New Threat Hunting, Detection and Response Offering Powered by Machine Learning and Expert Analysis to Neutralize the Most Advanced Cybersecurity Threats

Burlington, MA, Oct. 1, 2019 – Sophos (LSE: SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, today announced the availability of Sophos Managed Threat Response (MTR), a fully managed threat hunting, detection and response service. The re-sellable service provides organizations with a dedicated 24/7 security team to neutralize the most sophisticated and complex threats.

These types of threats include active attackers leveraging fileless attacks and administrator tools such as PowerShell to escalate privileges, exfiltrate data and spread laterally, as explained in the SophosLabs Uncut article on Lemon_Duck PowerShell malware. Attacks like these are difficult to detect since they involve an active adversary using legitimate tools for nefarious purposes, and Sophos MTR helps eliminate this threat.

“Cybercriminals are adapting their methods and increasingly launching hybrid attacks that combine automation with interactive human ingenuity to more effectively evade detection. Once they gain a foothold, they’ll employ ‘living off the land’ techniques and other deceptive methods requiring human interaction to discover and disrupt their attacks,” said Joe Levy, chief technology officer at Sophos. “For the most part, other MDR services simply notify customers of potential threats and then leave it up to them to manage things from there. Sophos MTR not only augments internal teams with additional threat intelligence, unparalleled product expertise, and around-the-clock coverage, but also gives customers the option of having a highly trained team of response experts take targeted actions on their behalf to neutralize even the most sophisticated threats.”

Built on Intercept X Advanced with endpoint detection and response (EDR), Sophos MTR fuses machine learning with expert analysis for improved threat hunting and detection, deeper investigation of alerts, and targeted actions to eliminate threats. These innovative capabilities are based on Sophos’ acquisitions of Rook Security and DarkBytes technology, and include:

• Expert-led threat hunting: Sophos MTR anticipates attacker behavior and identifies new indicators of attack and compromise. Sophos threat hunters proactively hunt for and validate potential threats and incidents, and investigate casual and adjacent events to discover new threats that previously couldn’t be detected
• Advanced adversarial detection: Sophos MTR uses proven investigation techniques to differentiate legitimate behavior from the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by attackers. Coupled with enhanced telemetry from Sophos Central, which provides a detailed, full picture of adversary activities as part of the service, the scope and severity of threats can be determined for rapid response
• Machine-accelerated human response: A highly trained team of world-class experts generates and applies threat intelligence to confirm threats, and takes action to remotely disrupt, contain and neutralize threats with speed and precision
• Asset discovery and prescriptive security health guidance: Sophos MTR provides valuable insights into managed and unmanaged assets, vulnerabilities for better informed impact assessments and threat hunts. Prescriptive and actionable guidance for addressing configuration and architecture weaknesses enables organizations to proactively improve their security posture with hardened defenses

Sophos MTR is customizable with different service tiers and response modes to meet the unique and evolving needs of organizations of all sizes and maturity levels. Unlike many MDR services that focus on monitoring and threat notification, Sophos MTR rapidly escalates and takes action against threats based on an organization’s preferences.

Sophos MTR is now available from registered Sophos Partners worldwide. Read more on Sophos News, and visit Sophos.com for additional information.

What our partners and industry analysts say:
“Enterprises are facing sophisticated attacks from every direction, and it’s absolutely critical that they can not only detect threats, but also respond to them quickly,” said Aaron Sherrill, information security senior analyst at 451 Research. “Many vendors claim to offer response capabilities, but in reality, few take the actions needed to eliminate threats as part of their core managed detection and response (MDR) offerings. Sophos MTR combines Sophos’ consistently top-rated endpoint protection with human expertise and troves of threat intelligence collected from SophosLabs to create an entirely new offering that meets a mounting market need.”

“The only way to protect against today’s advanced threats is to combine the best tools with the brightest human minds,” said Jeremy Weiss, cybersecurity practice lead at CDW. “Sophos Managed Threat Response is a game changer, combining machine learning with human analysis for an evolved approach to proactive security protection. The customizable offering strengthens our existing threat hunting capabilities and helps us better protect our customers.”

“Cybercrime doesn’t sleep – it’s always ‘on’ – and organizations need around-the-clock protection,” said Ken Hamilton, president and CEO at Total Tech International Inc. “With Sophos Managed Threat Response, Total Tech customers can rest assured that they’re covered even during the second and third shifts that are notoriously difficult to staff. Security health recommendations deliver additional tremendous value, empowering us to take immediate action on improving security defenses.”