The United Kingdom is the second most targeted country globally, accounting for 5.6 % of all observed cyber attacks between January and June 2025. Those attacks tend to start the same way: 28% via phishing or social engineering, 18% via unpatched web assets and 12% via exposed remote services (Microsoft Digital Defence Report 2025). With exposure rising, the UK is tightening requirements through the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.
With these facts considered, there is no doubt that investment in MDR and MXDR services is growing rapidly. In fact, according to Gartner, MDR services are estimated to generate $2.2 billion in revenue, with an annual growth rate of 20.2%. Gartner-cited estimate also projects the market will reach $11.8 billion by 2029, from an estimated $4.1 billion in 2024, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.5%.
If you’ve got a provider, we’ll show you how to test coverage, response and value to maximise your spend. If you’re looking for a provider, this content series will help you find the right MXDR provider and get full value from what you already own.
Why Businesses Need a New Cyber Defence Model
Cyber threats have evolved far beyond firewalls and antivirus software. Ransomware, credential theft, supply-chain compromise and identity-based attacks are now daily realities. For UK businesses, the challenge is clear: enterprise-level risk exposure without enterprise-level resources.
Traditional defences are no longer enough. Organisations face the same sophisticated attacks as global enterprises without equivalent resources or in-house expertise.
That’s where MXDR (Managed eXtended Detection and Response) steps in: a smarter, connected model for detection and response designed for modern hybrid environments.
What is MXDR?
Managed eXtended Detection and Response (MXDR) is a managed cyber-security service providing end-to-end threat detection, investigation and response across your entire digital footprint: endpoints, identities, cloud, network, email and applications.
It builds on the evolution of:
- EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response) – Protects endpoints like laptops and servers.
- XDR (Extended Detection & Response) – Correlates signals across multiple sources (endpoints, identities, cloud).
- MXDR – Adds human-led, 24×7 managed operations for continuous protection, proactive threat hunting and guided remediation.
In simple terms: XDR gives you visibility. MXDR gives you action.
The Business Challenges MXDR Solves
Modern security teams face five critical challenges:
- Alert Overload – Too many tools, too many false positives, not enough context.
- Skills Shortage – Despite sector growth, demand for cyber professionals outpaces supply. The UK cyber workforce expanded by 11% in 2024–25, yet vacancies remain high (DSIT, 2025).
- Fragmented Visibility – Data scattered across endpoints, cloud and identities create blind spots.
- Slow Response – Delays between detection and containment increase the impact of attacks.
- Compliance Pressure – Boards and regulators demand clear evidence of control and resilience.
MXDR resolves these challenges by combining advanced analytics, AI-driven automation and human expertise, all delivered as a managed service.
Core Benefits of MXDR
- 24×7 Threat Detection & Response - Continuous monitoring ensures that potential incidents are detected and contained in real time.
- Unified Visibility Across the Attack Surface - MXDR integrates telemetry from endpoints, email, identity, network and cloud into one view.
- Human Expertise on Demand - Experienced SOC analysts validate alerts, hunt for threats and coordinate rapid remediation.
- Improved Compliance and Reporting - MXDR services produce board-ready reports, audit-ready logs and trend insights for governance.
- Operational Efficiency - Reduces tool fatigue and overhead, allowing IT and security teams to focus on business outcomes.
- Scalable Protection - Whether 200 or 5,000 employees, MXDR scales without the cost of building an in-house SOC.
Artificial Intelligence - Market Growth and the New Threat Reality
As mentioned, the MDR market is accelerating. Gartner-cited estimate projects the MDR market will reach $11.8 billion by 2029, from an estimated $4.1 billion in 2024, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.5%.
The global Managed Detection and Response (MDR) market is forecast to grow from USD 4.19 billion in 2025 to USD 11.3 billion by 2030 (CAGR ≈ 22 %) (Mordor Intelligence, 2025).
Meanwhile, AI is transforming both attack and defence:
- The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warns AI is already amplifying phishing, deepfake and credential-stuffing campaigns, predicting AI-assisted attacks will rise sharply by 2027 (NCSC, 2024).
- Microsoft blocked an average of 1.6 million bot-driven or synthetic account creation attempts every hour, underscoring how attackers are now using AI for large-scale automation (MDDR 2025)
- A Microsoft Security Intelligence briefing notes AI now powers both offensive and defensive cyber tactics, from generative phishing to automated incident triage (Microsoft, 2024).
- The World Economic Forum (WEF) states that small and mid-sized firms are seven times more likely to report insufficient cyber resilience than in 2022 (WEF, 2025).
This reality demands a hybrid model: human-led, AI-augmented security. Tools alone cannot interpret intent, prioritise risk or orchestrate business-aware response. MXDR blends automated speed with expert judgement, ensuring AI works as a force multiplier, not a blind spot.
