Fortra

Last Updated: 22nd December 2023
Analyst Coverage: Fran Howarth

In March 2022, HelpSystems signed a merger agreement with Alert Logic. In November 2022, HelpSystems was rebranded as Fortra to signal a shift in focus to cybersecurity and automation. Fortra offers solutions for data security, infrastructure protection, managed services, and threat research and intelligence. Alert Logic provides managed detection and response (MDR) and Fortra managed web application firewall (WAF).

Alert Logic was founded in 2002. It has offices in the US, the UK and Colombia. It maintains two SOCs, one in the US and the other in Cardiff, but can serve any region through its roster of partners. Its machine learning and EDR capabilities were boosted by its acquisition of Barkly at the beginning of 2019.

Alert Logic started out by offering threat intelligence and response services. Since then, it has built a massive-scale telemetry platform that covers the entire threat surface, including endpoint, network and the major public clouds. It is a technology-agnostic, pure-play MDR services provider with the ability to analyse information feeds from whatever technology a customer has in its ecosystem. Its underlying technology is boosted by a large number of expert security practitioners that act as an extension of customers’ teams. Proactive threat hunting is an important part of its offering.

It has been offering WAF as part of its MDR service for some 10 years. However, it spun it out in March 2023 as a distinct product and service as Fortra managed WAF. It is one of few MDR vendors to offer a managed WAF alongside its other capabilities. By offering WAF as a managed service, it helps customers to rein in costs and improve performance, problems that plague many WAF implementations. As opposed to detecting and responding to threats, WAF is a preventive control that prevents cyber attacks from happening, which is vital since the web is the biggest threat vector currently and use of cloud services is high and growing rapidly. Although now separate, feeds from its WAF offering are analysed in one of Alert Logic’s SOCs, providing a consolidated view of events.

The focus of Alert Logic is on helping organisations to achieve their desired security outcomes, from shielding them from successful attack to helping them to develop a more robust security posture.

Company Info

Headquarters: 11095 Viking Drive Suite, 100 Eden Prairie, MN 55344, United States
Telephone: +1 952 933 0609

Fortra Alert Logic

Last Updated: 22nd December 2023
Mutable Award: Gold 2023

What is it?

Fortra’s Alert Logic provides managed detection and response (MDR) services, as well as managed web application firewall (WAF) services that are offered integrated into its MDR platform or as a standalone service. It operates global virtual security operations centres (SOCs), utilising the expertise of more than 120 security analysts.

Its MDR and WAF services are mature with a wider range of features than some competitors, although it is constantly innovating by adding new capabilities. Its roadmap is extensive, covering many bases that include further integrations and more cloud capabilities, an area in which it is already strong.

Fortra’s Alert Logic has in place a huge channel partner programme that will aid customers with localised services and knowledge, and its incorporation into Fortra will also provide it with greater international reach.

Customer Quotes

“They continuously make updates and improvements to make our everyday lives easier, even though we’re still using the same product! I can’t say that about any other tool we use.”
Chief Information Security Officer, Cloudreach

“Working withAlert Logic gives us access to experts who deeply understand security, who are constantly honing their security knowledge, and who have access to vast amounts of security intelligence.”
Security Operations and Incident Response Manager, McArthurGlen

“The Alert Logicportfolio really sold me – it includes all of the elements that are relevant to Retail Insights, LLC – and demonstrated how each solution addressed our specific needs; I didn’t see anything else like it. Vendors talked about cloud coverage but they didn’t have anything near the breadth or depth of the Alert Logic suite.”
Vice President, IT, Retail Insights LLC

What does it do?

Fig 1 - Vulnerability Dashboard

Fortra’s Alert Logic’s boasts is ability to deliver “MDR for any environment” and its services span on-premises implementations to multiple cloud environments, available in a hybrid fashion to suit the growing use of hybrid infrastructure among organisations.

Its MDR cloud-native platform can ingest a massive amount of telemetry for sources from throughout the network and it is currently focusing on and adding new sources in the endpoint detection and response/extended detection and response (EDR/XDR) and incident response space. It sees integrations as key and it has a large roster of technology partners. These include identity and access management controls, which are vital since identities are a major attack vector. Whilst it is technology-agnostic so that customers can benefit from their existing technology investments, it also benefits from integration with the technology portfolio that Fortra offers.

Fig 2 - Threat Summary

The MDR service has strong threat intelligence capabilities through integration with Fortra’s threat intelligence platform that incorporates a wide range of information sources from third parties and from its own technologies from within its portfolio. This aids in uncovering emerging threats and attack patterns for better threat detection, which informs incident response. Security orchestration and automated response (SOAR) capabilities are embedded within the platform, allowing it to offer its Alert Logic Intelligent Response service.

Fortra’s Alert Logic is known for its particularly strong capabilities for the cloud, with services specially aimed at adding security services for all the major public cloud providers, protecting customers as they push into the cloud in greater volumes to enable them with digital transformation initiatives.

Why should you care?

Fortra’s Alert Logic prides itself on its ability to deliver continuous customer value focused on ensuring a personalised service for its customers. Customers are provided with hands-on customer success managers who actively advise customers on getting better value from its products and services and the constant upgrades that it makes.

A particular differentiator is its integrated managed WAF services for web application and API security, which can also be purchased as a standalone offering. It is one of the only MDR vendors able to offer this, which is vital for organisations as they push further into the cloud and constantly develop new web applications, which are a key attack vector.

A further benefit is the predictable pricing that it offers, based on nodes. It offers three tiers for subscriptions, that offer products and services suited to the needs of organisations of varying sizes and levels of maturity.

The bottom line

Fortra’s Alert Logic is consistently positioned as a Champion in MDR Market Updates published by Bloor Research, scoring the highest among vendors included for being fit for purpose, its performance, value and innovation. It is well known for its services expertise and for the value that it provides to customers.

Mutable Award: Gold 2023