In the world of cybersecurity, most staff members are just big kids — we love our acronyms and have a vestigial Call Of Duty fascination. For us, this is a war, and war demands abbreviations and action terms. That’s why it’s sometimes daunting for a client when we come at them with three to four-letter jargon such as EDR, SOC, XDR, DDoS, VPN, BYOD, and dozens more. In this article, we’re going to dive into two of those portmanteaus — MDR and SOC and put them one against the other and figure and which one you should invest in. Let’s dig into the MDR vs SOC sandbox.
What is MDR?
MDR stands for Managed Detection and Response — it is a relatively new term in the cybersecurity world. It is a way to detect and respond to cyber-attacks that are happening in real-time. In general, this type of service combines premier tech and digital solutions with human expertise. The main objective of MDR is to hunt, analyze, and respond to threats, helping identify them ASAP and limit their impact.
MDRs are the go-to solution/response to the current cybersecurity landscape. It’s a way for companies, who are increasingly under attack by sophisticated threats but lack the necessary resources, to increment their reactions to said threat without having to hire new staff members. The biggest expense when it comes to cybersecurity is the human value and the cost of adding new staff members. Why? Because, according to studies, aside from the monthly paycheck, the average cost of hiring a new employee in the field of cybersecurity is about $8,129 with more than 52 days needed to fill the position.
What is SOC?
SOC, on the other hand, stands for Security Operations Center. It is the traditional infrastructure responsible for an organization’s response to cyber threats.
Security Operations Centers – SOC – are the hubs for security monitoring and management. The SOC is a place where all the information about your company’s network is collected, analyzed, and prioritized.
The SOC is the first line of defense in cyber security. It can reduce the response time to incidents from hours to minutes and can also provide an early warning system against cyber attacks.
The importance of MDR and SOC in today’s hectic digital world.
The cost of cyber-attacks has increased annually. The average cost of a breach is $4 million, while some of the most expensive attacks may reach the $1 billion mark.
The cost of a cyber attack can be measured in many ways. One way to measure it is in the amount of money stolen by hackers, which can be up to $1 billion for some attacks. Another way to measure it is in the number of people affected by the cyber attack, which can be anything from 100-1000 people affected by a small-scale attack to hundreds or thousands of people affected by a large-scale attack.
Cybersecurity is now the top priority for all organizations. With the rapid growth in cyberattacks, it is high time to implement a cybersecurity strategy that will help protect your company from hackers and other digital threats.
As more and more businesses rely on the Internet, cybersecurity has become a major concern. With the proliferation of online banking, online shopping, and online entertainment, there is a greater risk of cyber-attacks.
Inner workings of MDR and SOC
SOC vs MDR — to truly understand that grunge match we have to dissect the inner workings of both platforms/stances against cybersecurity threats.
How does MDR work — what are its benefits?
MDR can be tailored to meet the needs of any organization, regardless of size or industry. This section will discuss how Managed Detection and Response works, as well as its benefits.
The main benefit and the reason why this method might be the winner in the MDR vs SOC fight is that it doesn’t need additional staff to handle the ID threat or handle its impact. It has various tech solutions in its system to pick up the staff.
MDR works by:
- Prioritizing alerts and threats.
- Active threat hunting with countermeasures.
- Enriching current alerts and systems with new data, investigative tidbits, and context.
- Guided response on how to contain specific threats,
- Managed remediation that quickly restores the system to its pre-attack state.
How does SOC work — what are its benefits?
A Security Operations Center -SOC – is a specialized department in an organization that is responsible for monitoring, analyzing, and responding to cybersecurity incidents.
The Security Operations Center is a critical component of an organization’s cyber defense. The SOC also provides a centralized point of contact for information security professionals and provides operational support to other departments within the organization.
The SOC has evolved and different models have emerged with different levels of effectiveness depending on the needs of the organization.
There are three types of SOCs:
- Internal SOCs: An internal SOC is a private company’s internal IT department, which monitors and analyzes the company’s own network traffic.
- External SOCs: An external SOC monitors networks belonging to other organizations or companies on behalf of the client organization.
- Hybrid SOCs: A hybrid SOC is a combination of an external and an internal security operations center, where some staff analyze the company’s own network traffic while other staff monitor networks belonging to other organizations or companies on behalf of the client organization.
MDR vs SOC — where to invest?
Security Operations Centers – SOCs – are usually the first line of defense against cyberattacks. SOCs are responsible for monitoring the security of networks and systems. They are also responsible for managing their response to cyber attacks.
Meanwhile, Managed Detection and Response – MDR – is a service that helps companies detect, respond, and remediate cyberattacks faster than before. MDR’s goal is to reduce the time it takes to mitigate a breach by 50%.
This means that SOCs can focus on responding to more incidents while MDR handles detection and response faster than they can on their own.
The truth is that many companies that offer SOC as a service – the external type of Security hub – are in reality offering you an MDR model. Both stances have one clear objective — to protect their client and their business. Both more or less do the same, the difference is the amount of staff they employ, and the quality of it.
MDR vs SOC – How to choose the right solution?
Cybersecurity is a major concern for many businesses, and it’s important to choose the right security option that fits your needs. There are many different ways to protect your company against cyberattacks, including hiring an in-house cybersecurity team, outsourcing cybersecurity services – with SOC as a service – or using a managed service provider.
The first and most important step is to identify the most risks for your business and then find out what security options will best meet those risks. For example, if you have a lot of sensitive data that needs to be protected from hackers at all costs, then you should consider investing in an in-house cybersecurity team. On the other hand, if you have a smaller budget and not much sensitive data to protect, then outsourcing cybersecurity services may be more cost-effective for you.
Each business is different, and as such, each one requires different solutions to its woes.
