SOC Matters: Key Questions to Ask Before Selecting Your MDR Provider
With the growing reliance on outsourced cybersecurity services, Managed Detection and Response (MDR) has become the preferred model for organizations seeking expert-led, fully managed protection. While MDR is defined by the combination of advanced detection technologies and 24/7 human analysis, not all providers deliver on this promise. Some solutions rely heavily on automation or limited alert triage, offering minimal human oversight. Knowing what to look for in a true MDR provider is critical to avoiding false assurances, hidden visibility gaps, and delayed incident response that can leave your business vulnerable.
MDR vs. XDR: Different Approaches to a Common Goal
MDR is a fully managed service that combines advanced security technology with expert human oversight. It’s built for organizations that need around-the-clock threat detection, investigation, and response, but don’t have the internal resources to manage those operations on their own.
Early MDR solutions were largely confined to endpoint activity, offering limited insight into the broader IT environment. This narrow scope often resulted in reactive detection and missed indicators that appeared elsewhere, such as in network traffic, cloud applications, or identity systems. Today’s MDR platforms have significantly matured, ingesting diverse telemetry across infrastructure layers to enable more comprehensive visibility, proactive threat detection, and faster, coordinated response.
XDR, in contrast, is a software-centric model that aggregates and correlates telemetry from across your environment, endpoints, cloud workloads, identity providers, and more. Using AI and automation, XDR aims to accelerate detection and streamline response without requiring much human intervention. It’s often best suited for organizations with internal teams that can manage, fine-tune, and act on the insights it provides.
Each has its strengths. But only MDR combines AI-powered analysis with real human expertise. MDR goes beyond automation by providing expert interpretation and a managed response. It determines whether an alert is a true threat that requires immediate action, a sign of a vulnerability that needs attention, or simply a false positive -- something AI alone cannot reliably do.
Beyond the Buzzwords: What Really Sets SOC Services Apart?
Not all MDR services are created equal. In fact, the gap between providers can be substantial, not just in the technologies used, but in how services are delivered, what’s covered, and who’s doing the work behind the scenes.
Detection and Response: Visibility Is Not Enough
Some SOC providers simply alert you to threats, leaving the burden of investigation and response to your internal team. Others offer real containment, isolating endpoints, stopping lateral movement, and executing pre-approved playbooks to minimize downtime.
The difference between these models becomes critical during an actual incident. A SOC that only alerts might notify you of a breach hours after it starts. A SOC with active response capabilities can stop the threat in its tracks.
Coverage Scope: Endpoint-Only vs. Holistic Monitoring
While some vendors still focus narrowly on endpoints, modern attacks move across cloud platforms, user identities, SaaS environments, and network layers. If your SOC isn't monitoring all these layers, and correlating signals across them, you’re operating with limited visibility.
Some providers claim broad coverage, but rely on loosely integrated third-party tools, creating delays, inconsistencies, and missed detections. Effective SOC services offer unified monitoring built to catch what others miss.
“This lose-lose situation is compounded by the Clorox lawsuit against Cognizant, which could establish precedent-setting liability for third-party cybersecurity failures. Having recorded evidence of help desk workers literally handing network access to cybercriminals creates an indefensible legal position that will likely reshape how we think about outsourcing critical security functions”. — James Azar, July 25, 2025
This real-world case underscores what’s at stake. The risks of inadequate SOC service don’t just impact uptime—they can carry lasting legal, financial, and reputational consequences.
Technology Stack: Built-In vs. Bolted-On
SOC effectiveness depends on how well its tools work together. Some vendors use proprietary platforms built to work in harmony, while others bolt together a collection of third-party tools. Aggregated stacks often suffer from data normalization issues, slower triage, and integration breakdowns, especially during high-pressure response scenarios.
Threat Hunting: Scheduled vs. Continuous
Most SOCs claim to hunt for threats, but how often, and how deeply? Basic providers may rely on signature-based detection and review threats reactively or on a scheduled basis. That leaves long dwell times and increases the likelihood of successful attacks.
