Why Remote Containment and Active Response Are Non-Negotiables in MDR

You Don’t Have to Settle for MDR That Sucks

Welcome to the second installment of our three-part blog series, Driving Cyber Resilience with Human-Driven MDR: Insights from the 2024 Gartner Market Guide. In our first post, we discussed the critical role of human-driven Managed Detection and Response (MDR) in strengthening security operations and why relying solely on automated solutions can leave organizations vulnerable to sophisticated threats. Today, we shift our focus to another essential aspect of modern MDR — remote containment and active response— and why these capabilities are non-negotiable for businesses seeking to minimize the impact of cyber threats. By combining technology with human expertise, Critical Start ensures swift threat mitigation, aligning with key findings from the Gartner 2024 MDR Market Guide.

The Necessity of Swift Containment and Response

In the race against cyber threats, speed is everything. The ability to contain and neutralize an attack before it causes widespread damage can mean the difference between a minor security incident and a costly data breach. According to the 2024 Gartner Market Guide for MDR, many businesses are demanding more from their MDR providers — not just threat detection, but also the capability for remote containment and active response to quickly stop an attack in its tracks.

Critical Start stresses the importance of proper planning and the right tools for effective threat response because we understand that taking immediate action during an attack is essential to maintaining an organization’s defenses. The efficacy of our MDR services to detect threats and empower security teams to reduce breaches and mitigate business disruption comes from pre-approved playbooks, customizable rules of engagement and response authorizations for more granular control, and MOBILESOC^® for remote containment and real-time response actions. In this post, we’ll explore why these capabilities are essential for any effective MDR service.

The Growing Demand for Remote Containment and Active Response

Gartner Insight: The Gartner report highlights an increasing demand among MDR customers for providers that can go beyond detection and initiate immediate remote containment and disruption actions​. With the complexity of modern cyberattacks, simply alerting a team about an incident isn’t enough — organizations need their MDR provider to act swiftly to minimize damage.

The Problem with Delayed Responses: Delays in threat response allow attackers more time to establish footholds within an organization’s network, increasing the likelihood of data exfiltration, operational disruption, or long-term system compromise. Traditional security models that rely solely on alerting teams and waiting for internal response can lead to missed opportunities for early containment.

Critical Start’s Approach: At Critical Start, we provide real-time remote containment capabilities as part of our MDR services. With tools like MOBILESOC^®, you can isolate compromised hosts, disable malicious accounts, and prevent the spread of threats — right from your mobile device. You can also directly connect with an analyst through the MOBILESOC^® for support and expertise when needed. The ability to swiftly respond at any time and from anywhere minimizes dwell time, reducing the potential impact of an attack.

Establishing Effective Response Guidelines: Pre-Approved Playbooks and Custom Response Rules

Gartner Insight: The report emphasizes the importance of established response procedures that enable swift action during active threats. Pre-approved playbooks enable rapid response, ensuring MDR providers can act without being slowed down by time-consuming approval processes during an active attack​. The ability to execute these actions without delay can dramatically reduce the scope of an incident.

Critical Start uses two key components to ensure effective response:

• Pre-approved playbooks outline specific containment and response actions that an MDR provider can take during an incident, based on the unique risk profile of the business. These playbooks ensure that actions like host isolation, network blocking, or account deactivation can be executed immediately, without waiting for further approval.
• Response authorizations allow customers to further customize specific containment and response actions based on alert and asset criteria

Critical Start’s Custom Playbooks: Critical Start works with each customer to develop custom response playbooks tailored to their environment, compliance needs, and security priorities. By establishing these rules in advance, we ensure that our analysts can execute critical actions instantly, reducing the time it takes to contain an attack.

Example: A Critical Start customer with pre-approved playbooks in place could ensure they weren’t distracted by expected behaviors that would otherwise trigger repeatedly escalated false positives. Because of this, when a true positive alert came through, they were able to quickly isolate a compromised endpoint before the malware spread to other systems, saving the company from what could have been a major breach.

Active Response to Minimize Business Disruption

Gartner Insight: The Gartner report emphasizes that businesses are looking for MDR providers that can do more than just monitor threats — they need providers who can actively disrupt and contain those threats to prevent business disruption.

The Cost of Business Disruption: A cyberattack that isn’t contained quickly can lead to significant downtime, loss of revenue, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties. Whether it’s a ransomware attack locking down critical systems or an insider threat exfiltrating sensitive data, organizations must be prepared to act decisively to limit the damage.

Critical Start’s True Response Mitigation

Some MDR providers only:

• Alert customers about threats
• Provide recommendations
• Require customer approval for each action
• Can’t take direct containment actions

Critical Start, on the other hand, doesn’t just notify you of threats. The expert analysts behind our human-driven MDR actively work to contain them in real-time. From quarantining compromised devices to removing malicious actors from the network, we help businesses mitigate attacks before they cause major disruptions.

Example: During a ransomware attack, Critical Start’s MDR service detected the threat early and immediately isolated the infected machines, preventing further spread and allowing the business to continue operating without significant downtime.

How Human-Driven MDR Elevates Remote Containment and Response

Gartner Insight: While automation is important, the human element in MDR is what truly drives effective response actions. Analysts bring context, judgment, and experience to every decision, ensuring that the right containment actions are taken​.

The Value of Human Expertise: While automated systems can trigger basic containment measures, they lack the contextual understanding required for more complex situations. Human analysts can evaluate the entire scope of an attack, weigh potential impacts, and execute the best course of action for each specific incident.

Critical Start’s Expertise: At Critical Start, our team of experts provides 24x7x365 human-driven investigation and response. Our analysts don’t just rely on automation — they bring a deep understanding of cyber threats, operational environments, and risk management to every containment decision. This human-driven approach ensures that no stone is left unturned and that threats are neutralized before they escalate.

Example: During a sophisticated phishing campaign, Critical Start’s analysts quickly identified the compromised accounts and disabled access to prevent further infiltration. The rapid human-driven response minimized damage and protected the organization’s data.

Key Takeaways: Remote Containment and Active Response Are Essential for Modern MDR

To successfully defend your organization against threats, remote containment and active response capabilities are no longer optional — they are non-negotiable for an effective MDR service. The 2024 Gartner Market Guide for Managed Detection and Response (MDR) makes it clear that businesses must demand these capabilities from their MDR providers if they want to minimize the impact of attacks and ensure operational continuity. Critical Start delivers on these demands with pre-approved playbooks, real-time containment, and a team of experts who respond to threats around the clock.

To learn more about why remote containment and active response are critical for modern MDR and how Critical Start can protect your organization, download the 2024 Gartner Market Guide for Managed Detection and Response (MDR). to check back soon for the third and final installment in our series, where we’ll explore how integrated threat exposure management is essential for achieving cyber resilience.

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