Attackers don’t sleep — neither does MDR

The managed detection and response (MDR) market is having a moment of growth. The global MDR market accounted for US$2.95 billion in revenue in 2024 and is predicted to increase to US$12.3 billion by 2034 — a compound annual growth rate of 15.3%. Industry analysts foresee MDR as the fastest growing segment of the endpoint protection market. 

According to Sunil Sharma, vice president and managing director, Sophos (India and SAARC), a current trend in cybersecurity in AI-everywhere world is the battle of AI versus AI, that is  cybersecurity AI solutions fighting AI-generated and powered attacks.

Multi-vector surfaces across apps, clouds, devices, and locations have increased significantly adding to the woes of CISOs. “Non-linear attacks are becoming a challenge as the sprawl of cybersecurity tools adds to the complexity of a cybersecurity stack. Organisations want to work with a cybersecurity provider that can help defend against attacks as soon as they attempt to penetrate the network,” he says. 

The need for MDR

As businesses modernize their IT environments, the complexity of securing hybrid and cloud-native infrastructures increases, making MDR an attractive option for scalable, expert-led protection. 

“Attackers don’t sleep, and neither should your defenses. MDR empowers organizations to detect threats early, defend with expert-led actions, and defeat advanced attacks — all without overwhelming your internal teams,” says Sunil.

Skillsets gaps, increased regulatory pressures, and digital transformation are few of the factors pushing the growth of burgeoning MDR market. 

Sunil highlights the increased demand for MDR and the role of Sophos, “Shortage of security talent at CIO or CSO end is a reality. The complexity and velocity of attacks is incessant, and MDR is a great option since services are quite scalable and the talent pool at our end is very experienced.”

The platform approach 

MDR services are increasingly being integrated with zero trust architectures and extended detection and response (XDR) platforms to deliver a more cohesive and proactive security posture. 

“Sophos’ vision has always been to make lives of CIOs and CSOs simple, keep innovation with customers at the centre. It’s not about rip and replace but co-opetition with our platform.”

With the acquisition of Secureworks in early 2025, Sophos is now the leading pure-play cybersecurity provider of MDR services in the world. Sophos now delivers an unparalleled security operations platform, featuring hundreds of built-in integrations for adaptive protection, detection and response for mitigating cyberattacks. “SecureWorks can integrate more than 350 third-party products, which enhances visibility through the one platform – Sophos Central and we can not only provide XDR but also next gen SIEM,” says Sunil.

MDR powered by AI-driven XDR will continue to dominate in 2026 and beyond, says Sunil. The best practices for CIOs and CISOs are to adopt a platform approach rather than a sprawl of cybersecurity tools and focus on the business justification for each cybersecurity investment. 

“Process and people are equally important while technology imparts innovation. But CIOs should not lose sight of humans and human intelligence in the era of AI. Stay proactive, not reactive,” concludes Sunil.