As each and every business expands their digital environments, cyber risk is increasingly becoming a direct contributor to business risk. Defending against cyber risk requires more than a single approach. Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is a prime example. While MDR services can be beneficial, many fall short, acting as a one-trick pony. They inform clients of issues and suggest solutions, but CISOs need more.
Given the scarcity of skilled professionals in our industry, CISOs need partners who not only identify and suggest fixes but also understand cyber risk comprehensively. They need proactive measures to reduce risk by increasing resilience and minimising the attack surface.
The Private Equity (PE) industry often exacerbates this problem by valuing pure-play MDR providers higher due to their increased margins and repetitive services. This narrow focus can be detrimental, as it overlooks the broader context needed for the effective pursuit of cyber safety e. The market needs MDR providers with advanced technological engineering capabilities to address issues both proactively and reactively, solutions that are equipped to deal with an ever-evolving threat landscape.
Imagine detecting an incident involving a Ferrari. Capturing the incident is one thing, but moving forward requires a Ferrari master mechanic who can provide context and determine the necessary configurations to prevent future incidents. Similarly, in cyber, technologies like Microsoft, CrowdStrike, and SentinelOne require skilled hands beyond an MDR analyst’s capabilities.
In my meetings with various PEs, many still favour MDR providers with higher margins over those with added MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider) capabilities providing managed security controls reactively (remediation) and proactively (resilience). This preference may stem from lower margins, but it also reflects a lack of foresight into where the market is heading in the next 12 to 24 months, as well as what businesses truly need. Investing in the simple, instead of the complex, will lose relevance soon, as the demand for more comprehensive solutions increases.
This perspective is not just my own; it is echoed by dozens of CISOs with our network. At the latest Gartner Symposium in Barcelona, the need for MDR providers with MSSP capabilities was highlighted as crucial for mitigating cyber risk and aligning with Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM), which can reduce breach risk by 70%.
Fortunately, some PEs are beginning to see the value in this approach. Ultimately, our goal is to keep the world digitally and physically safer. To achieve this, companies like us need the financial support of PEs and their understanding of our approach to genuinely solve the issues clients are facing, which they might call disruption.
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