ESET is a Market Leader in the 2026 KuppingerCole Analysts Leadership Compass for MDR
In today’s digital landscape, organizations face growing cyber threats, alert overload, and a cybersecurity skills gap. Managed Detection & Response (MDR) provides proactive 24/7 IT monitoring and advanced threat management to enhance resilience and strengthen security beyond traditional services.
ESET has been recognized by KuppingerCole Analysts as a Market Leader in their 2026 MDR Leadership Compass. Combining AI-driven insights, global threat intelligence, and expert human analysis, ESET’s MDR delivers unmatched threat detection, rapid response, and simplified security management.
KuppingerCole Analysts cited ESET’s strengths as:
- Integrated MDR within ESET PROTECT Console
- Fast automated response and containment
- AI-assisted investigation through ESET AI Advisor
- Mature threat intelligence and research capability
- Good customer visibility into incident timelines
- Built-in SOAR and automated remediation actions
- Vulnerability and patch management included
- Ability to discover and monitor shadow IT
- Multilingual support across many regions
- Ransomware prevention and rollback technology
As well as identifying ESET is a Market Leader in MDR, KuppingerCole Analysts commented that ESET is “demonstrating solid global coverage and a growing MDR footprint”.
In their profile of ESET, KuppingerCole Analysts highlight its integrated platform experience, fast automated containment, strong threat intelligence, built-in SOAR, patch management, multilingual support, and ransomware prevention and rollback technology.
Overall evaluation of ESET PROTECT MDR
Highlights from KuppingerCole Analysts’ evaluation of ESET PROTECT MDR
AI-assisted security operations
- GenAI-driven AI Advisor supports faster investigations, incident summaries, and reporting
- 24/7 SOC monitoring with continuous threat hunting and analyst-led response
- The inclusion of ESET’s AI Advisor by default in ESET MDR Ultimate lowers the skills barrier for smaller organizations
Proactive threat detection and response
- Advanced ransomware protection with pre-encryption blocking and remediation
- Real-time threat intelligence backed by a global research team
- Policy-driven automated containment to rapidly isolate threats
Unified and scalable platform
- Integrated XDR platform combining endpoint, SIEM, and SOAR capabilities
- Broad coverage across endpoints and modern operating environments
- Flexible deployment with SaaS-first delivery and optional hybrid support
Compliance
- Alignment with NIS2, DORA, and GDPR requirements
- Regional data residency options and strong EMEA presence
Praise for ESET PROTECT Console:
- “The console provides customers with clear visibility into incidents, response actions, and analyst commentary.”
- “The user interface is clean and well-structured with clear dashboards, incident timelines, configurable notifications, and direct visibility into SOC actions.”
- “ESET response actions are supported by automation and experienced SOC teams.”
- “The inclusion of ESET’s AI Advisor by default in MDR Ultimate lowers the skills barrier for smaller organizations.”
About the report
KuppingerCole Analysts Leadership Compass is a tool that provides an overview of a particular IT market segment and identifies the leaders within that market segment. It is designed as a compass for navigating the market by providing a detailed analysis of vendors and available products or services to help organizations to identify which ones best meet their requirements.
KC’s rating is based on a broad range of input and long experience in that market segment. Input consists of experience from KuppingerCole advisory projects, feedback from customers using the products, product documentation, and a questionnaire sent out before creating the KuppingerCole Leadership Compass, and other sources.
