MDR, Content, Small business

OpenText, Webroot, Blackpoint Cyber Launch MDR Security for MSPs

Credit: OpenText

OpenText has launched two MDR (managed detection and response) security services for MSPs that support SMB (small and medium-sized business) customers. The effort involves OpenText's Webroot business, along with a Blackpoint Cyber partnership.

The two OpenText MDR initiatives involve:

  1. OpenText MDR Service: This offering "pairs best-in-breed technologies in regulated and compliance-centric customer environments with security personnel that understand threat actors’ tactics, techniques, and procedures to realize faster identification and remediation of risks," OpenText said.
  2. Webroot MDR powered by Blackpoint Cyber: This service is based on Blackpoint’s proprietary incident response solution and security operations center (SOC). Key capabilities include network visualization, insider threat monitoring, and traffic analysis for lateral movement detection, OpenText noted.

The two services surface one day after multiple vendors -- from Cybereason to Huntress -- announced expanded MDR and XDR services for MSPs and MSSPs.

OpenText MDR: Where Endpoint Protection, Threat Intelligence Fit In

OpenText, best known for its enterprise software, acquired Webroot and Carbonite in 2019. That move allowed OpenText to further engage MSPs that support SMB end-customers. More recently, OpenText itself has emerged as a Top 250 MSSP.

The new OpenText MDR offerings leverage contextual insights from Webroot Endpoint Protection. In addition, OpenText’s BrightCloud Threat intelligence platform incorporates knowledge "gathered from 285 million sensors and a 10-year threat intelligence history using real-time, multi-point threat detection to detect emerging and targeted attacks, such as ransomware," the company said.

Each MDR service is coupled with 24x7x365 proactive monitoring and response capabilities to further assist SMBs and MSPs with security, OpenText added.

MSSPs Extend From Endpoint Protection to MDR

Webroot's software is deeply entrenched across the MSP and SMB sectors. However, endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions from CrowdStrike and SentinelOne, among others, have rapidly gained traction with MSPs and MSSPs over the past 18 months or so.

Indeed, fully 91 percent of MSSPs now offer EDR and MDR services, according to MSSP Alert research as of September 2021. OpenText and Webroot, aligned with Blackpoint Cyber, now have a solution to address the MDR trend.

The new MDR services are available now in North America, with additional regional support planned for later later this year, OpenText said.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.