From detection to recovery: Exploring how MDR and BCDR work together

Managed detection and response (MDR) and business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) represent critical pillars of a modern cybersecurity strategy. While they may seem like opposite ends of the spectrum at first glance, these solutions are deeply intertwined and mutually reinforcing. MDR focuses on real-time threat detection and rapid incident response. BCDR ensures access to critical systems and data in the aftermath of an incident.

When deployed together as part of a defense-in-depth approach, MDR and BCDR provide continuous protection before, during, and after an attack. However, realizing the full potential of these technologies requires careful planning, tight integration, and regular testing. 

In this blog, we will explore the growing need for MDR and BCDR, how these solutions complement each other, and best practices for maximizing their synergies.

The evolving cyberthreat landscape

Today’s cyberthreats are more sophisticated, targeted, and financially motivated than ever before. Cybercriminals have a vast array of tools at their disposal, from ransomware and supply chain attacks to social engineering and living-off-the-land techniques. As a result, organizations of all sizes face heightened risk.

Several trends underscore the need for advanced protections like MDR and BCDR:

• Increasing frequency of attacks

Cyberattacks are growing more pervasive over time. According to one report, the average cost of a data breach now exceeds $4 million, with a new breach occurring every 39 seconds. No organization can afford to be complacent.

• Blurring IT perimeters

Blurring IT perimeters refers to the diminishing distinction between internal and external networks due to factors such as cloud computing, remote work, and the use of mobile devices.

It means that traditional network boundaries are becoming less defined, making it challenging to enforce strict security controls. Sensitive data now resides across endpoints, mobile devices, SaaS platforms, and third-party environments, so comprehensive visibility and control are imperative.

• Expanded attack surface

An expanded attack surface refers to the increased number of potential entry points and vulnerabilities that can be targeted by cybercriminals. This expansion is a result of the growing interconnectedness of systems, devices, and services, including cloud infrastructure, IoT devices, and third-party integrations. It means that there are more opportunities for attackers to exploit weaknesses and gain unauthorized access to an organization’s assets.

• Exfiltration of data

Increasingly, attackers will extract and copy sensitive data from networks before deploying ransomware. Even if encrypted files are recovered, the stolen IP, customer records, or financial data can still be weaponized.

• Double and triple extortion

Double extortion occurs when attackers demand two ransoms—one for the decryption key and another to prevent a public leak of exfiltrated data. Triple extortion takes this one step further, where payment is demanded not only from the initially targeted company but also from anyone affected by the leaked data. This means that in addition to the victim organization, individuals or entities whose data has been compromised may also be subjected to ransom demands.

• Backdoors in recovery

Attackers are now building backdoors into networks to maintain persistence after recovery efforts. Restoring compromised environments provides a foothold for continued exploitation. 

These developments underscore why a reactive approach focused solely on backup and recovery is no longer sufficient.

Let’s explore the individual roles of MDR and BCDR, and then examine how these two components work together to strengthen organizational resilience.

The role of MDR

MDR is a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity that focuses on proactive threat detection, rapid incident response, and continuous monitoring.

Key elements of effective MDR include:

• Advanced threat detection: MDR solutions employ advanced technologies, such as machine learning, behavioral analytics, and threat intelligence, to detect and identify potential threats in real-time.
• Continuous monitoring and analysis: This involves 24/7 monitoring by cybersecurity experts who can quickly investigate and triage alerts to determine the severity and take appropriate action.
• Incident response and remediation: This involves containing and mitigating the impact of an incident, investigating the root cause, and implementing remediation measures to prevent future attacks. MDR providers often work closely with organizations to develop incident response plans and conduct post-incident analysis.
• Threat hunting: MDR goes beyond reactive detection and response by actively hunting for threats that may have evaded traditional cybersecurity controls. This proactive approach involves conducting thorough investigations, analyzing patterns, and searching for indicators of compromise to identify hidden or emerging threats.
• Expertise and collaboration: Effective MDR relies on a team of skilled cybersecurity professionals who possess deep knowledge and expertise in threat detection and response.

The role of BCDR

BCDR is a set of tools, processes, and strategies aimed at ensuring the continuity of business operations and minimizing the impact of disruptions caused by disasters or unexpected events.

The key concepts of BCDR include:

• Business impact analysis (BIA): Conducting a thorough BIA helps identify critical business processes, dependencies, and the potential impact of disruptions. This analysis forms the foundation for developing a comprehensive BCDR plan.
• Risk assessment and management: Assessing potential risks and vulnerabilities allows organizations to prioritize their BCDR efforts. This includes identifying threats, evaluating their likelihood and potential impact, and implementing risk mitigation measures.
• Robust backup and recovery: Implementing regular and automated backups of critical data and systems is essential to ensure availability. This includes establishing backup schedules, verifying data integrity, and testing the recovery process to ensure data can be restored quickly and accurately.
• Redundancy and failover mechanisms: Building redundancy into critical systems and infrastructure helps minimize downtime during disruptions. This may involve deploying redundant servers, network connections, and power sources or using cloud-based services for failover capabilities.
• Incident response and communication: Establishing clear incident response procedures and communication channels is crucial during a disaster. This includes defining roles and responsibilities, establishing communication protocols, and ensuring timely and accurate communication with stakeholders, employees, customers, and partners.

