Managed Security Services

Managed services cover the outsourcing of responsibilities for maintenance and management of an organisation’s technology and processes. Managed services are used by organisations that require specialist support with a particular aspect of their operation and are common across the IT sector. For example, organisations often seek managed services for networking, cloud computing and security.

A managed security service is a service designed to help organisations improve or augment their cyber security capabilities. There are many different types of managed security service, each often focused around the management and monitoring of particularly security technologies, such as SIEM, EDR and vulnerability scanning tools. Managed security service providers also conduct security audits, help organisations meet compliance requirements, and support incident response.

An MSP is a managed service provider and an MSSP is a managed security service provider. An MSP helps organisations with the day-to-day management and maintenance of IT systems and services, whereas an MSSP is focused on supporting security operations. Some MSPs offer managed security services but given the requirement for specialist skills and expertise in cyber security, many MSPs choose to work directly with MSSPs.

By choosing to procure a managed security service, organisations that either lack sufficient security resources or need help to enhance operations can quickly elevate their cyber security maturity without the need to recruit and train a team of security professionals to work in-house. Use of managed security services can also result in significant cost savings in areas such staffing and training. Organisations can also outsource the time-consuming and onerous task of managing and monitoring security monitoring technologies, thereby enabling in house staff to focus on other priorities, increasing efficiency and reducing alert fatigue.

A managed SOC service is a form of managed security service that provides organisations with an outsourced Security Operations Centre (SOC) – the facility that houses a team of security experts responsible for maintaining and improving an organisation’s cyber security. Outsourced SOC services help organisations build the ability to prevent, detect and respond to cyber threats.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is a specialist type of security service designed to help organisations rapidly detect and respond to cyber threats across their network and endpoints. Whereas managed security services tend to focus on management of specific technologies, which are typically customer-owned, MDR services adopt a fully turnkey approach – providing the people, technology and intelligence as part of one overall subscription.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a security monitoring technology designed to improve visibility by monitoring endpoints and alerting on potentially suspicious activity. MDR is not a technology, but a service, one that combines human and machine intelligence, including tools like EDR, with to hunt for and eliminate threats in their infancy.

The cost of a managed security service can vary significantly and is based on a wide range of factors, such as environment size, assets to be monitored,  technologies deployed and managed, and service levels required. Managed security services tend to be subscription-based and significantly more cost-effective than equivalent investment in house.