Where security usually breaks down
Security tools are not enough if nobody is watching them.
Most organisations already have security products. What's missing is monitoring, detection and someone accountable when something happens.
What success looks like
Threats detected sooner, contained faster, with someone accountable 24/7
- Attacks detected in minutes, not weeks
- Threats contained before they spread
- Employees better protected against phishing
- Clear visibility across identity, endpoint and email
- Documented response actions and reporting
- 24/7 monitoring backed by a named team
What is a Security Operations Centre and does your business need one?
A Security Operations Centre is a specialised function that provides continuous monitoring, threat detection, investigation and response across your endpoints, identities and cloud services. Modern threats — ransomware, business email compromise and adversary-in-the-middle session theft — bypass single-product defences, which is why Mycelium 365 structures its managed SOC as three coordinated layers: Microsoft Defender preventing what it can at the platform, Huntress detecting and responding to what gets through with 24/7 human analysts, and KnowBe4 hardening the human layer through training and simulated phishing. Building this capability in-house means security analysts across three rotating shifts, enterprise SIEM tooling and threat intelligence subscriptions — a seven-figure annual investment. A managed SOC delivers the same outcomes as a subscription service. The ASD Essential Eight lists Respond to Cyber Security Incidents (Strategy #8) as one of the eight baseline mitigations every organisation is expected to implement — for organisations without a dedicated security team, this triple-layer managed SOC is the practical way to satisfy that requirement.
According to the Australian Signals Directorate's Annual Cyber Threat Report 2023–24, cybercrime costs organisations an average of $49,600 per incident for small businesses and $62,800 for medium businesses — figures that continue to rise year on year. (Source: ASD Annual Cyber Threat Report 2023–24)
Our approach
A triple-layer managed SOC — Microsoft Defender, Huntress and KnowBe4
No single product stops every modern attack. Mycelium 365 structures its managed SOC as three coordinated layers so a threat that slips past one layer is caught by the next — prevention at the Microsoft platform, 24/7 human-led detection and response, and a workforce trained to recognise social engineering before it succeeds. All three layers are included in every managed helpdesk plan.
Layer 1 — Prevent
Microsoft Defender
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Office 365 and Identity forms the preventative baseline — antivirus, anti-phishing, attack surface reduction and Conditional Access enforced natively across your Microsoft 365 and Windows estate. It's the built-in first line of defence and the platform the rest of the stack integrates with.
Layer 2 — Detect & respond
Huntress SOC
Huntress delivers the SOC itself — 24/7 human-led detection and response across endpoints, identities and logs. Managed EDR, Managed ITDR, Managed SIEM and posture management catch the hands-on-keyboard activity, ransomware precursors and AiTM identity attacks that preventative controls miss.
Layer 3 — Educate
KnowBe4 SAT
KnowBe4 delivers world-class Security Awareness Training and simulated phishing so your people become an active defence layer. Measurable human-risk reduction closes the social-engineering gap that no piece of technology can fully cover. Read our guide to security awareness training as part of your managed SOC for more detail on what's included and how it compares to KnowBe4.
Inside Layer 2 — how the Huntress SOC operates
Huntress is the technology and human-analyst engine behind the detection and response layer of the triple-layer SOC. Purpose-built for organisations that fall below the Fortune 500, Huntress delivers enterprise-grade SOC capability at a mid-market and SMB price point.
Microsoft research found that organisations using multi-layered security monitoring detect breaches 277 days faster on average than those relying on endpoint protection alone — reducing the average cost of a breach by $1.12 million. (Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024)
What the triple-layer SOC covers
Five capabilities delivered across the three layers — Defender-integrated prevention, Huntress-led detection and response, and KnowBe4 human-risk training.
Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
The EDR layer combines Microsoft Defender for Endpoint with Huntress Managed EDR. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides the preventative platform — next-generation antivirus, attack surface reduction rules, exploit protection, network protection, tamper protection, automated investigation and remediation, and Defender Vulnerability Management — deployed and hardened through Microsoft Intune. Huntress then sits alongside Defender as the 24/7 human-led SOC layer, reviewing endpoint telemetry, hunting for persistent malware and hands-on attacker activity, and triggering one-click remediation. Together they detect the 18 stages of a ransomware attack and intervene before encryption occurs — Defender preventing what it can at the platform, Huntress catching what gets through.
Managed Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
Identity is the primary attack surface for modern cyber threats — Huntress Managed ITDR monitors Microsoft 365 accounts and Entra ID for account takeovers, business email compromise, adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks and unauthorised logins. The Huntress SOC detects compromised sessions in real time and takes action before damage occurs. This is especially critical for organisations subject to the Essential Eight, where multi-factor authentication bypass is an increasingly common attack vector.