What to Look for in an MXDR Provider
|
Evaluation Area |
What to Confirm |
Evidence to Ask for |
Why it Matters |
|
Coverage |
Endpoints, identities, email, SaaS and cloud workloads are all in scope |
Data source list |
Gaps create blind spots attackers exploit |
|
Technology Alignment |
Microsoft-native (Defender XDR, Sentinel, Entra) or multi-platform and how they integrate |
Reference architecture, use-case list, automation examples |
Tight integration reduces toil and speeds response |
|
SOC Operations |
True 24×7×365 service with CREST/NCSC alignment and tiered escalation |
Rota model, escalation paths, analyst-to-customer ratio, accreditations |
You need trusted cover at all hours, not best-efforts |
|
Threat Hunting & Detection Engineering |
Proactive hunts, custom detections, MITRE ATT&CK coverage |
Hunting evidence/ recent reports, detection log/reports |
Finds what tooling misses and adapts to your risks |
|
Response Process & SLAs |
Time to triage, contain and remediate; who presses the button |
Playbooks, RACI, contractual SLAs (MTTD/MTTR), sample incident timeline |
Determines real-world protection and business impact |
|
Automation & AI |
Where automation acts vs where humans decide; false positive handling |
Runbooks showing auto-isolation, enrichment, case creation; QA metrics |
Scale without noise; keeps analysts on the hard problems |
|
Data Sovereignty & Tenancy |
Telemetry location, access controls, operate-in-tenant model |
Data flow diagram, data processing addendum, access audit model |
Controls governance risk and regulator scrutiny |
|
Compliance & Certifications |
Support for UK frameworks (NCSC, ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, PCI, NHS DSPT) |
Certificate set, control mapping, compliance reporting samples |
Reduces audit effort and speeds assurance |
|
Reporting & Metrics |
Board-ready reports, measurable outcomes, ROI narrative |
Executive report samples, KPI set (incidents, dwell, MTTD/MTTR, risk reduction) |
Proves value beyond alerts and tickets |
|
Onboarding & Time to Value |
Timeline to first detections and full response, migration plan |
Project plan, day-30/60/90 outcomes, prerequisites |
Avoids long delays that leave you exposed |
|
Integrations & Change Control |
Coverage for key apps, identity, OT/IoT; safe change processes |
Supported integrations list, change advisory process, rollback plans |
Prevents breakage and ensures continuous coverage |
|
Pricing & Contract Terms |
What’s included in base vs add-ons; predictable billing |
Rate card, usage assumptions, overage rules, exit terms |
No hidden costs; easier budgeting |
Human-Led, AI-Augmented Security: The Power of MXDR
In today’s threat landscape, raw technology alone isn’t enough. You need both cutting-edge AI to scale detection and skilled human analysts to interpret, prioritise and act. That’s exactly the model behind our MXDR service at CyberOne.
- AI at Scale: Using AI-enhanced analytics to enrich and prioritise alerts, significantly reducing noise and enabling faster decisions.
- Human Expertise in Control: 24×7 monitoring and response managed by a CREST-accredited, NCSC-aligned SOC of experienced analysts. The human team drives final decisions and ensures contextual accuracy.
- 360° Coverage with Automation & Oversight: Automation handles the repetitive, high-volume tasks (alert triage, playbook initiation, data correlation) while humans deal with the nuanced threats that require business context and judgement.
- Data Sovereignty & Ownership: The service is operated within your Microsoft tenant, so you retain ownership and control the human team works with your data, not off-site in a black box.
- Continuous Improvement: Monthly reviews, trend insights and evolving playbooks mean the human-AI combination keeps getting sharper, aligned to your risk profile and regulatory demands.
The Difference This Makes:
Rather than relying solely on tools that generate an overwhelming volume of alerts, you gain actionable intelligence, faster response and assured clarity. AI empowers speed and scale; human analysts bring business context, threat-hunting instincts and governance awareness. Together they deliver a defence capability that outpaces isolated tools or pure automation models.
The Strategic Business Impact
Organisations adopting MXDR typically experience:
- Faster detection and response times (from days to minutes).
- Reduced incident costs and downtime.
- Improved compliance readiness.
- Operational efficiency through automation and SOC augmentation.
- Increased board confidence and measurable ROI.
With 93 % of UK businesses that suffered breaches citing phishing as the entry vector (Heimdal Security, 2025), MXDR’s continuous monitoring and human validation are no longer optional, they’re essential.
Key Takeaway
MXDR represents the next evolution of managed cyber security, combining advanced technology, AI and human expertise to deliver complete protection.
For UK organisations facing complex threats, tight budgets and mounting compliance expectations, MXDR offers a proven, scalable path to resilience and measurable outcomes.
With CyberOne’s Microsoft-powered MXDR-as-a-Service, you gain more than detection and response. You gain visibility, control and a trusted partner dedicated to securing your future.
Ready to see where MXDR will move the needle for you? Schedule a meeting with us and we’ll map coverage, gaps and quick wins.