Alert Logic MDR, by Fortra

Fortra’s Alert Logic provides managed detection and response (MDR) services that can address both strategic and tactical engagement requirements. All those in the tactical category operate on a 24/7 basis from global virtual security operations centers (SOCs), utilizing the expertise of a team of security analysts.

Fig 1 – Fortra’s strategic and tactical MDR services

The standard level of service includes vulnerability management, PCI DSS compliance dispute assistance, security value reviews (with a customer success team), an ML-assisted review of logs, and 24/7 threat management services (15-minute structured escalation, emerging threat response, and structured threat hunting). Add-on services available include managed web application firewall (WAF), designated cyber-risk experts (CRX) and a range of tailored consultative options (see top half of Figure 1). All pricing is determined by the number of customer nodes to be protected.

Customer Quotes

“Working with Alert Logic gives us access to experts who deeply understand security, who are constantly honing their security knowledge, and who have access to vast amounts of security intelligence.”
Security Operations and Incident Response Manager, McArthurGlen

“They continuously make updates and improvements to make our everyday lives easier, even though we’re still using the same product! I don’t think I can say that about any other tool we use.”
Chief Information Security Officer, Cloudreach

Mutable Award: Platinum 2025

The MDR service uses the Fortra XDR technology as its foundation, which incorporates hundreds of proven integrations across the cloud and SaaS markets, as well as with all leading security vendors’ solutions (including of course Fortra’s own). The insight it provides extends across customers’ heterogeneous IT estates, incorporating logs, identity sources and providers, networks, cloud-based resources, endpoints, and data files. Its cloud-native MDR platform can ingest a massive amount of telemetry from these sources.

Fig 2 – Fortra’s SOC incident management process

The breadth and depth of Fortra’s services (see Figure 1) is impressive and mature, and has developed to meet the demanding, dynamic threat and risk environments in which all organizations now operate. One critical example is the incident management process, honed to rapidly provide a wealth of background and analysis, and to enable automated action after a maximum 15-minute window from initial detection (see Figure 2).

The MDR service has strong threat intelligence capabilities via integration with Fortra’s threat intelligence platform, which incorporates a wide range of information sources from third parties and from the technologies within its portfolio (e.g. vulnerability rankings, suspect URLs and domains, suspicious files, and email-borne threats). It also gathers intelligence from over 30,000 customer environments. All this is analyzed to determine what threats are most relevant to individual MDR customers, and diagnose or undertake responses appropriately.

Many factors of today’s IT and security provision act as drivers towards MDR services such as Fortra’s.

While organizations increasingly recognize the criticality of proactive and responsive security protection, recruitment of the highly-skilled management and expert staff (known to be in short supply at all levels) is a very serious challenge to any that aim to establish their own capabilities. This is particularly true for mid-sized and fast-growing organizations, which face the same serious threats and risks as larger enterprises but are more challenged in committing the resources necessary. A focus for Fortra is on automating repetitive or low-skilled tasks so that its CRX teams gain better role satisfaction, which promotes staff retention as well as promoting faster responses.

As highlighted year after year in industry reports, the landscape of security threats is an ever-growing one. Experts highlight that the perpetrators behind security threats now operate like profitable and successful international businesses, honed to quickly and effectively extract payment from their highly sophisticated attacks. Meanwhile, IT end- users are pressured to deliver to their customers via an ever-more-complex and dynamic IT infrastructure, and protecting this broad attack surface is a challenge for which most cannot scale their own capabilities and resources due to risk and cost factors.

Partnering with an MDR provider like Fortra can address the major pain points already outlined, but also enables organizational development without committing senior management resources. For example, business relationships requiring digital integration are normally founded on the basis of guaranteed adherence to standards by the parties involved. An example would be a commitment to a cybersecurity framework such as NIST CSF. Making that commitment is a lot easier with an MDR partnership in place, as an MDR provider will be aligned with such practices as part of their service provision.

Referring again to cyclical industry reports, the costs of dealing with data breaches are increasing disproportionately, and are now being incurred for a longer period after the breach itself. Clearly, investment in protection, and attack prevention, as well as in capabilities to operationalize breach-related procedures must be considered by any organization – and Fortra responds to these requirements strongly with its MDR services.

The bottom line

Fortra’s Alert Logic is consistently positioned as a Champion in MDR Market Updates published by Bloor Research, scoring very highly among vendors included for being fit for purpose, and its performance, value and innovation. It is well known for its services expertise and for the value that it provides to customers, and its plans show a clear commitment to forward-looking development of the underlying XDR solution, its overall portfolio, and these MDR services.