Ascendsys Managed Security Services (MSS) provides customers with a state of the art managed security services environment to monitor and manage the IT security of customers from a remote Security Operations Centre (SOC). The solution is designed in collaboration with Symantec, the world’s leading information systems security provider.  The SOC provides 24 x 365 monitored and/or managed security services.

Ascendsys MSS enables organisations to identify, prioritise and respond to security threats that impact mission-critical business applications.  With real-time correlation of network security breaches and Symantec’s trusted global security threat intelligence, only Ascendsys MSS delivers effective incident response ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your business information assets.

Ascendsys MSS delivers the following capabilities:

• Captures, filters, aggregates and normalises security events automatically from a myriad of Symantec and leading 3rd-party security products (anti-virus, firewall, intrusion detection/prevention, and vulnerability management) to identify critical breaches in a heterogeneous or complex network environment.
  
• Correlates security events, in real-time, helping to transform logs into intelligence and to focus resources on solving the most serious problems first.
  
• Tracks security incidents and related response activities throughout its lifecycle from events, incidents, ticket creation, to closure, helping to quickly and effectively remediate problems.
• Delivers real-time early warning security intelligence from Symantec DeepSight TMS for proactively managing threats.
  
• Reports key security incident metrics enabling businesses to visualise and refine the effectiveness of their security processes and posture.
  
• 24 x 365 monitoring and response, ensuring peace of mind.

The following security services are offered:

• Alert Services: Alert services provide alerts to customers when an incident is detected by the Operations centre. Alert services provide telephone, sms, e-mail alerts. Problem identification and resolution are the responsibility of the customer.
  
  This service is primarily targeted at customers who have expertise in house on a 24 x 365 basis and only want to know when an incident happens. The remedial activities are completely carried out by them and they do not need any assistance.

• Monitored Services: Monitored services provide customers with alerts and the steps to fix the problem. Details of the incident by device and severity are posted on the portal for the customer to access and solve by themselves. Customer is notified by telephone, sms, e-mail on the incident and required to log into the portal to determine the cause of the incident and actions to take to solve the incident.
  
  This service is targeted at customers who are investigating Managed Security Services as an alternative. This service allows the customer to evaluate the MSS capabilities of the provider without great risk to the IT environment. The monitored service allows the customer to determine the event correlation, incident management and response and Service Level capabilities of the service provider. This is a good starting point for anyone interested in MSS. 
  
  Managed Services: Managed services provide comprehensive incident management by the Security Operations Centre. From the moment the incident is detected, security personnel would be engaged to solve the problem remotely from the Operations centre. Two levels of managed services are offered: Standard Managed and Premium Managed. In standard managed, the customer still has control of the security devices managed, but has assistance from Ascendsys MSS to resolve the problem. This level of service is for customers who are confident of the services provided and wish the service provider to resolve the security incidents, but wants to have control over the security assets. Customers in this category are usually upgrading from the monitored services, and are happy with the services provided. 
  
  In premium managed services, Ascendsys completely manages the IT security of the customer. The customer provides complete access to the systems, and Ascendsys is responsible to manage the security as per the agreed Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Security Consulting Services:
Ascendsys’ general approach to security takes into account protective, detective, and reactive strategies which enable organisations to perform reasonable due diligence when implementing secure architectures.  We work with organisations to evaluate their core concerns regarding the identification and classification of their assets and to enumerate the potential interior and exterior threats directed against these assets. The various components of the security consulting are:

Strategic Consulting
The strategic consulting service provided is in the area of Information Security Policy. Ascendsys consultants would initially work with customers to review the existing information security policy and provide feedback on the existing policy. The policy would be reviewed to ensure conformance to standards such as BS7799, and the execution of the policy in terms of security plans. A potential risk assessment would be made based on the information security policy and will be documented.

Intrusion Analysis (Penetration Testing)
The penetration testing is a controlled step by step testing of the organisation’s information security posture. The penetration test is an investigative procedure that tests the organisations security systems by peeling away the different layers of the environment to identify areas of weakness.