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Addressing the shortage of skilled cyber security professionals, Malwarebytes has launched Malwarebytes MDR (managed detection and response), pairing EDR (end point detection and response) technology with a dedicated team of security analysts, providing both automated and human lines of defence.
In doing so, the vendor says, the new MDR service helps reduce the need for security teams to dedicate a large staff to prioritise, triage and respond to threats.
“We are launching Malwarebytes MDR at a time when security teams are increasingly strapped for resources, and cyber security threats are continuing to proliferate quickly,” said Bob Shaker, VP of managed services at Malwarebytes.
More than 61 per cent of firms polled for a 2022 EDR Study by Ponemon Institute say complexities and limited staff are significant EDR challenges.
“Malwarebytes MDR alleviates organisations who are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of security alerts they receive, providing 24/7 coverage and helping prioritise and address the threats that pose the greatest risk to their business,” Shaker said.
MDR optimises threat detection, prioritisation
Malwarebytes EDR is a lightweight endpoint agent-based application. It uses machine learning and a rich database of digital information to both detect known threats, as well as identify potential zero-day or other unseen threats.
Malwarebytes MDR is a new offering that brings together the EDR application with expert human threat intelligence and analysis to offer an additional dimension of cyber security protection. By joining Malwarebytes EDR and MDR, customers can ensure that not only are potential threats spotted, but that they are then triaged and addressed in order of priority, Shaker said.
Malwarebytes is targeting the product at organisations or security teams that feel limited in their ability to identify and address cyber security threats, respond to alerts, and proactively hunt for potential zero-day risks.
Small and medium-size businesses are often the most resource-constrained and disproportionately feel the effects of cyber security threats without a continuous program to assess and defend against attacks.
“In essence, CSOs can outsource the most resource-intensive tasks to a dedicated team of experts, freeing up their IT teams to focus on the implementation of their core security program rather than being spread thin across an insurmountable pool of potential threats," Shaker said.
MDR analysts monitor threats, provide guidance
Malwarebytes MDR analysts are constantly monitoring and triaging alerts, hunting for hidden threats, and either directly remediating or providing customised guidance to organisations.
For any small or medium-size business (SMB) or managed service provider (MSP) with more alerts than they can handle, Malwarebytes MDR prioritises critical alerts, detects advanced malware attacks, analyses past indicators-of-compromise, and ensures ongoing resiliency, the vendor says.
“We have built a stellar team of analysts with a high percentage of tier-two and tier-three analysts coming from top government agencies and financial institutions,” Shaker said.
Malwarebytes MDR will be available for purchase both directly as well as through MSP partners.
“One of the challenges that we wanted to solve was that many MDR services can take months to get fully onboarded and up and running," Shaker said. "With Malwarebytes MDR, customers immediately appear in Malwarebytes’ system upon purchase, and their MDR instance can be spun up in less than a day."
Malwarebytes MDR is bundled with EDR as a supplement. “That’s to say, every customer who signs up for Malwarebytes MDR will need to also utilise our EDR capabilities,” Shaker said. However, organisations have the option to limit their licensing purely to Malwarebytes EDR.
Malwarebytes EDR is currently running at a discounted price of US$84.99 per device annually. The cost of Malwarebytes MDR was not revealed by the vendor.
