International. With the increased demand for WatchGuard's existing MDR service, this acquisition allows MSPs to add capabilities without building a security operations center (SOC) of their own.
WatchGuard has acquired ActZero, known for offering simplified cybersecurity services, to further expand and consolidate its innovative 24/7 MDR service. ActZero's team and services will strengthen WatchGuard MDR, extending its Unified Security Platform that provides efficient and powerful security services with greater scalability and speed. This acquisition brings benefits to managed service providers (MSPs), improving their operational efficiency.
"We realized the need to scale quickly as we've gained traction with our MDR service throughout the year," said Prakash Panjwani, CEO of WatchGuard Technologies. "The acquisition of ActZero allows WatchGuard to add capacity, scalability and new technology that will facilitate the expansion of our MDR service to the entire WatchGuard portfolio and third-party security products. With this increased scalability, we can efficiently manage a broader partner base, building trust among our partners so they can easily onboard more services as we expand our MDR capabilities. ActZero has designed its service with this type of scalable customer experience in mind."
ActZero's technology and equipment become the foundation of WatchGuard's MDR product line. Managed by an elite team of security experts and powered by AI, its service offers flexible support tailored to MSPs' operational needs, including:
- Proven and scalable MDR capabilities, including a robust customer success feature, onboarding procedures, and an expert SOC team.
- Advanced, cutting-edge platform tools that employ machine learning to provide automated, efficient, and effective security, with fewer false positives and less noise.
- Open architecture that extends beyond WatchGuard endpoint security, encompassing managed Fireboxes and third-party services such as Microsoft Defender.
"WatchGuard shares our commitment to delivering leading MDR services and simplifying cybersecurity
management for MSPs," said Hal Libby, general manager of Managed Services at WatchGuard Technologies. "We are excited that more MSPs will be able to take advantage of the capabilities of our platform, and that, together with WatchGuard, we can accelerate the expansion of MDR products in the future."
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provides continuous monitoring across IT environments (e.g., cloud, on-premise, endpoint, and identities) to combat infiltration and latent malware, ideally before they can cause damage. Experienced MSPs want to offer advanced MDR services to better protect their customers, but may struggle to scale a SOC and drive efficiency through automation. Vendor MDR services, such as WatchGuard MDR, enable MSPs to scale and grow to meet customer demand for risk reduction from cybersecurity incidents.
"I want to thank and congratulate the entire ActZero team," said Sameer Bhalotra, co-founder and CEO of ActZero. "By integrating with WatchGuard, the team's efforts to create an AI-powered MDR solution backed by expert analytics will expand globally, offering unmatched protection against cyber threats. I look forward to seeing all that this team will accomplish with WatchGuard, while continuing the company's legacy of empowering MSPs with a powerful and unified MDR solution."