Modern SOCs employ continuous, human-led threat hunting, analyzing behavior anomalies, uncovering early indicators of compromise, and surfacing stealthy attacks long before they escalate.
Playbooks and SLAs: Generic vs. Precision Response
Some providers use standardized playbooks for every client. Others allow for customized actions based on business hours, risk tolerance, and industry needs. When paired with enforceable SLAs, customized playbooks ensure fast, accurate responses when time matters most.
Without SLAs, response is best-effort. And in cybersecurity, “best effort” can be too little, too late.
Reporting: Raw Logs vs. Executive-Ready Documentation
Basic SOC services might provide raw alert logs, but these rarely meet the standards needed for cyber insurance claims. The most advanced providers deliver structured documentation that supports and demonstrates due diligence in the event of an incident.
Critical Alerts Only? Understand the Tradeoff
To cut costs, some providers monitor only high-severity alerts. While this reduces alert fatigue and infrastructure load, it also assumes no attack will slip in quietly, a dangerous assumption. Many sophisticated breaches begin with low or medium-level signals: a login from an unusual IP, a minor permissions change, a misconfigured SaaS integration.
Limiting monitoring scope may save money upfront, but it can open the door to serious threats that go undetected until it’s too late.
Certification vs. Compliance: What You Deserve
Providers may claim compliance with frameworks like SOC 2 Type II, but unless they’ve been formally certified by an independent auditor, there’s no proof those standards are consistently enforced. Certification matters. It reflects operational maturity, accountability, and a commitment to securing your environment.
Encryption: A Foundational Requirement
In today’s climate, data must be encrypted both in transit and at rest. Some SOC services skip one or the other, or worse, fail to secure parts of their infrastructure altogether. Strong encryption isn’t optional; it’s a baseline requirement for protecting sensitive business data and complying with modern security mandates.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Settle for a SOC That Just Alerts
Modern security threats demand a proactive, comprehensive response. As cyber threats continue to grow in sophistication, the threat landscape demands a partner that delivers full-spectrum visibility, 24/7 analyst-driven monitoring, and active containment. Choosing the right SOC partner means looking beyond buzzwords and asking hard questions: Will they act on my behalf? Do they cover my full environment? Are their processes certified and tested? Can they provide actionable documentation when it counts?
When evaluating MDR solutions, the real difference lies in execution—how proactively they hunt for threats and how confidently they can take action on your behalf. Features like encryption at rest and in transit, certified (not just compliant) operational standards, and continuous human oversight aren’t optional—they’re the foundation of real security.
Ultimately, choosing the right SOC service is about more than filling a compliance checkbox; it’s about aligning with a partner who helps you stay ahead of evolving risks while giving you the confidence that your business, data, and reputation are truly protected around the clock.
Security Without Compromise
Not all SOC services are created equal, and cutting corners in security can cost far more in the long run. While some providers offer lower pricing by limiting their focus to only high-severity alerts, this narrow strategy often leaves dangerous visibility gaps that attackers are quick to exploit. Others may offer robust, full-stack security, but their pricing structures can place true protection out of reach for many organizations.
Why Secnap
For over 20 years, Secnap has helped organizations across industries secure their environments through proactive human lead threat detection, continuous response, and real-time intelligence. Our CloudJacket MDR solution is built to eliminate the gaps that many SOC providers overlook. We don’t just send alerts, we take action.
CloudJacket MDR combines proprietary technology, and expert-led intelligence to ensure every organization, regardless of size, can access enterprise-grade cybersecurity. It's not just about alerting. It's about anticipating, acting, and staying ahead of threats with a fully managed solution built for today’s most demanding security challenges.
Security shouldn’t be partial. It should be complete, intelligent, and accessible—and with CloudJacket MDR, it is.
Let’s connect and explore how our team can help protect yours—around the clock.
