Essentials of a Threat Detection and Response Program

Monitoring for vulnerabilities in your network, systems, and apps is only a piece of the puzzle to a strong security program. Alerts are no help unless you have the bandwidth and skills to investigate threats and respond.

With cybercrime part of our everyday life, organizations that don’t implement the technologies, people, and processes necessary for a mature security program likely have a tough road ahead. Now is the time to launch a threat detection and response program, also known as managed detection and response, so that you can advance your security initiatives and stay ahead of bad actors.

How Does Threat Detection and Response Work?

Threat detection sources and sensors are deployed across networks, cloud services, endpoints, and identities. They’re collecting and analyzing telemetry 24/7/365. When one of these sensors is tripped by a hacker, the security operations center (SOC) team is notified. Security Analysts use telemetry to track down the root of the compromise and contain it immediately, leaving the cybercriminal locked out of the rest of your network.

What’s Included in Threat Detection and Response?

Threat Detection Tools

When monitoring, collecting and analyzing telemetry, a combination of threat detection tools is needed to surface priority alerts and give a clear picture of suspicious activities and events. Tools like Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Microsoft Defender for Identity identify anomalies and exploitable configuration issues, reinforce the security perimeter, and leverage intelligence to aid in threat hunting and investigation. It’s important to account for the full attack surface, including endpoints, identities, apps, and any custom workloads.

24/7 Security Operations Center

“The Security Operations Center is your eyes in the sky,” says Mike Wurz, a security consultant team lead at ProArch. “The primary job that they do is monitoring and appropriately responding to the security alerts and security events that trigger throughout your organization.” The SOC team also responds to “security cues, any dashboards that have any security alerts [being triggered]” and resolves ticket alerts.

The SOC works 24/7, making sure that malicious activity is stopped before damage occurs. Outsourcing a SOC provides a much more cost-effective alternative to building an in-house team. It also significantly reduces the chance of the dreaded 2 a.m. phone call that something is amiss.

Automation and Threat Intelligence

Threat detection and response solutions include SIEM (security information and event management) and SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response) platforms. SIEM solutions provide a holistic view of the environment and use AI and machine learning capabilities to reduce false positives and automate administrative tasks.

SOAR platforms—like D3 Security—automate the appropriate remediation playbooks across integrated tools when threat activity occurs. If an activity cannot be resolved by the automated workflows, it is escalated to the SOC team for further investigation.

An Incident Response Plan

Creating an incident response plan allows you to be prepared and think ahead so that when a breach occurs, you know what to do and when to do it. Once you have created the plan, sit down with your team to test the plan and revise it as needed.

A Partner to Help You Get to the Next Level

External teams can offer speed, flexibility, and institutional experience at a fraction of the cost of hiring another staff member, which may be game-changing for your cybersecurity initiatives.

ProArch, for example, can execute every aspect of your security program, from strategy to managed detection and response services (MDR). As a trusted managed detection and response vendor we provide a 24/7 team to detect and stop threats.

While there is no 100 percent guarantee in security, the faster threats can be identified and remediated, the less likely it is that a damaging breach or downtime will occur. A threat detection and response program can make all the difference.

Learn how ProArch’s managed detection and response services could benefit your organization.