Threat Detection
The Assume Breach principle mandates that organisations must plan for, detect, and respond to attacks — not just prevent them. Without detection capability, even well-configured preventative controls fail silently when bypassed. VSS deploys Microsoft's integrated security operations stack to ensure no threat goes undetected.
Our threat detection services combine Microsoft Sentinel (cloud-native SIEM/SOAR), Defender XDR (extended detection and response), proactive threat hunting with KQL and MITRE ATT&CK mapping, and AI-assisted triage through Microsoft Security Copilot — providing comprehensive, correlated detection across endpoints, identities, email, cloud applications, and infrastructure.
AI-powered security operations centre monitoring threats in real-time.
Proactive security monitoring
VSS's goal is twofold: block cheap and easy attacks, and find and kick attackers out fast when prevention fails. Our detection capabilities ensure no signal is missed.
We correlate signals that appear low-risk in isolation into high-confidence incident alerts — dramatically reducing alert fatigue.
Microsoft Security Copilot accelerates triage, enabling junior analysts to perform at senior levels.
Our threat detection capabilities include:
Cloud-native SIEM with analytics rules, UEBA, and SOAR automation.
Correlated detection across endpoints, identity, email, and cloud.
Proactive hunting with KQL queries and MITRE ATT&CK mapping.
AI-assisted incident triage, summarisation, and remediation.
Phishing simulations and security awareness training.
Continuous security posture measurement and improvement.
24/7 Threat Monitoring & Response
VSS provides round-the-clock security monitoring through Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR, ensuring threats are detected and responded to in minutes — not hours or days.
Read MoreReal-Time Detection
Continuous monitoring across your entire digital estate.
AI-Powered Triage
Security Copilot accelerates incident investigation.
MITRE ATT&CK
Threat hunting mapped to adversary techniques.
Automated Response
SOAR playbooks reduce response time to minutes.
Why Proactive Threat Detection Matters
The Assume Breach principle mandates continuous detection and response
The Microsoft Cybersecurity Reference Architecture (MCRA) is clear: organisations must plan for, detect, and respond to attacks — not just prevent them. Without detection capability, even well-configured preventative controls fail silently when bypassed. Modern attackers use harvested credentials, compromised identities, and lateral movement techniques that traditional perimeter-based security cannot stop.
VSS deploys Microsoft's integrated security operations stack to provide correlated, AI-enhanced threat detection across your entire digital estate — endpoints, identities, email, cloud apps, and infrastructure — ensuring no attack signal is missed and every incident is triaged rapidly.
Microsoft Sentinel — Cloud-Native SIEM & SOAR
Your central security intelligence platform
Analytics Rules & UEBA
Built-in analytics rules correlate signals across your environment. User and Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA) establishes behavioural baselines and detects anomalous activity — impossible travel, unusual data access patterns, and privilege escalation attempts.
Key Capability
Automated correlation of low-risk signals into high-confidence incident alerts
Data Connectors & Integration
Connect data sources from Microsoft 365, Azure, Entra ID, the full Defender suite, and third-party sources. Sentinel ingests and normalises security telemetry from across your hybrid environment for unified visibility.
Key Capability
Unified security telemetry across cloud, on-premises, and third-party systems
SOAR Automation
Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) capabilities automate repetitive investigation tasks, enrich incidents with threat intelligence, and execute predefined response playbooks — reducing mean time to respond from hours to minutes.
Key Capability
Automated playbook execution for common incident types
Dashboards & Workbooks
Interactive security dashboards and workbooks provide real-time visibility into your security posture, threat trends, and compliance status. Custom KQL-driven visualisations enable security teams to track KPIs and communicate risk to leadership.
Key Capability
Real-time security posture visualisation and executive reporting
Microsoft Defender XDR — Extended Detection and Response
Correlated detection across your entire digital estate
The unified Defender XDR suite provides correlated detection across endpoints (Defender for Endpoint), identity (Defender for Identity), email (Defender for Office 365), cloud apps (Defender for Cloud Apps), and cloud infrastructure (Defender for Cloud). XDR correlates signals that appear low-risk in isolation into high-confidence incident alerts — dramatically reducing alert fatigue and ensuring genuine threats are not buried in noise.
Defender for Endpoint
Real-time endpoint detection and response (EDR) with automated investigation and remediation. Feeds threat intelligence directly into Sentinel for SIEM correlation.
Defender for Identity
Monitors Active Directory signals to detect identity-based attacks including pass-the-hash, pass-the-ticket, and lateral movement attempts across your domain infrastructure.
Defender for Office 365
Protects against email-borne threats including phishing, BEC, malware, and zero-day attacks. Safe Attachments and Safe Links provide real-time detonation and URL analysis.
Defender for Cloud Apps
Monitors and controls cloud application usage, detects shadow IT, and enforces session-level controls on sanctioned SaaS applications to prevent data exfiltration.
Proactive Threat Hunting
Beyond alert-driven response — actively searching for hidden threats
KQL-Powered Hunting
VSS security analysts use Sentinel's Kusto Query Language (KQL) capabilities to proactively search for Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), suspicious patterns, and behavioural anomalies that automated detection may miss.
MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
Threat hunting queries are mapped to MITRE ATT&CK technique patterns, ensuring comprehensive coverage of known adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used in real-world attacks targeting East African organisations.
Behavioural Analytics
UEBA establishes baseline behaviour for users and entities across your environment. Deviations from normal patterns — unusual login times, atypical data access, privilege escalation — trigger investigation workflows before damage occurs.
Microsoft Security Copilot — AI-Assisted Triage
Security Copilot uses generative AI to accelerate incident investigation and response. Analysts can query incidents in natural language, receive AI-generated incident summaries, get guided remediation recommendations, and automate routine triage tasks — dramatically reducing the skills gap and enabling junior analysts to perform at senior levels.
Attack Simulation & Security Awareness
Test your defences and train your people
Defender Attack Simulator
Run realistic phishing simulation campaigns to test employee awareness and identify vulnerable users. Track click rates, credential submission rates, and training completion to measure security awareness maturity over time.
- Phishing simulation campaigns
- Credential harvesting tests
- Attachment-based attack simulations
- Drive-by URL attack scenarios
Security Awareness Training
Deploy the Microsoft Cybersecurity Awareness Kit alongside targeted training assignments triggered by simulation failures. Build a culture of security awareness with quarterly campaigns and completion reporting to leadership.
- Targeted training for vulnerable users
- Quarterly awareness campaigns
- Completion tracking and reporting
- Custom training content delivery
Microsoft Secure Score — Continuous Posture Management
Quantitative measurement of your security posture
Baseline & Track
VSS establishes your Microsoft Secure Score as the primary quantitative measure of security posture. We define target scores per quarter and assign ownership of remediation actions to ensure continuous improvement.
- Initial baseline assessment
- Quarterly target score definition
- Remediation action ownership
- Executive progress reporting
Continuous Improvement
Security posture is not a destination — it is a continuous journey. VSS provides ongoing Secure Score reviews as part of our Annual Zero Trust SLA, ensuring your defences evolve with the threat landscape.
- Monthly posture reviews
- Threat landscape alignment
- Configuration drift detection
- Compliance score tracking
Key Tools & Technologies
The Microsoft security stack powering our threat detection services
Microsoft Sentinel
Cloud-native SIEM & SOAR
Defender XDR
Extended Detection & Response
Defender for Identity
Identity threat detection
Defender for Endpoint
Endpoint detection & response
Defender for Office 365
Email & collaboration security
Security Copilot
AI-assisted security operations
Attack Simulator
Phishing simulation & training
Secure Score
Security posture management