Palo Alto Networks responds to rise in threats with MDR service

The need for managed detection and response (MDR) is soaring as attack surfaces grow, cloud usage skyrockets and the cybersecurity skills gap widens, according to Palo Alto Networks.

In response, the company has introduced Unit 42 Managed Detection and Response (Unit 42 MDR), with a new service that can offer continuous 24/7 threat detection, investigation and response.

This offering brings together Palo Alto Network's Cortex XDR with Unit 42's threat intelligence, which includes insights from incident response cases.

Because Unit 42 MDR is built on Cortex XDR, it is optimised to not just prioritise alerts but also to massively reduce the number of alerts customers receive. This helps customers detect more suspicious activity than they would have otherwise.

Sean Duca, vice president and regional chief security officer, JAPAC, Palo Alto Networks, says, "As cyber attacks continue to rise here in Australia, organisations are increasingly handling advanced threats with limited resources and without the right expertise.

"The new Unit 42 MDR provides rapid detection of suspicious activity, allowing our customers to respond to threats in real time.

The new Unit 42 MDR service offers customers cybersecurity experts to help identify and respond to security alerts and potential threats in real time, enabling businesses to focus security operations (SecOps) personnel on other organisational security priorities, the company states.

The service provides organisations with monitoring, threat hunting and response/remediation capabilities, including the following:

• Continuous monitoring and response: Security experts monitor alerts, events and indicators 24x7x365. The Unit 42 MDR team uses a mix of proprietary processes, infrastructure and enrichment to accelerate detection, response and threat hunting to help quickly stop malicious activity most likely to impact your organisation.
• Proactive threat hunting: Threat hunters search environments for complex attacks using deep knowledge of XDR data sources and the latest threat intelligence from Palo Alto Networks. This helps organisations stay ahead of emerging attack campaigns, malware and vulnerabilities.
• Security posture optimisation: Experts provide periodic health checks of an organisations posture and detailed recommendations on policy changes to help facilitate addressing risks before they become issues.

In a recent report, IDC wrote, "It is not a surprise to state that organisations continue to struggle with persistent security talent shortages and the rising costs to retain these scarce security resources. Security teams with already limited resources are overwhelmed by the heavy workload and responsibility."

The report also stated, "Organisations are analysing their current risks and accelerating their security services investments to ease pressure on their teams and strengthen their overall security posture to meet the growing cyber threats.

"Cyber attacks are emerging and evolving faster than ever," says Tom Osteen, CIO, Enloe Medical Center, commenting on the announcement.

He says, "Intervening and addressing threats at the earliest stage is crucial. With Unit 42 MDR we have confidence that we can quickly identify and stop malicious activity to help keep our organisation safe and secure."