BlackCSI Launches Managed Detection and Response to Thwart Cyberattacks

While some companies may have basic IT solutions like a strong firewall, multi-factor authentication (MFA) login requirements and even an in-house IT employee monitoring their network, cybercriminals are increasing their success rates by increasing the volume of attacks they perpetrate on underprepared, under resourced small businesses. Even if a company has some fundamental protections in place, many cybersecurity solutions only provide alerts, notifications and analytics that direct attention to problem areas. Therefore, if hackers can overwhelm an organization, they can exploit weak, distracted defenses. The solution is to add the necessary human element required to help organizations prioritize, investigate and target the root causes of potential security threats in the most timely manner possible. Ruthann Black, President of BlackCSI stated, “In many ways, cybersecurity is akin to playing chess. If you want to win every time, you should harness all the power of AI-based technologies, but also pair that with an IT expert who can think strategically about any breaches coming into your organization. This is what separates the ‘easy targets’ from your business. When cybercriminals have to expend an inordinate amount of effort to target your organization the time investment becomes far less attractive to them. They’re looking for ‘low-hanging fruit’ and when you have experts on your side, this deters them.”

Black also commented on MDR’s strength in context of other cybersecurity solutions when she said, “Social media is a great example of the ‘alert fatigue’ that comes when you have a technology that provides an onslaught of notifications, alone. Ok, I got all of these notifications, but now what do I do with all of them? While it’s absolutely vital that organizations have access to this base-level of alerts that can inform their network security strategy, many of our customers simply require a quicker, more comprehensive, human-driven response to thwart cyberattacks. In other words, they can’t afford to just be notified, they need those issues to be immediately and fully resolved by a team of experts who understand their IT network better than they do. That’s what you’re getting with our MDR program,” confirmed Black.

She later added, “Automatic notifications are only as useful as your company’s response. If your cyber-defense strategy omits a human who can get inside the mind of the cybercriminal perpetrating the attack on your network, your response may be lackluster or incomplete. Since our clients simply cannot afford to be breached, we proactively monitor their endpoints, receive the same exact alerts they do and we respond on their behalf, in their best interest, without putting the onus on the business owner to react promptly, especially when they have so many other higher priorities on their mind.”

MDR is growing in popularity because it addresses the deeper goal behind all cybersecurity solutions in the marketplace today, which is to remove the burden of expertise from the business. MDR leverages deep expertise which is aligned with your organization’s cybersecurity requirements and vulnerabilities and it provides dedicated security analysts who will investigate threats down to their source and eliminate them. In many ways, it is the most complete cybersecurity solution available today, as it reflects any business’s greatest aspiration when it comes to IT, which is to have an expert solving problems without distracting the business from its deeper goal, which is to grow and flourish.