MDR provider with contractual response SLAs and analyst-driven threat handling
Critical Start operates a 24/7 managed detection and response service built around contractual SLAs (10-minute notification for critical alerts, 60-minute mean time to respond) rather than best-effort promises. The tech stack—Sentinel, Splunk, Sumo Logic, SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Cortex XDR—reflects multi-layer detection across SIEM, EDR, and XDR. Hiring is support-heavy (11 roles) with senior-level staffing, matching the labor-intensive analyst model; the absence of adopting/replacing signals suggests infrastructure stability rather than active platform shifts.
Critical Start provides managed detection and response to mid-market security teams in the United States and India. The service centers on human-led threat response: a 24x7x365 SOC staffed by analysts who classify every alert, escalate genuine threats, and resolve false positives with full context. The company integrates with existing tools across endpoint (SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender), cloud (Azure Defender), identity (Microsoft Purview), and OT environments. A parallel Signal Assurance process identifies coverage gaps and blind spots. The business model trades scale for accountability—contractual SLAs and transparent decision logs replace high-volume alert feeds.
Critical Start guarantees 10-minute notification for critical alerts and 60-minute mean time to respond for all alerts. These are contractual commitments, not service-level goals.
The platform integrates Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk, Sumo Logic, SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Cortex XDR, Microsoft Defender, and Azure Defender across endpoint, cloud, identity, and OT layers.
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