Managed SIEM — Security Information and Event Management
Huntress Managed SIEM consolidates log data from endpoints, firewalls, identity systems and cloud services into a single monitored environment. Unlike traditional SIEMs that generate thousands of unactionable alerts, Huntress uses Smart Filtering to retain only security-relevant data and applies SOC-tuned detection rules to identify real threats. Compliance log retention of up to 7 years supports audit requirements including CMMC, PCI-DSS and Essential Eight compliance reporting.
Identity and Endpoint Security Posture Management
Huntress continuously scans your Microsoft 365 tenant and endpoints for misconfigurations, excessive permissions, policy drift and risky settings that attackers exploit before incidents occur. Microsoft 365 tenants are assessed against the CIS Microsoft 365 Benchmark and Huntress's own identity security framework, with automated or one-click remediation for identified gaps. This left-of-boom posture management closes the attack surface that most businesses leave open by default.
Security Awareness Training — powered by KnowBe4
Mycelium 365 delivers Security Awareness Training through KnowBe4, the world's largest security awareness and simulated phishing platform. Users receive engaging, bite-sized training on phishing, business email compromise, password hygiene and social engineering, backed by realistic simulated phishing campaigns that measure and improve human risk over time. Combined with the Huntress-powered SOC, KnowBe4 closes the human layer of your defence — because a strong security culture is the most cost-effective control in any organisation.
Why a managed SOC is more practical than building one in-house
Standing up an in-house SOC means hiring security analysts across three rotating shifts to provide genuine 24/7 coverage, licensing an enterprise SIEM, subscribing to threat intelligence feeds, and building the detection engineering and incident response playbooks that turn raw telemetry into confirmed incidents. Realistically that's a seven-figure annual investment before a single threat is detected. The traditional alternative is outsourcing to a large MSSP, but those services are built around enterprise contracts, enterprise onboarding timelines and enterprise price points — the mid-market and SMB segment rarely gets a well-fitted product. Huntress was specifically designed for organisations that fall below the Fortune 500, and by delivering it through Mycelium 365 the same detection outcomes are packaged into a per-user managed service. You get the SOC capability the threat landscape demands, without the capital cost or the headcount, and it's already included in your helpdesk plan.
How does a managed SOC help organisations meet Essential Eight requirements?
The ACSC Essential Eight is the Australian Government's baseline set of mitigation strategies for protecting internet-connected IT systems. A managed SOC materially strengthens a business's position against five of the eight requirements — through both preventative posture management and active detection and response.
Mitigation Strategy #3 — Patch applications
Huntress ESPM identifies and prioritises unpatched vulnerabilities across endpoints and Microsoft 365 workloads so critical patches are actioned before exploitation.
Mitigation Strategy #6 — Application control
Huntress ESPM controls which applications can run and flags unauthorised software or living-off-the-land binaries used in attacker tradecraft.
Mitigation Strategy #7 — Multi-factor authentication
Huntress ITDR detects MFA bypass attacks — including adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) session theft and OAuth consent phishing — that defeat MFA at the token layer.
Mitigation Strategy #8 — Regular backups
SOC monitoring detects ransomware precursor behaviour and the 18 stages of a ransomware attack before backup destruction is attempted.
Respond to Cyber Security Incidents
The managed SOC is the incident response capability — 24/7 detection, investigation and remediation by human analysts, with documented reports for audit and insurance evidence.
For a wider gap assessment against the Essential Eight and other Australian frameworks, see our governance and compliance readiness advisory service.
Which organisations benefit most from a managed SOC?
Professional services firms — legal, accounting, financial advisory and consulting practices — handling sensitive client data under Privacy Act and industry confidentiality obligations gain the most immediate risk reduction. Healthcare organisations subject to the Australian Privacy Act, My Health Records Act and state-based health privacy requirements need continuous monitoring to detect and contain breaches within mandatory notification timeframes. Defence contractors with Defence Industry Security Program (DISP) membership or Essential Eight compliance requirements use a managed SOC as core evidence of active security monitoring. And any organisation that has been told by their cyber insurer to demonstrate continuous security monitoring, EDR deployment or documented incident response capability can point to the Huntress-powered SOC as the operational answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Further reading on cyber security and managed SOC
Explore how Huntress-powered monitoring, security awareness training, and modern Microsoft security controls fit together for organisations.
- Security awareness training with KnowBe4 as part of your managed SOCWhy human-layer defence with KnowBe4 is the essential complement to Huntress-driven SOC monitoring.Read the article
- Cyber Security Act 2024 Australia — what businesses need to knowThe new mandatory reporting, ransomware, and incident obligations facing organisations.Read the article
- Microsoft Defender and Zero Trust for Azure cyber securityHow Defender XDR and Zero Trust architecture underpin a modern SOC alongside Huntress MDR.Read the article
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