• Regular testing and training: Regularly testing the BCDR plan through simulations and exercises helps identify gaps, validate recovery procedures, and train personnel on their roles and responsibilities. This ensures that the plan remains effective and up-to-date.

How MDR enhances BCDR capabilities

MDR solutions combine endpoint detection and response (EDR), threat intelligence, behavioral analytics, and 24/7 human threat hunting to provide continuous protection. This allows faster detection, containment, and remediation of cybersecurity incidents.

By serving as an outer defensive layer, MDR significantly augments BCDR in several ways:

• Shortening incident response

Earlier threat detection provides a larger window for response before significant damage occurs. Automated containment capabilities also limit the blast radius. This results in fewer corrupted systems and less data loss requiring restoration.

• Improving recovery insights

A detailed incident investigation provides invaluable context to inform recovery efforts. MDR reveals root causes, timelines, compromised accounts, malware C2 servers, and more. This intelligence guides the restoration of the last known “clean” state.

• Limiting reputational harm

By detecting intrusions early and enabling rapid response, organizations can often avoid overt disruptions to business operations and customer services. This results in less reputational damage and customer attrition.

• Facilitating forensic preservation

MDR gives definitive insight into which systems were impacted, supporting surgical recovery procedures. This preserves crucial digital forensic evidence for law enforcement investigations after an attack.

• Preventing re-compromise

Recovering compromised environments without addressing the underlying cybersecurity gap enables repeated exploitation by attackers. MDR protections safeguard recovered assets from reuse as a threat vector.

By complementing BCDR solutions, MDR significantly enhances resilience and shrinks the potential business impact of cybersecurity incidents. Next, let’s explore best practices for implementation.

Deploying MDR and BCDR in tandem

Realizing the synergies between MDR and BCDR requires careful planning and integration. Here are best practices to ensure these capabilities align seamlessly:

• Start with assessment

The first step is assessing your existing cybersecurity controls, policies, technologies, and processes. This analysis provides the foundation to identify critical gaps and build a roadmap.

• Adopt a unified approach

Look for integrated MDR and BCDR solutions from a single vendor built on a unified data lake. This delivers turn-key integration out-of-the-box and simplifies licensing.

• Focus on business processes

Use business impact analysis and risk assessments to identify your most critical business functions and systems. This drives priorities for MDR sensor deployment and BCDR protection.

• Develop an incident response plan

Document detailed incident response plans for assigning roles, responsibilities, and playbooks. Ensure your plans cover cybersecurity, IT, legal, communications, and business continuity.

• Implement immutable storage

Combine local backups for fast recovery with cloud-based immutable storage to defend against ransomware and insider threats. This provides recovery options.

• Test, test, test

Conduct regular tabletop exercises and live tests—at least quarterly. Validate that all personnel understand their responsibilities during an incident and that systems reliably recover.

• Provide ongoing training

Train end users on secure practices and threat awareness. Educate IT and cybersecurity teams on MDR and BCDR administration, monitoring, and response workflows.

• Maintain vigilance

Monitor dashboards, tune analytics, update signatures, and perform maintenance. Review policies and technologies regularly and refresh them to adapt to the evolving threat landscape.

By taking an integrated approach backed by continuous training and testing, you can unlock the unique risk reduction synergies MDR and BCDR offer together.

Realizing the benefits

Deploying MDR and BCDR in tandem delivers many benefits that directly strengthen business resilience, including:

• Reduced downtime: By detecting and containing threats faster, organizations minimize business disruption during and after an incident.
• Lower costs: The upfront investment in MDR and BCDR pales compared to the astronomical costs of prolonged downtime and recovery from scratch.
• Reputational preservation: Staying online and maintaining service availability during an incident prevents negative publicity and loss of customer trust.
• Faster recovery: With reduced data loss and corrupted systems, restoration to normal operations is quicker.
• Enhanced cybersecurity: MDR blocks recurrent compromise of restored systems by closing cybersecurity gaps. BCDR ensures access to data despite disruption.
• Continuous compliance: These solutions facilitate adherence to regulations and insurance policies requiring robust cybersecurity and resilience controls.
• Peace of mind: Business leaders gain confidence knowing they have layered protection and verified recoverability if the worst happens.

By integrating MDR and BCDR into your cybersecurity strategy, you can gain 24/7 resilience and assurance your business can rapidly bounce back from any crisis.

Looking ahead

As cybersecurity risks continue to evolve, organizations must take a proactive stance to threat management. The combination of MDR and BCDR does just that. MDR provides frontline protection to reduce disruptions, while BCDR’s ability to recover from equipment failure, disaster, data corruption, or accidental deletion supplies critical insurance that minimizes the impact should prevention fail.

Together, they form a formidable defense-in-depth posture.

If you are looking to enhance your cybersecurity resilience, please contact our experts. ConnectWise offers integrated MDR and BCDR solutions tailored to your specific business needs, which are supported by our decades of real-world experience assisting clients. Let us help you gain the confidence to focus on business growth, not cyberthreats.