The definition
What is MDR (managed detection and response)?
MDR is a service where expert analysts monitor your systems 24/7, investigate suspicious activity and respond to genuine attacks on your behalf. It combines the detection tooling of a security operations centre with the people to run it, delivered for a monthly fee instead of an in-house build.
What MDR covers
Four capabilities, one service
Every credible MDR service is built on the same four capabilities. The difference between providers is how much of each you really get, and who is doing the work.
24/7 monitoring and triage
Analysts watch the telemetry from your endpoints, identities, cloud services and network around the clock, triaging every alert so your team only ever hears about the ones that matter.
Investigation by humans
When something looks wrong, an analyst investigates: correlating events, checking the timeline and establishing whether it is an attack, a misconfiguration or noise. You get an answer, not a forwarded alert.
Response, not just notification
The R in MDR is the point. Genuine threats are contained on your behalf: hosts isolated, sessions revoked, credentials reset, attacker access removed, then a clear account of what happened.
Proactive threat hunting
Analysts hunt for the quiet indicators automated rules miss, using current threat intelligence about how attackers actually operate against UK businesses.
The full capability list, including SIEM management and reporting, is on what's included.
Signs you need it
When MDR becomes the sensible answer
Half of UK businesses (50%) suffered a cyber security breach or attack in the past year, according to the UK Government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025, and IBM puts the average UK data breach cost at £3.78 million in its Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025. The question is not whether something will trip your defences, but whether anyone is watching when it does.
Alerts nobody investigates
Your tools generate alerts all day, and everyone quietly knows most go unread. Detection without investigation is a false sense of security.
Nobody watching out of hours
Attackers favour nights, weekends and bank holidays precisely because response is slowest. If an attack at 2am would run until 9am, you have a coverage gap.
Compliance is asking for monitoring
ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus assessors, insurers and enterprise customers increasingly expect demonstrable monitoring and response capability, not just antivirus.
You cannot hire or keep analysts
A credible 24/7 rota needs multiple trained analysts plus tooling and management. Recruiting and retaining that team is out of reach for most mid-sized businesses.
The labels, honestly
MDR, managed SOC, SOC as a Service, outsourced SOC: providers use these labels almost interchangeably, and mostly they describe the same 24/7 capability. MDR framing emphasises the outcome (detection and response done for you); a managed SOC emphasises the capability, and SOC as a Service emphasises the subscription. We deliver the same service under any of them, so choose the coverage, not the label.
What MDR is not
Not a tool, and not a traditional MSSP
MDR is not software you buy: tools like EDR and SIEM are the sensors, and MDR is the expert team acting on what they see. It is also not a traditional MSSP arrangement that forwards alerts for your team to deal with. If the service ends with a notification rather than a response, it is monitoring, not MDR.
MDR vs EDR vs XDR, untangledQuick answers
MDR questions, answered
What does MDR stand for?
MDR stands for managed detection and response. It is a cyber security service where a provider's analysts monitor your systems around the clock, investigate suspicious activity and take action against genuine threats on your behalf.
What does an MDR service actually do?
An MDR service collects telemetry from your endpoints, identities, cloud and network, watches it 24/7, investigates anything suspicious and responds to real attacks: isolating machines, revoking access and containing the incident. It also hunts proactively for signs of compromise and reports on what it found and did.
Is MDR the same as a managed SOC?
Largely, yes. MDR describes the outcome (threats detected and responded to for you); a managed SOC describes the capability (a staffed security operations centre run on your behalf). Providers use the labels interchangeably, and we deliver the same 24/7 service under either name.
Do I still need antivirus or EDR with MDR?
Yes. EDR and other security tools are the sensors; MDR is the team watching and acting on what they see. A good MDR service works with the tooling you already own, such as Microsoft Defender, and will tell you honestly where your sensor coverage has gaps.
More questions answered on the full FAQ page.
See it in practice
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