Cybersecurity 101

In today’s digital world, cybersecurity is essential. At WatchGuard, we break down key cybersecurity topics with clear explanations, practical examples, and proven best practices. Whether you want to learn about network security, endpoint protection, identity management, or cyber threats—start your journey with Cybersecurity 101.

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Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A third-party company that remotely manages a customer’s IT infrastructure and end user systems, typically based on a subscription model with service level agreement (SLA). Sometimes referred to as Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) when provided services are specifically focused on cybersecurity needs.

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Security Operations Center (SOC)

A security team that acts as an organization's central command, bringing together its entire IT infrastructure. High costs, complexity, and staff-intensive requirements make deploying an internal SOS unrealistic for all but the largest enterprises. Managed service providers (MSPs) are key to providing critical SOC services for smaller and mid-market businesses.

SIEM

Stands for Security Information and Event Management. Provides real-time analysis of security alerts from applications and network hardware. The main downsides of SIEM products are their complexity and high cost, leading to difficult setup, alert fatigue, significant resource needs (expertise, hardware), and long deployment times. XDR is the smarter choice for MSPs and lean IT teams.

X

XDR

Stands for Extended Detection and Response. While EDR focuses on identifying and responding to threats at the endpoint level, XDR broadens the scope by collecting telemetry data and automatically correlating detections across multiple security domains, including endpoint, identity, email, network, and cloud. Using AI and machine-learning technologies, XDR then performs automatic analysis to integrate them into a centralized security system.