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Arctic Wolf And Its Mission To Own The Cybersecurity Journey

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I met Arctic Wolf for the first time over the summer at RSA Conference. During our initial meeting, I was intrigued by the company’s concierge approach to providing a security operation as a service. I also learned that Arctic Wolf maintains a security operations center (SOC) in San Antonio, just a short drive south of where I live in Austin, TX. I recently visited the Texas facility would like to share some insights gleaned from a conversation I had with Mark Manglicmot, SVP of Security Services, and his management team.

Cybersecurity accountability

In a Forbes article that captured my insights from RSA Conference, including Arctic Wolf (you can find it here if interested), I highlighted many cybersecurity challenges companies of all sizes face. On average, enterprises manage dozens of cybersecurity point solutions, creating complexity even with API integration. The other challenge lies with alert fatigue – knowing what is actionable and an immediate threat.

Arctic Wolf’s comprehensive platform solves the first challenge, offering cloud-managed detection and response, continual risk management and security awareness designed to address the human element with improved employee security hygiene. However, I believe that Arctic Wolf’s key differentiation in the very crowded cybersecurity market is the way it takes ownership of its customers' cybersecurity journey. This approach starkly contrasts other security solutions that merely lob alerts over a cyber fence. The company's concierge model dedicates resources by operator name, optimizes deployment and management and provides threat intelligence and situational awareness on an ongoing basis. This focus eliminates any guesswork for IT and OT teams and is ideally suited for many organizations adopting a light NetOps and SecOps staffing model.

Arctic Wolf also claims that its SecOps framework, based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standard, is one of the only end-to-end cybersecurity platforms to deliver relevant outcomes through threat identification, protection, detection, response and recovery. The proof is in performance, and Arctic Wolf, on average, generates a single ticket daily for its customers while delivering 99.9% true positives, thus mitigating alert fatigue. The company is also making cybersecurity training fun and engaging for its customers with short videos that satirize popular series such as WandaVision and This Old House. Poor security hygiene related to phishing and social engineering schemes is likely one of the largest threats to an organization. In my corporate experience, most compliance training is stale, and as a result retention is typically low. I like Arctic Wolf’s creative approach to solving this issue.

A keen focus on recruitment

It is no secret that there is a lack of cybersecurity talent. Recent U.S. federal government estimates peg the number of open positions at over half a million, likely growing daily. Arctic Wolf is supplying its talent needs with a multi-pronged approach that, on the surface, is as robust as its security platform. The company is active on several college campuses that offer cybersecurity degree programs, including the University of Texas at San Antonio, and maintains a relationship with Women in Cybersecurity. As a father of two daughters, the latter is a fantastic effort from an inclusion perspective.

Veterans also make up a significant portion of its analyst operations teams and nearly 40% of its workforce at the San Antonio SOC. I applaud Arctic Wolf for providing service members from all military branches the opportunity to enter the civilian ranks in a position that both pays well and offers a promotion path. San Antonio provides a fertile military recruiting ground given the presence of the Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), which comprises Fort Sam Houston, Camp Bullis, Randolph and Lackland Air Force bases. JBSA claims to be the largest and most diverse joint base operated by the Department of Defense.

Wrapping up

I think Arctic Wolf is a company to watch in the cybersecurity industry. Its pragmatic partnership approach to helping its customers realize optimized security outcomes is compelling. A dizzying number of security point solutions are available, and half of the battle is mapping out the most effective cybersecurity journey. To address that challenge, Arctic Wolf offers a complete solution and a business model that provides accountability and deep bench strength.


Note: Moor Insights & Strategy writers and editors may have contributed to this article.

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Moor Insights & Strategy founder, CEO, and Chief Analyst Patrick Moorhead is an investor in dMY Technology Group Inc. VI, Dreamium Labs, Groq, Luminar Technologies, MemryX, and Movand

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