New MDR service uniquely combines industry-leading Cortex XDR technology with Unit 42’s advanced threat intelligence and threat hunting

PHILIPPINES—The need for managed detection and response (MDR) is soaring as attack surfaces grow, cloud usage skyrockets, and the cybersecurity skills gap widens. Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW), the global cybersecurity leader, today introduced Unit 42 Managed Detection and Response (Unit 42 MDR) to address this need with a new service that can offer continuous 24/7 threat detection, investigation and response. This offering brings together Palo Alto Networks’ acclaimed Cortex XDR® with Unit 42’s industry-leading threat intelligence which includes insights from incident response cases. Because Unit 42 MDR is built on Cortex XDR, it is optimized to not just prioritize alerts, but also to massively reduce the number of alerts customers receive. This helps customers to detect more suspicious activity than they would have otherwise.

Unit 42 MDR utilizes Cortex XDR’s machine learning and flexible response capability to find hidden threats like insider abuse, credential attacks, and malware. According to Palo Alto Networks’ 2022 Unit 42 Ransomware Threat Report, Philippine organizations in certain industries are attacked by a fast-growing malware called BlackCat Ransomware, a novel attack that operates in a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) business model. Target sectors are construction and engineering, retail, transportation, commercial services, insurance, machinery, professional services, telecommunications, auto components, and pharmaceuticals.

“As cyberattacks continue to rise, many organizations are being asked to handle advanced threats with limited resources and without the right expertise. This will not lead to good results,” said Wendi Whitmore, senior vice president, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42. “Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 brings a unique combination of innovative cybersecurity technologies and a world-class threat intelligence team which allows us to provide customers with rapid detection and response to critical cyber threats.”

The new Unit 42 MDR service offers customers cybersecurity experts to help identify and respond to security alerts and potential threats in real-time, enabling businesses to focus security operations (SecOps) personnel on other organizational security priorities. The service provides organizations with monitoring, threat hunting, and response/remediation capabilities including: 

  • Continuous Monitoring & Response: Security experts monitor alerts, events, and indicators 24x7x365. The Unit 42 MDR team uses a mix of proprietary processes, infrastructure and enrichment to accelerate detection, response, and threat hunting to help quickly stop malicious activity most likely to impact your organization.
  • Proactive Threat Hunting: World-class threat hunters search environments for complex attacks using deep knowledge of XDR data sources and the latest threat intelligence from Palo Alto Networks. This helps organizations stay ahead of emerging attack campaigns, malware and vulnerabilities.
  • Security Posture Optimization: Experts provide periodic health checks of an organization’s posture and detailed recommendations on policy changes to help facilitate addressing risks before they become issues.

“Cyberattacks are emerging and evolving faster than ever,” said Tom Osteen, CIO, Enloe Medical Center. “Intervening and addressing threats at the earliest stage is crucial. With Unit 42 MDR we have confidence that we can quickly identify and stop malicious activity to help keep our organization safe and secure.”

In a recent report, IDC said, “It is not a surprise to state that organizations continue to struggle with persistent security talent shortages and the rising costs to retain these scarce security resources. Security teams with already limited resources are overwhelmed by the heavy workload and responsibility.” The report also stated, “Organizations are analyzing their current risks and accelerating their security services investments to ease pressure on their teams and strengthen their overall security posture to meet the growing cyber threats.”*

About Cortex XDR:

Cortex XDR is the world’s first detection and response solution that natively integrates network, endpoint and cloud data to stop sophisticated attacks. It is designed to stop attacks with the power of AI and comprehensive data.

XDR is critical to effective security. The latest Palo Alto Networks 2022 Unit 42 Incident Response Report highlights that when a breach occurs 44 percent of the cases involved a business that did not have or did not fully deploy an endpoint detection and response or XDR security solution.  

Options for Cortex XDR Management:

Customers can choose to manage XDR in a number of ways. In addition to Unit 42 MDR, customers can use their own team to manage XDR or choose an XMDR Partner. Partners achieve Cortex XMDR Specialization by completing both technical and sales enablement and specialization examinations. Palo Alto Networks growing XMDR ecosystem serves thousands of customers through partners across the world who use their own particular expertise together with Cortex XDR. 

About Unit 42 & Unit 42 Incident Response Services

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 brings together world-renowned threat researchers, elite incident responders and expert security consultants to create an intelligence-driven, response-ready organization that’s passionate about helping proactively manage cyber risk.

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 has an experienced team of security consultants with backgrounds in public and private sectors who have handled some of the largest cyberattacks in history. They manage complex cyber risks and respond to advanced threats, including nation-state attacks, advanced persistent threats, or APTs, and complex ransomware investigations. Unit 42 incident response experts are available 24/7 to help clients understand the nature of the attack and then quickly contain, remediate and eradicate it. They utilize a proven methodology and battle-tested tools developed from real-world experiences investigating thousands of incidents.

More Information:

More information on Unit 42 MDR and Cortex XDR 3.4 can be found in our blog, or at Black Hat from August 6-11 at the Palo Alto Networks booth: #1332. 

Availability:

Unit 42 MDR and Cortex XDR 3.4 are available today globally with full support. 

*IDC, Worldwide and U.S. Comprehensive Security Services Forecast, 2022–2026: Steady Growth Continues Amid Global Headwinds, Doc #US48549022, July 2022

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