Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Guest post by WatchGuard Tech All-Star, Marko Bauer It's Monday morning, 7:30 AM. Your employees arrive at the office and can't log in. Systems are dead. Your phone rings. IT reports: Ransomware. All data encrypted. Then the email: €500,000 ransom. In 48 hours, the attackers will begin publishing customer data, contracts, and internal documents on the dark web. The first dump is already online, as “proof.” Your company is paralyzed. Production can't work. Sales has no access to orders.

Guest post by WatchGuard Tech All-Star, Michael Carter II At a glance: The trend is hard to ignore: most attackers do not “break in” anymore; they sign in using stolen or abused identities, not by bypassing a next-gen firewall, your EDR, or those fancy email and collaboration tool defenses. If an unauthorized identity can export it, you have not protected it, no matter how many controls you have in place.

In cybersecurity, incidents test more than just technical resilience ‒ they also test trust. As a managed service provider (MSP), the preventive measures you implement are critical. However, the strength of your support during your clients’ most critical times is what truly defines the trust they have in you. A cybersecurity incident may be precisely the moment when your client evaluates whether you are delivering on your promises as a quality partner for their business.

MITRE ATT&CK ER7 results are often reduced to simple headlines: detection percentages, prevention rates, or “100% coverage” claims. But those numbers alone don’t explain how a security platform actually behaves when an attack unfolds, nor how much operational effort is required to manage it. To understand the real impact of ER7 results, you need to look at detection efficiency and operational efficiency, not just raw coverage.

Most organizations already get solid protection from the security tools they use, but integrating a mix of those tools into a complete, well-coordinated defense remains challenging. Teams are stretched thin, threats move fast, and it takes time and expertise to monitor everything around the clock and respond the moment something looks suspicious. This is where an open approach to MDR helps meet partners and customers where they are.