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AxonaiAssurance & Integration

Detection and response

Managed Security Services (MSSP) for the Defense Industrial Base

CMMC does not just ask whether you bought security tools. It asks whether you review audit logs, whether you can detect an intrusion, and whether you would recognize an incident in time to report it inside the 72-hour DFARS window. That requires people watching, not just software installed.
  • 24/7 monitoring and alert triage by human analysts
  • Managed EDR/MDR with containment authority
  • SIEM with log retention that satisfies audit requirements
  • Tested incident response plan and DFARS reporting support
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Security operations dashboard showing network monitoring and threat detection

The audit and accountability problem

The Audit and Accountability family is where a lot of otherwise well-run contractors lose points. You need to generate audit records, protect them from tampering, retain them long enough to support an investigation, and then actually review and analyze them. That last step is the one everyone skips. A SIEM nobody looks at is not a control, it is a subscription.

We deploy log collection across endpoints, identity, cloud, and network, tune the alerting so it is not pure noise, and put analysts on it around the clock. When something fires, a human decides what it is and what happens next.

  • Centralized log collection with tamper-resistant, time-synchronized storage
  • Retention periods aligned to your contractual and regulatory requirements
  • Documented review cadence with artifacts that prove reviews happened
  • Correlation across identity, endpoint, email, and network telemetry

Detection, response, and containment

Managed EDR gives us the ability to isolate a compromised host in seconds rather than waiting for someone to answer a phone at 3 a.m. Response playbooks are agreed with you in advance so our analysts know exactly what they are authorized to do without waking anyone up.

For companies handling CUI, this matters twice over: once because a breach is a business catastrophe, and once because DFARS 252.204-7012 obliges you to report a cyber incident to the DoD within 72 hours of discovery. Meeting that clock requires knowing what happened, fast.

  • Managed EDR/MDR on every in-scope endpoint and server
  • Email security, anti-phishing, and business email compromise detection
  • Identity threat detection: impossible travel, token theft, MFA fatigue attacks
  • Pre-authorized containment actions with a documented escalation path

Vulnerability and exposure management

Scanning is easy. Deciding what to fix first, actually fixing it, and proving you fixed it is the hard part, and it is what the Risk Assessment and System & Information Integrity families are really asking about.

We run authenticated scans on a defined cadence, prioritize by exploitability and exposure rather than raw CVSS, drive remediation through the same change process our MSP team uses, and produce trend reporting that shows an assessor a program rather than a snapshot.

People are still the attack surface

Security awareness training is an explicit CMMC requirement, and it is also the control with the best return on effort. We run continuous training with simulated phishing campaigns, track completion for your records, and give managers visibility into which teams need attention.

What you get

Concrete deliverables, not a slide deck

Every engagement produces artefacts you own, that live in your environment, and that an assessor can read.

  • 01

    24/7 monitored SOC coverage

    Human analysts triaging alerts every hour of every day, with a defined response SLA per severity.

  • 02

    SIEM and compliant log retention

    Centralized, protected logging with retention that satisfies your audit requirements and evidence that reviews occur.

  • 03

    Managed EDR/MDR

    Next-generation endpoint protection with managed detection, threat hunting, and pre-authorized containment.

  • 04

    Vulnerability management program

    Recurring authenticated scans, risk-ranked remediation, and trend reporting over time.

  • 05

    Incident response plan and tabletop

    A written, role-assigned IR plan plus an annual tabletop exercise, both of which are explicitly required and both of which are frequently missing.

  • 06

    Security awareness program

    Role-based training, phishing simulation, and completion records ready for assessment.

Straight answers

Managed Security (MSSP): questions we get asked

Ask us something else

Do we need an MSSP if we already have antivirus and a firewall?

For CMMC Level 2, almost certainly yes. Several requirements are about monitoring, reviewing, correlating, and responding. Those are activities that require staffing rather than licensing. Tools alone will not satisfy an assessor asking who reviewed last week's audit logs and what they found.

How long do we have to keep logs?

There is no single universal number; it is driven by your contracts, your incident response needs, and what you commit to in your System Security Plan. In practice we recommend a minimum of one year of retrievable audit records for in-scope systems, with the most recent period kept hot for investigation. We document whatever we set so it is defensible.

Can you monitor an environment we already have?

Yes. We can layer monitoring onto an existing estate, whether or not we run your day-to-day IT. We will tell you honestly during scoping if the underlying environment has gaps that monitoring alone will not fix.

Keep reading

Related services

Next step

Ready to talk about managed security (mssp)?

Tell us your size, your contracts, and where you are today. We will tell you what it takes and roughly what it costs, usually on the first call.

Request your free gap checkEmail contact@axonai.us

We reply within one business day.