24/7 Security Monitoring

24×7 Threats Require Around-the-Clock Security Monitoring, Remediation and Event Escalation

IT teams have been working overtime to provide employees with remote access to systems and data. Cybercriminals have been busy, too.

In a COVD-19 cybercrime analysis released in August, INTERPOL reported that cybercriminals are taking advantage of the fear and uncertainty caused by the pandemic to launch ransomware attacks, steal data and otherwise disrupt business operations. In January through April alone, 48,000 malicious URLs related to COVID-19 were detected, preying on demand for medical supplies and information.

These attacks have been successful in large part due to security vulnerabilities associated with remote workers and employees’ failure to follow cybersecurity best practices. An August report from MalwareBytes found that remote workers were the source of a security breach in 20 percent of organizations.

But attacks don’t always launch the moment an employee clicks on a malicious link. In fact, most occur outside of business hours. A March 2020 report from FireEye found that 76 percent of ransomware attacks are launched on a weekend or before 8:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m. on a weekday. In some cases, this may be due to the fact that many attackers are located overseas. However, some cybercriminals deploy their attacks outside of business hours on the assumption that IT staff will be slower to respond.

Why Partner with an MSSP

To combat these threats, organizations need 24×7 security monitoring that integrates the latest endpoint protection technologies for automated response and escalation capabilities. Industry-leading security tools such as Next Generation Firewalls and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), actively block and/or remediate most threats today. That being said, humans are still needed to investigate and correlate events that seem legitimate at first glance and determine the root cause. Ideally, an organization would have a security operations center (SOC) staffed around the clock by highly skilled professionals.

The problem is that few organizations have the budget to hire that many cybersecurity experts. Even if they did, they would likely have trouble finding skilled personnel due to the shortage of IT security talent.

A better approach is to partner with a managed security services provider (MSSP) such as SageNet. Qualified providers have a deep bench of security professionals who use state-of-the-art tools to monitor your environment and determine if action should be taken. By spreading the expense across multiple customers, MSSPs create economies of scale that make 24×7 coverage affordable.

Rapid Event Response

Best-in-class MSSPs such as SageNet will have a well-defined and tested response plan to minimize business disruption and data loss. The response team will begin by investigating suspicious activity in order to determine the type and scope of attack. In a co-managed model, the MSSP will then alert your in-house IT team so that they can take appropriate steps to mitigate the threat.

In a managed endpoint detection and response (MDR) model, SageNet will handle many remediation steps. We will be responsible for responding to security events through automation with mutually agreed to outcomes. The response team will work rapidly to contain the threat if not already automated, preserve forensic data for agreed upon timeframe (typically one year), and restore any systems, applications and data that were affected. After the event is resolved, SageNet will take steps to help prevent it from recurring. Repeatable processes enable the SageNet team to respond quickly when an incident occurs.

SageNet offers security event monitoring, remediation and investigation through our 24×7 Security Operations Center services. Our team uses a security information and event management (SIEM) platform to aggregate, correlate and investigate event logs, and leverage industry-leading MDR solutions for rapid response.

We recognize that security monitoring, remediation and investigation is an around-the-clock requirement. With SageNet as your partner, you have the peace of mind that cybersecurity professionals are keeping an eye on your systems and are prepared to respond quickly if an attack occurs.