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In a complex, ever-evolving threat landscape, you can never prevent security breaches entirely, but with the right monitoring and protection mechanisms in place, you can reduce their impact.

If you keep your finger on the pulse, then you can detect cyberthreats faster, respond quicker and more efficiently, and lessen the ultimate impact on your organization.

This is where managed detection and response (MDR) can play an important role.

A stronger threat response

MDR is a comprehensive and customized cybersecurity service that combines sophisticated technology with human expertise to enable organizations to detect and respond to security threats and incidents. It includes:

  • Continuous monitoring of an organization’s IT environment, including networks, servers, endpoints and cloud resources
  • Threat detection, using a combination of advanced security technologies (including intrusion detection systems, security information and event management tools, and threat intelligence) to identify threats and vulnerabilities
  • Immediate alerts about and responses to detected security threats, and actionable insights into genuine threats, reducing alert fatigue by filtering out false positives
  • Security analytics, both automated and provided by cybersecurity experts
  • Incident response, to address the cyberthreats that are detected
  • Compliance and reporting

MDR is an important component of a layered cybersecurity strategy, and it is particularly valuable if your organization lacks the resources or expertise to build and manage an in-house security operations center (SOC), or if you need additional support for your existing cybersecurity measures.

It is geared toward reducing the mean time to detect and the mean time to respond, while enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of both. It is also a cost-effective security solution that allows you to focus on your core responsibilities.

The role of AI in MDR

AI is transforming the way organizations detect and respond to security threats. It has brought several advancements to the MDR landscape, including advanced analytics capabilities and reducing the number of people needed to detect, analyze and respond to potential cyberthreats.

Securing your data from breaches and attacks is a full-time job, often requiring large teams of people dedicated to the task. AI makes it possible to analyze and filter potential threats automatically using industry- and organization-specific intelligence, reduce false positives and automatically block threats – meaning fewer people are required for the process.

Also, compare the cost of a traditional SOC with that of MDR offered by a service provider such as NTT DATA. Add to that the level of accuracy with which AI-enabled MDR analyzes threats, and deploying MDR becomes an obvious solution.

At NTT DATA, we use AI-powered automation to analyze and prioritize security events to eliminate false alerts, respond swiftly to threats found in a client’s environment and provide automated reports.

Supporting compliance with MDR

Compliance with regulations is a major concern for any organization. All best-practice frameworks or standards highlight the need for organizations to apply appropriate tools and processes to detect and respond to cyberthreats.

Our MDR solution enables our clients to comply with several regulatory models, as well as insurance mandates. This is achieved by safeguarding sensitive data and instituting protective measures such as encryption, access controls and data-loss prevention protocols.

In addition, NTT DATA supports regulatory compliance by providing continual monitoring, incident reports and incident response plans, backed up by risk and vulnerability management, audit trails, data retention and deletion strategies, staff training, and penetration testing and assessments.

Choosing an MDR service provider

When you’re selecting an MDR service provider, consider the following attributes:

  • A proven track record and a team of professionals who are well versed in identifying and dealing with emerging threats
  • The ability to customize solutions to your business and the requirements of your industry
  • Advanced technology and AI-driven capabilities to enhance threat detection and response
  • Round-the-clock monitoring and rapid threat response
  • Robust compliance support
  • The scalability and cost-effectiveness of the solution

Take the next step

NTT DATA’s scalable, cloud-native MDR service allows you to quickly strengthen your security profile by minimizing the impact of cyberattacks and improving your cyber resilience.

We respond rapidly to protect your data, customers and workflow from cyberattacks. Advanced, real-time analytics are integrated into a custom-built security workbench – a platform that gives our security analysts a comprehensive view of your security posture so they can triage alerts, investigate incidents and remediate threats, quickly and effectively. It also includes incident response options and digital forensics.

WHAT TO DO NEXT
Read more about NTT DATA’s Cloud Security Services to learn how we can make your organization secure by design.