5 Signs Your MDR Isn’t Working — and What to Do About It

Are you confident your MDR is actually reducing risk?

If so, how confident?

According to recent industry research, many organizations are dissatisfied with their MDR provider — and for good reason. If any of these five red flags sound familiar, your MDR might be doing more harm than good.

Is Your MDR Protecting You — Or Just Creating Noise?

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) should reduce your risk, not just hand off alerts. But too often, MDR solutions become a firehose of false positives, blind spots, and rigid processes that fail to keep up with your business.

In a recent webinar, Steven Rosenthal, Security Solutions Director at Critical Start, shared five clear signs your MDR may be underperforming — and what you can do about it.

1. You’re Drowning in False Positives

Chasing irrelevant alerts wastes time, overwhelms teams, and lets real threats slip by unnoticed.

“False positives are those alerts that scream ‘threat’ but turn out to be absolutely nothing — or something expected in your environment,” said Rosenthal. “They create noise, waste your time, and bury your team in alerts that don’t matter.”

The Fix:

Critical Start’s Trusted Behavior Registry® (TBR®) learns what’s normal in your environment during onboarding and over time, auto-resolving redundant alerts before they hit your team.

“It’s like a noise-canceling system,” Rosenthal explained. “The clutter’s gone — so you can focus on what actually matters.”

And when automation hits its limit? Our expert SOC analysts  — real humans, not just AI — dig into the alerts that machines miss.

2. You’re Missing Assets — and Risk Is Hiding in the Gaps

An MDR can only protect what it sees. If it’s blind to certain endpoints, servers, or OT assets, your business is exposed.

“You’re not seeing the full picture,” said Rosenthal. “Critical OT devices that keep your operations running might not even be monitored.”

The Fix:

The CORR (Cyber Operations Risk & Response^™) platform delivers complete signal coverage. It automatically discovers IT and OT assets — including ones you didn’t know existed — and flags monitoring gaps like log ingestion failures or missing endpoints.

“We don’t just rely on what you tell us — we proactively uncover blind spots,” Rosenthal noted.

According to Critical Start’s 2024 Peer Insights, 70% of organizations lack continuous asset inventory. We eliminate that blind spot.

3. Your MDR Can’t Adapt to Your Environment

Rigid MDR solutions force you into a one-size-fits-all model — and that doesn’t work in today’s dynamic environments.

“Every business is different,” said Rosenthal. “You don’t want a partner with zero flexibility.”

The Fix:

Critical Start’s MDR is built to fit your environment — not the other way around. The CORR platform:

• Integrates with Microsoft Defender, Cisco, CrowdStrike, and 100+ log sources
• Supports hybrid and transitional environments
• Customizes Rules of Engagement based on asset criticality and risk tolerance

Whether you want to manage alerts internally or prefer a fully managed response, we tailor our approach to your needs.

4. You’re Relying Too Much on Automation

AI is fast — but it lacks the context to identify nuanced threats or understand your business.

“Automation alone doesn’t work,” said Rosenthal. “Tools can’t catch everything. They miss what only human analysts can see.”

The Fix:

Critical Start combines advanced automation with real analysts. Our U.S.-based SOCs pair tech with experience — each analyst receives 300+ hours of training before they ever touch an alert, and we maintain a 90% analyst retention rate.

Behind the scenes, our Cyber Research Unit (CRU) keeps detection logic sharp with emerging threat intel. It’s a best-of-both-worlds approach: automation + human insight = smarter detection.

5. You Have No Visibility Into What Your MDR Is Doing

If your MDR is a black box, you can’t measure its effectiveness — or prove its value.

“You’re left in the dark with vague updates and no real insight,” said Rosenthal.

The Fix:

Critical Start is built for transparency. Our CORR platform provides:

• Real-time dashboards showing live SOC activity and threat timelines
• Log ingestion health monitoring
• Automated and on-demand custom reporting
• Asset coverage stats and alerts
• Executive-ready reports built for board meetings

And if ingestion fails? You’re alerted instantly, a support ticket is created automatically, and we follow up proactively.

Stop Settling for an MDR That Doesn’t Deliver

“Choose an MDR that prevents breaches — not one that lets them slip,” Rosenthal advised. “The right solution should strengthen your security and help your business move forward. That’s what really matters.”

Critical Start delivers:

• Complete signal coverage
• Flexible deployment and response models
• Transparent, real-time visibility
• Human-driven investigation
• Proven results you can measure

Ready to See What Your MDR Is Missing?

Don’t wait for a breach to find out your MDR isn’t working. Watch the full webinar on demand now to learn how Critical Start’s MDR solution strengthens security, closes gaps, and delivers results you can trust.

Let’s talk.