critical to understand the differences and similarities between MDR and MSSP.

MSSPs manage and monitor security infrastructure, providing a wide range of services. In contrast, an MDR is a specific service that provides threat detection, incident response, and continuous security improvement. While some use the terms interchangeably, this is not correct. Understanding the key differences between MDR and MSSP is crucial for organizations looking to outsource their security operations.

Comparison of Service Offerings and Focus Areas

MSSPs offer broad security services, including security and event monitoring and advisory services. MDR services, however, focus on proactive threat hunting, incident response, and continuous security improvement. The key difference lies in the proactive nature of MDR services compared to the broader, more reactive approach of MSSPs.

MDR relies on both indicators of attack (IOA), which occur before the breach, and indicators of compromise (IOC), which are present after the fact, to determine if your organization is at risk. MDR services include a combination of advanced technology and human threat hunters and incident responders. MDR services place special emphasis on rapid response including host isolation, hash blocking, account suspension, retroactive email purges, system reboots and more.

MSSPs are largely reactive in nature. Using IOCs, they alert your organization to a breach or security event after it has occurred.

Making informed choices about outsourcing cybersecurity services can also significantly enhance your organization's security posture. By comprehending the strengths and limitations of both MDR and MSSP, organizations can select services that complement their existing security measures and address their most critical vulnerabilities. This strategic approach leads to a more resilient and proactive defense against cyber threats.

Limitations of Using an MSSP vs. an MDR Provider

Due to their broad service offering, many organizations choose an MSSP for threat detection and response in addition to other security services. However, for those looking for proactive threat detection, deep investigation, and complete response, this approach can have some drawbacks:

Increased Alert Fatigue

With their focus on security monitoring and alerting, MSSPs can inundate your team with alerts and false positives. This alert fatigue can cause more strain on your security teams who are burdened with covering multiple responsibilities under one role.

Automated Communication

MSSPs often rely on a faceless portal as their way to communicate with your team. In many cases, this doesn't prove to be enough for security leaders that want more human involvement and expertise from their security providers.

Lack of Complete Response

Since MSSPs send alerts, your team must often take on the responsibility of conducting threat investigations and remediating incidents. Without security expertise, tools, or technology to conduct threat hunting and detection engineering, this can be a major challenge. Even if the MSSP responds on your behalf, if they don't have the appropriate tooling, security expertise, or threat intelligence to conduct a deep threat investigation, the response outcome will be inaccurate and incomplete.

Reactive Approach

Many MSSPs don’t take the proactive measures within their threat hunting or threat intelligence programs required to provide rapid threat detection and response capabilities. This results in your security team often reacting to cyber threats that may have already penetrated your environment or progressed to hands-on intrusion rather than being able to benefit from proactive threat sweeps based on original threat intel.

MDR vs. MSSP: Which is Right for Your Business?

Considerations for Choosing between MDR and MSSP

It is important to evaluate your specific security needs, budget, and internal capabilities when deciding between MDR and MSSP services. For some, the broad coverage of an MSSP might be sufficient, while others might benefit more from the more specialized, proactive services of an MDR provider.

Evaluation of Business Needs and Security Requirements

Assessing your organization’s risk profile, compliance requirements, and security objectives is essential in determining the most suitable security solution. Different businesses have different priorities, and understanding these can guide the choice between MDR and MSSP services.

An MSSP may be the right solution if you:

• Have broad general security needs that don’t need extensive security expertise
• Lack adequate internal security monitoring systems and passing programs
• Require sufficient knowledge on how to use cybersecurity tools efficiently

An MDR provider may be the right solution if you:

• Need rapid, robust response capabilities with the ability to disrupt, isolate, and stop the most advanced threats so that your business is never disrupted.
• Require complete threat visibility and investigation so your security team can see the complete picture of your entire attack surface with multi-signal cyber threat intelligence that enables deeper data correlation and threat investigation capabilities.
• Want to benefit from 24/7 proactive threat hunting and disruption with a team of highly skilled security experts who will rapidly investigate, contain and shut down threats when an automated response isn’t possible.
• Want to leverage an XDR platform so your team can stay ahead of new and emerging threats with high-fidelity threat detection and automated real-time cyber threat disruption

Cost, Scalability, and Effectiveness

Security leaders are tasked with defending against increasingly complex cyber threats while streamlining their budgets and consolidating security spend to be more cost-effective. Evaluating the cost, scalability, and effectiveness of MDR and MSSP services is crucial for making an informed decision.

While MSSPs might offer cost-effective broad coverage, MDR services often provide better value through their targeted and complete threat detection and response capabilities. It is also important to factor in additional service fees and the cost of a patchwork threat detection/response solution vs. one that offers unlimited incident handling and threat hunting.

MDR and MSSP Services: Do I Need Both?

Combining MDR and MSSP services can offer a robust and comprehensive solution. The potential benefits of integrating these services include enhanced threat detection and response capabilities, broader security coverage, and an improved overall security posture.

By understanding the synergies and overlapping capabilities of MDR and MSSPs, organizations can leverage the proactive threat hunting and incident response expertise of MDR alongside the wide-ranging security management services of MSSPs. This hybrid approach ensures continuous protection and quick mitigation of threats, addressing both immediate and long-term security needs.

However, in response to the current threat landscape and sophisticated threat tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), MDR services may prove to be a more effective and cost-effective solution due to their specialized focus on advanced threat detection and real-time incident response.

Conclusion

Maintaining 24/7 threat protection is a significant challenge for modern businesses as they grapple with a shortage of cybersecurity talent and limited resources. Consequently, many turn to Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) providers to enhance their cybersecurity defenses.

Understanding the differences and synergies between MDR vs. MSSP is crucial for making informed decisions about your cybersecurity strategy. MDR focuses on proactive threat detection, continuous monitoring, and swift incident response. In contrast, MSSPs offer broader security services such as network monitoring, firewall management, and vulnerability

While combining MDR and MSSP services is possible to improve threat detection/response capabilities and gain comprehensive security coverage, MDR solutions are gaining popularity in response to demands for consolidated spending and reduced complexity.

In fact, according to the 2024 Gartner® Market Guide for Managed Detection and Response, by 2025, 60% of organizations will use MDR providers for remote threat disruption and containment, up from 30% today.

Ultimately, while both services are essential, MDR's proactive approach and specialized capabilities make it a valuable component of a resilient cybersecurity posture, ensuring you stay ahead of emerging threats.