Short answer
XDR (extended detection and response) correlates security telemetry across endpoints, firewalls, identity, cloud and email so threats are easier to spot. MDR (managed detection and response) adds people: Sophos analysts monitor, hunt and alert 24/7, with FirstNet's Incident Response team helping you remediate. Next-generation SIEM ingests telemetry at enterprise scale for compliance reporting and log retention.
In detail
In short:
- XDR is the technology that joins signals together
- MDR is the 24/7 service that watches those signals and acts on them
- NG-SIEM is the platform for large-scale log ingestion, compliance reporting, retention and SOAR automation
At FirstNet, all three run on the Sophos platform, managed from Sophos Central and unified through the Sophos Unified Data Lake, so telemetry from each layer feeds detection and response.
Organisations often start with endpoint protection, add XDR, then MDR, and add NG-SIEM where compliance or retention requires it. Larger enterprises often combine MDR with NG-SIEM, while compliance-heavy sectors such as financial services and healthcare lean on NG-SIEM with governance and audit reporting.
A FirstNet specialist can recommend where to start based on your existing tools.
Source: FirstNet Managed Cybersecurity Services service page →
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