Channel partner programs, Content, Endpoint/Device Security, XDR

XDR Provider ContraForce Joins Microsoft Intelligent Security Association

ContraForce, which offers an Open extended detection and response (XDR) platform for MSSPs, has joined the Microsoft Intelligence Security Association (MISA). The company received a nomination to join MISA based on its Microsoft Azure Sentinel API integration.

Microsoft Azure Sentinel is a cloud-based SIEM (security information and event management) platform that ISVs (independent software vendors) and MSSPs increasingly leverage.

Meanwhile, MISA is an independent ecosystem of software vendors that have integrated their solutions to better defend partners and customers from cyberattacks, Microsoft says. Rough 133 organizations were MISA members as of July 2020, up from 57 in 2019. MSSP Alert has reached out to Microsoft for more recent MISA figures, and will update this article if/when we have new data to share.

A Closer Look at ContraForce's Open XDR Platform

ContraForce Open XDR is a zero-query threat hunting platform, ContraForce indicated. It works in conjunction with an organization's security tools to automate threat hunting.

The platform correlates security signals, exposes detection blind spots and visualizes attack patterns with no-code investigation and threat hunting, the company says. Furthermore, organizations can integrate Open XDR with any data source, ContraForce claims.

ContraForce was founded and built by industry security and cloud experts from Armor, McAfee and Intel. ​The company has expertise across the following areas:

  • Governance, risk and compliance (GRC)
  • Security data analytics
  • Security integration
  • Solution development

MSSPs can leverage Open XDR and ContraForce's Azure Sentinel API integration. In addition, they can access ContraForce integrations with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Cloud App Security, Defender for Microsoft 365 and Defender for Identity.

ContraForce Hiring XDR Cybersecurity Talent

ContraForce in February 2021 opened a new headquarters in McKinney, Texas and plans to create 20 new technology jobs with an average annual salary of $100,000 over the next three years, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.