CyberCompare spoke to Sascha Riedinger about MDR.
Dear Sascha Riedinger, how would you describe WatchGuard in 3 quick-witted words?
I like to quote a reference here that sums it up very well. “The combination of price, support functionality and ease of deployment makes WatchGuard an excellent solution.Â
Please introduce yourself briefly and tell us something about your background.
I am 39 years young and have been in the IT industry for 22 years. I’ve sat on every chair except the distribution chair. Starting in system house, I worked in the manufacturing world and finally I was responsible for the IT of a medium-sized company for 10 years. Since May last year, I have been happy to be active in IT security and to support people in making their environments a little more secure.
What distinguishes WatchGuard?
Detecting and defending against the latest cyber threats is essential for today’s organizations. With built-in comprehensive protection, seamless integration, deployment flexibility and operational efficiency, WatchGuard’s Unified Security Platform® architecture is the right choice for any organization, regardless of size or industry.
How does WatchGuard help companies?
Organizations need a comprehensive platform that provides a unified security architecture to enable zero-trust security and strengthen threat defense. A strong identity framework, automated application and device control and user access policy management are the key elements for comprehensive security.
What do you see differently from prevailing opinions in the field of cyber security?
In my opinion, you don’t always have to come with a big product case, especially in the SME sector. Customers are usually overwhelmed by this. It is better to pick up the customer with a manageable solution. In addition to the products, it is also increasingly important to sensitize employees. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten. A quote from me on this: You can build the moat as deep and as wide as possible, but if the employee in the lock opens the door, the moat won’t do you any good!
How do you differentiate from traditional vulnerability scan solutions?
I would definitely start with an EDR system. In my opinion, a medium-sized company has done its homework if it has a sensible Firebox in use, an up-to-date endpoint solution with detection and response and an MFA solution. Then the next steps can be taken, such as NDR. Not to forget, of course, proper network segmentation, so that not everything comes to a standstill in the event of an attack! What I currently consider to be undervalued from the manufacturer’s point of view are MFA solutions. For me, this is a standard, but unfortunately not many people see it that way yet. Almost everyone uses online banking, it’s a matter of course there, but then that’s it.
What’s next – what’s on your technical roadmap, what are your plans for 2024 and beyond?
Our two core topics on the roadmap are clearly MDR and NDR. MDR is nothing new for WatchGuard, as we have been active in this area for a long time, but we are constantly expanding here. With the acquisition of CyGlass in 2023, we have brought NDR on board. The first results should be visible in our cloud by the middle of the year.
If you could send an email to all CISOs to address a security issue, what would you choose?
Evangelize the people in your company, they pose the greatest danger to you!
