A business with 20 to 200 employees needs endpoint detection and response (EDR) on every computer and server, plus managed detection and response (MDR) so trained people watch those alerts and act on them around the clock. A dedicated in-house security operations center (SOC) is out of reach for most companies that size, and MDR gives you SOC-level monitoring as a service. WEBIT Services builds its security baseline the same way, starting with EDR on every managed device.
EDR vs antivirus is the first choice to settle, and who watches the alerts is the second. An alert that fires at 2 a.m. on a Saturday protects you only if someone sees it before Monday.
What is the difference between antivirus, EDR, MDR and a SOC?
Antivirus blocks known threats, EDR watches for suspicious behavior on each device, MDR adds a team that responds to what EDR finds, and a SOC is the security team and process that does the watching.
| Layer | What it is | What it catches | Who responds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antivirus | Software that matches files to known threats | Known malware | Blocks automatically, then waits for you |
| EDR | Software that records and analyzes behavior on each device | Suspicious activity, including new attacks and misuse of legitimate tools | Alerts someone, and can isolate a device |
| MDR | A service that monitors EDR and other alerts 24/7 | Everything EDR sees, triaged by people | Security analysts who investigate and contain threats |
| SOC | A security operations team, in-house or delivered as a service | Events across devices, email, identity and network | Dedicated analysts working in shifts |
What modern attacks look like in 2026
Modern attacks rarely arrive as a file antivirus has seen before. The Verizon 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report found ransomware in 48 percent of breaches and a human element in 62 percent, meaning a person clicked, approved or typed something. Those attacks use stolen sign-ins and legitimate admin tools, which look normal to signature-based antivirus and suspicious to EDR.
How fast detection changes the cost of an attack
Detection speed is where MDR earns its cost. IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026 found organizations took a mean of 247 days to identify and contain a breach. Security teams that made extensive use of AI and automation shortened that by 65 days and lowered average breach costs by $1.93 million. For a small business, MDR is the practical way to get that automation and a trained response team without hiring one.
Which layers does a 20 to 200 person business need?
Most businesses this size need four things in place:
- EDR on every workstation and server, including laptops that leave the office.
- MDR monitoring 24/7, with authority to isolate a device without waiting for your approval at 2 a.m.
- Email and identity protection, since most attacks start with a message or a stolen password.
- Tested backups, so containment is followed by a clean recovery.
A full in-house SOC makes sense once security events need several full-time analysts, which is beyond the scale of most companies under 500 employees. The guide to SOC and SIEM covers when to add log collection and a SIEM. Cyber insurers also ask about these controls at renewal, as the cyber insurance renewal checklist shows.
How WEBIT Services layers endpoint security
Security Essentials is WEBIT’s baseline security package that puts Zero Trust EDR, endpoint management, application allowlisting, DNS filtering and vulnerability management on every workstation and server. It is included with every managed device and cannot be removed. WEBIT’s cybersecurity practice adds MDR, email security, MFA, firewall management and security awareness training, built on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Manufacturers can find industry-specific guidance in the MDR whitepaper for manufacturers.
