IDC has named Rapid7 a Leader in the 2026 Worldwide Managed Detection and Response Service for Midmarket 2026 Vendor Assessment (Doc #US52992326, July 2026). We believe this recognition and research highlights where MDR is heading.
Many security programs are still built around a reactive sequence of detect, triage, and respond, but the timelines surrounding modern attacks have changed too quickly for that model to hold up on its own. Time-to-exploit has dropped from two years to 22 hours, while eCrime breakout time now sits at 29 minutes. In an environment like that, a program moving at human speed across siloed data, cannot keep pace. Rapid7’s view is that MDR must evolve accordingly, which is why we have been building toward a more preemptive security model.
What the IDC MarketScape said
The IDC MarketScape evaluation examined vendors across technical capability, service delivery, and strategic vision and two of IDC comments about Rapid7 stand out for us:
First, on how Rapid7’s MDR works differently:
"Rapid7's Preemptive MDR model, which natively integrates vulnerability context, asset criticality, and attack path data directly into the analyst investigation workflow, provides a structurally differentiated detection approach that connects threat activity to underlying exposure in real time."
This is the core of what we've built. Exposure management and detection and response work in our Command Platform’s unified data mesh, which means exposure context shapes what threats get surfaced, while active threat monitoring improves how exposure is prioritized. That connection is a meaningful part of how Rapid7 approaches MDR today.
Second, comments on threat intelligence:
"The combination of [Rapid7] Project Lorelei honeypot intelligence and Project Sonar internet-wide exposure data provides proprietary threat intelligence sources that are not replicated by other providers in the market."
This threat intelligence is fueled by Rapid7 Labs, our dedicated global threat research and intelligence division, which constantly analyzes the global attack surface. Project Sonar catalogs public internet exposure, and Project Lorelei is our global network of honeypots that catches live attacker traffic. Together, they give Rapid7 a proprietary source of intelligence that feeds directly into detection engineering and investigation workflows.
Where MDR is heading next:
The recognition is important to us, but the more useful question is where MDR is heading and how Rapid7 is building for that shift. We are actively deploying autonomous AI agents in our Agentic SOC to handle the first hour of forensic investigation, including volatile memory collection, identity flow correlation, and initial triage before a human analyst opens the case. In practical terms, that is what responding at machine speed starts to look like inside a modern SOC.
Our MDR offering, Managed Threat Complete, includes unlimited incident response and a $1M Breach Protection Warranty, adding a stronger level of accountability for organizations that want MDR outcomes backed by both service depth and financial protection.
Read IDC’s full evaluation of Rapid7 here. If you're evaluating your MDR approach, we'd like to show you what preemptive security could look like in your environment.