Incident Response Preparedness: Detection Engineering for Small and Medium Businesses
Part 1
Overview | Detection Engineering | Technical IR Readiness | 3rd Party Vendor Management | 3rd Party Partners & Retainers | Managing Executives in a Crisis | Reporting Readiness | Final Thoughts
Intro: Why SMBs Have an Advantage in Detection Engineering
Following up on our first post about the overall incident response program, when it comes to incident detection, small and medium-sized businesses often assume they’re at a disadvantage compared to large enterprises. After all, Fortune 500 companies can employ entire teams dedicated to building detection logic, managing SIEMs, and tuning telemetry pipelines.
But SMBs have a hidden strength: smaller, less complex environments mean detection engineering can be focused and high-impact, without a massive budget or staff. The key is knowing which tools and telemetry sources deliver the biggest return on investment.
Step 1: Start with Core Telemetry Sources
Detection engineering begins with visibility. You can’t detect what you can’t see, and in smaller organizations, a few well-chosen tools can cover most of the critical attack surfaces.
Non-Negotiable Visibility Layers:
Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR)
Your laptops, workstations, and servers are primary targets. An EDR agent is your first line of defense, both for real-time blocking and for forensic visibility after an incident.Top Picks: CrowdStrike Falcon or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
If you’re already using Microsoft 365, Defender integrates natively and is cost-efficient.
MDR - Managed Detection and Response. This can come from something like Crowdstrike Falcon Complete, or it can come from a managed security services provider. This is an area that is very important to do your diligence. There are a lot of people trying to play in this space and are adding this service on to their existing capabilities without the real world expertise to support it. There are also some very strong players in the space. While Crowdstrike and Microsoft are top players, they aren’t the only players and when coupled with an MDR vendor and tech, there are some competitive players in this space.
The main takeaway here is that there is a balance that needs to be attained between capability, budget, and outsourcing here. There is no one right answer, but this is an area where we can help you understand the risk / reward of the situation and help you make an informed decision.
Email Security
Email remains the top initial access vector for attackers. A strong email security gateway and phishing prevention tools stop threats before they hit inboxes.Look for: Advanced phishing detection, URL rewriting, and attachment sandboxing.
Common Solution: Microsoft Secure Email Gateway (if you’re already a Microsoft shop), Abnormal Security (but misses on some key capabilities you need in a gateway too, so not a 1:1 replacement).
Web Filtering
Categorical blocking is one of the simplest, highest-value controls. Blocking new domains, uncategorized domains, and things like DNS except where it’s supposed to be alone can prevent large swaths of malicious traffic.Many EDRs, DNS security tools, and firewalls can do this with minimal configuration.
Common Solutions: Microsoft Defender, Zscaler, Firewalls (though this can get more complex with remote devices)
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
If you’re in the cloud—especially across Azure, AWS, and GCP—you need visibility into misconfigurations, identity risks, and attack paths.Mainstream Option: Wiz - in my experience, this tool misses some needed capabilities, but also has a lot to offer.
Alternative with Strong Features: ImpacLabs, which offers multi-cloud insights that Wiz sometimes misses.
Step 2: Distinguish Internal vs. Product Telemetry
SMBs that operate SaaS platforms or digital products need to think in two layers of detection:
Internal Infrastructure Telemetry: Covers email, laptops, cloud services, and endpoints.
Product/Service Telemetry: Application logs, API access logs, and security events inside your actual product. This is especially important for detecting malicious use of legitimate features or abuse of customer accounts.
Step 3: Engineer for Baseline Detection Without a Full Team
While large organizations can run an entire detection lifecycle, from threat modeling to custom detection logic, SMBs can start smaller:
Baseline Logging: Collect logs from endpoints, cloud platforms, email gateways, and web filters.
Simple Aggregation: Use built-in EDR dashboards or lightweight SIEM/SOAR tools to centralize alerts.
Focused Rules: Begin with detection rules for the top threats in your environment and automate response e.g. phishing, credential theft, endpoint malware, and privilege escalation.
With the right tools, much of the engineering lift is handled for you. But configuration and tuning still matter. Default settings often miss important detections or generate excess noise.
Step 4: Plan for Growth
As your business grows, so will your attack surface. At some point, you’ll need:
More advanced detection content (custom rules, threat hunting queries)
Dedicated detection engineers or the ability to carve out time in your sprints for focus on detection
Integration of product telemetry into your security operations
The work you do now to set a telemetry and tooling foundation will make that scale-up far smoother.
Closing Thought
You don’t need a full SOC team to have effective detection engineering as an SMB; you need the right tools, telemetry, and a disciplined focus on the most common attack vectors.
With EDR, email security, web filtering, and cloud visibility in place, you’ll be well-positioned to spot, and stop, threats before they become breaches. This is where the cost benefit for a smaller business usually leans toward managed detection and response. That is, outsourcing the SOC. We can help with this decisioning and approach to risk. Setup a call today to discuss.