Elevating SOC Efficiency with Network Detection and Response for a Financial Sector Entity

A UAE federal authority sought to strengthen SOC efficiency and enhance detection of sophisticated cyber threats across its digital infrastructure. Facing increasing visibility gaps and regulatory obligations, the organization partnered with Intertec to implement a Managed SOC integrated with Network Detection and Response (NDR). The solution improved threat detection accuracy, reduced dwell time, and ensured compliance-aligned, secure operations.

Business Problem

As the organization expanded its digital footprint, maintaining full network visibility and timely threat detection became increasingly challenging. Existing controls were insufficient to detect sophisticated threats while meeting evolving regulatory requirements.

• Limited visibility across internal east-west network communications
• Difficulty detecting advanced threats, including zero-day exploits and insider activity
• Delays in investigation and response, increasing dwell time
• Stringent UAE financial sector and data residency compliance obligations
• Need for a consolidated MSP-MSSP operating model to strengthen governance and oversight

These challenges increased operational risk, limited threat visibility, and exposed the organization to potential compliance gaps.

How Intertec Helped

Through a structured security assessment and collaborative alignment with the client’s IT and risk teams, Intertec delivered a Managed SOC integrated with Network Detection and Response (NDR) to strengthen threat visibility and response capabilities:

Full Layer-7 Visibility: Enabled passive network traffic analysis to uncover hidden threats beyond log-based monitoring.

Behavioral Analytics: Applied machine learning to detect anomalies and suspicious activity in real time.

MITRE ATT&CK Alignment: Mapped detections to standardized frameworks for structured threat analysis.

Automated Investigation Workflows: Accelerated triage and root cause analysis through contextual enrichment.

Seamless Integration: Designed to work alongside existing O365 workflows without operational overhead.

Unified MSP-MSSP Governance: Integrated infrastructure and security operations under SLA-driven oversight.

Business Outcomes Delivered

Intertec significantly strengthened the organization’s cybersecurity posture and operational efficiency:

• Closed east-west visibility gaps with packet-level evidence
• Improved detection of lateral movement and privilege escalation
• Enhanced compliance with UAE financial regulations
• Increased SOC analyst productivity by minimizing manual log correlation
• Reduced incident dwell time through faster investigation

‍