By Byron V. Acohido

Companies that need to protect assets spread across hybrid cloud infrastructure face a huge challenge trying to mix and match disparate security tools.

Related: Cyber help for hire

Why not seek help from a specialist? At RSAC 2024, I visited with Geoff Haydon, CEO, and Alex Berger, Head of Product Marketing, at Ontinue, a new player in the nascent Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR) space.

MXDR extends from the long-established Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP) space. MSSPs came along 20 years ago to assist with on-premises tools like firewalls, intrusion detection and antivirus tools.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) arose to focus on advanced threat detection and remediation. And next came MXDR solutions, which offer wider, more integrated coverage while emphasizing automation and collaboration.

Haydon and Berger, for instance, explained how Ontinue leverages machine learning to automate detection and low-level incident management. For a full drill down please give the accompanying podcast a listen.

Berger told me how Ontinue has begun leveraging Large Language Model (LLM) tool to automate incident summarization. LLM is perfectly suited to this task. Human analysts no longer must carve out time to write coherent summaries – and no longer even need to be fluent in English.

Ontinue has also tightly integrated their services with Microsoft Teams – to promote close collaboration with clients. “Security is a team sport,” Haydon says. “This allows us to become an integral part of our customers’ IT and security teams.”

How far will MXDR take organizations as they navigate unprecedented risks? I’ll keep watch and keep reporting.

Acohido

Pulitzer Prize-winning business journalist Byron V. Acohido is dedicated to fostering public awareness about how to make the Internet as private and secure as it ought to be.

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(LW provides consulting services to the vendors we cover.)

June 11th, 2024 | Uncategorized