Cisco outs Managed Threat Defence service to tackle unknown threats and APTs

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Cisco has launched Managed Threat Device, a new service to help businesses fight off unknown attacks and advanced persistent threats.

The service employs real-time predictive analytics, including Hadoop 2.0, to protect against attacks not yet identified by anti-virus software, and to detect anomalous patterns and suspicious behaviour.

The Cisco security team will provide monitoring from their security operations centres. This also includes incident tracking, reporting, escalation, and remediation advice.

The service operates through a subscription-based model and includes Cisco Advanced Malware Protection, Sourcefire FirePOWER, and Cisco Cloud Web Security. Intelligence data is collected both by Cisco and through communal threat detection efforts.

More malware, less security professionals

The need for advanced security has grown in recent years, with Cisco discovering that many of the world's largest mutlinational company networks sent traffic to websites that host malware.

The consequence of the increased presence of malware and other security threats, like the recent Heartbleed fiasco, has led Cisco to predict that there will be a shortage of more than one million security professionals this year.

"As data continues to move to the cloud, more people are accessing data via mobile devices, in addition to sharing data through social channels. Consequently, security has become our customers' number one concern," said Bryan Palma, SVP of Cisco Security Solutions.

Managed Threat Device is available immediately in select locations, including the US, Canada and Australia. No word yet on a UK release.

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