US Signal has launched an endpoint detection and response solution for MSPs and IT organizations.
The new system is part of a larger effort by the company to expand beyond its roots in data center services into security offerings as well.
“A lot of our customers are looking to us to provide more than just hosting and infrastructure services,” says Paul Van Hyfte, US Signal’s executive vice president of sales, in a conversation with ChannelPro at yesterday’s SMB Forum event in Boston. “They’re asking us to help better protect their environment.”
The new solution is designed to monitor endpoints continuously for threats. Drawing on behavior-based detection capabilities backed by artificial intelligence as well as rules-based analysis and response capabilities, the system automatically blocks attacks and rolls back malware.
Subscribers at the Standard EDR tier get all of those features at monthly recurring rates. Premium EDR subscribers also get advanced capabilities like device containment and custom detection rules.
Buyers who choose the Premium MDR option receive 24/7 support from US Signal’s security operations center, including remediation guidance and implementation. Additional features available only at the Premium MDR tier include automated quarantine, policy configuration and compatibility assessments, agent lifecycle management, file and path exclusions, and deployment assistance.
US Signal’s EDR solution joins a growing list of security services that includes managed firewall, website and application security, and patch management. Vulnerability management as a service has been available too since last November. US Signal also offers BDR solutions and hosted cloud availability services based on software from Veeam. A data protection solution based on technology from Cohesity shipped in February.
US Signal’s entry into the crowded EDR market comes at a time when remote workers on often consumer-grade networks are under mounting assault from cyberattackers. The virtual workspace solution the company rolled out three months ago similarly helps channel pros protect vulnerable home-based employees, Van Hyfte says. “It allows them to push patches to their users,” he notes. “If you’re relying on the user to do that, they may not always be up to date.”
Virtual workspaces are easier to manage the physical desktops, Van Hyfte adds. They also lower hardware spending, because companies can run them just as well on inexpensive laptops and desktops as on higher-end devices with beefier specs.
US Signal’s virtual workspace product is an affordable way to collect benefits like that, Van Hyfte continues. VMware and Citrix, among others, have been selling virtual workspace software for years, he says, “but it’s expensive and it’s hard to manage.”
Solutions like Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop, meanwhile, don’t come with the kind of responsive support US Signal provides, Van Hyfte adds, noting that the company’s average call response time is currently 19 second and its organizational goal is 30 seconds or less.
“If you’re an MSP and you call up Microsoft because you need help managing Active Directory or deploying a feature or something like that, the support might be less than what you’re hoping for,” he says.
Virtual workspace subscriptions have been selling well since their June debut, Van Hyfte adds. “I don’t remember us ever launching a product in my nine years here where we’ve had as much interest as quickly.”
EDR may not be the last addition to US Signal’s security portfolio. According to Van Hyfte, the company is currently evaluating further offerings, including a potential SOC-as-service solution. “We have an internal SOC, so we do a lot of things for our own organization, but bringing that to our customers is a big requested service,” he says.
