WatchGuard Expands NDR Capabilities, Making Advanced Network Threat Detection Practical for MSPs and Midmarket Organizations

Embedded detection, managed services, and automated response simplify NDR adoption for SMEs and MSPs

WatchGuard Technologies, a global leader in unified cybersecurity for MSPs, announced new WatchGuard NDR for Firebox, Managed NDR and Total NDR offerings for organizations to easily deploy and scale AI-powered threat detection that uncovers, investigates and contains malicious activity without added complexity. This expansion of its award-winning network detection and response (NDR) capabilities further enables small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) and managed service providers (MSPs) to address critical network security gaps vulnerable to modern exploitation.

The newly expanded WatchGuard NDR capabilities include:

• WatchGuard NDR for Firebox embeds advanced detection directly into existing firewall environments, eliminating the need for standalone sensors or new hardware. Organizations gain deep traffic visibility and behavioral analysis using telemetry already present within their networks. Delivered through a unified management experience and integrated into the WatchGuard Unified Security Platform®, detection becomes a natural extension of existing security operations rather than a separate tool requiring additional oversight.
• For organizations without dedicated security operations teams, WatchGuard Managed NDR services, delivered by the WatchGuard Security Operations Center (SOC), provide continuous monitoring, investigation, and guided response. This allows MSPs and SMEs to operationalize advanced detection without building or staffing an internal SOC.
• Total NDR extends coverage through integration with ThreatSync XDR, while WatchGuard NDR enables automated IP blocking across third-party firewalls from Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks and Check Point, supporting coordinated enforcement across multi-vendor environments and accelerating threat containment.

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“Organizations understand they need detection beyond the firewall, but operational complexity has slowed adoption,” said Andrew Young, chief product officer at WatchGuard. “We’re simplifying how advanced detection is deployed and managed, so MSPs and IT teams can operationalize NDR without adding infrastructure, overhead, or specialized staff.”

By combining embedded detection, managed expertise and automated cross-platform response, WatchGuard is transforming network detection and response from a specialized capability into an accessible, scalable tenet of modern security operations. Threat actors routinely exploit encrypted traffic, stolen credentials, and trusted administrative tools to move laterally within a network and remain undetected. NDR has emerged as a critical layer for uncovering high-impact threats hidden within legitimate network traffic, but the technical and staffing resources required to support legacy solutions have prevented widespread MSP and SME adoption.

WatchGuard’s NDR capabilities analyze behavioral patterns across users, devices, and connections to identify malicious intent earlier, reduce attacker dwell time and limit breach impact. With this expansion, WatchGuard builds on its award-winning NDR solution, recognized by CRN as Network Security Product of the Year and by SPARK Matrix as a Leader, while making NDR more practical for everyday deployment and operations.

“Many midmarket organizations recognize the importance of NDR but struggle with deployment and operational complexity,” said Chris Kissel, research vice president, Security & Trust Products group at IDC. “Embedding detection into existing infrastructure and enabling automated response across mixed environments significantly lowers the barrier to adopting advanced threat protection.”