In 2024, cyber threats are moving faster than most businesses can respond. Attacks that used to unfold over days or weeks now spread in hours — sometimes minutes. That’s why continuous monitoring has become one of the most important parts of modern cybersecurity.
When threats move this quickly, checking logs once a day or relying on occasional alerts just isn’t enough anymore. Continuous monitoring gives organizations real-time visibility into suspicious activity across Microsoft 365, identity systems, endpoints, email, cloud apps, and network activity. Instead of finding out about an incident after something breaks, continuous monitoring lets you see what’s happening as it happens.
The threat landscape has changed
Attackers today aren’t running noisy scans or brute-forcing firewalls. They’re focusing on identity — logging into Microsoft 365 or Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) with stolen credentials, replayed tokens, or phishing-based access.
We’re seeing patterns like:
- unexpected login attempts from unfamiliar locations
- MFA fatigue attacks
- mailbox forwarding rules created quietly in the background
- OAuth apps requesting dangerous permissions
- large file downloads from SharePoint or OneDrive
- privilege escalation attempts inside Entra
- endpoints running suspicious scripts or tools
None of these look like “breaches” at first glance — but they’re all warning signs. And without continuous monitoring, they get missed.
Why reaction-based security is no longer enough
Most organizations historically used a “find and fix” approach: something breaks, someone gets notified, and the team responds. That model simply doesn’t hold up in 2024.
Today:
- identity attacks move too quickly
- cloud platforms change constantly
- phishing is more convincing than ever
- AI tools are making attackers faster and more precise
By the time a traditional alert fires, damage is often already done. Mailboxes have been searched, files have been copied, rules have been created, and access has been expanded. Responding after the fact is better than nothing — but it’s not enough.
Continuous monitoring closes that gap
With continuous monitoring, you’re not relying on a single tool or a handful of inbox alerts. You have multiple signals feeding into a central place — usually a cloud-native SIEM like Microsoft Sentinel — where suspicious behavior can be correlated and flagged before it escalates.
Continuous monitoring helps teams catch:
- unusual authentication patterns and sign-in locations
- attempts to access admin roles or high-privilege accounts
- mailbox anomalies, such as new forwarding rules or unusual send patterns
- new risky devices connecting to Microsoft 365
- endpoint behaviors that don’t match normal usage
- changes to Conditional Access or MFA policies
- attempts to disable or tamper with security controls
This is the kind of information that lets a business get ahead of a threat instead of reacting only after users start reporting issues or systems go offline.
Why it matters right now
Businesses across South Georgia and North Florida are adopting more cloud services, more remote access, and more identitydriven workflows. That’s good for flexibility and productivity — but it also means most critical activity now happens outside traditional network boundaries.
Continuous monitoring gives organizations:
- better visibility into what’s happening across cloud and on-prem environments
- context around alerts, so teams know what matters and what doesn’t
- faster decision-making during potential incidents
- earlier detection of suspicious behavior
- a stronger cloud security posture over time
- better alignment with cyber insurance and regulatory expectations
Even smaller companies benefit because modern tools have made continuous monitoring more accessible, without the heavy infrastructure and staffing requirements that used to come with SIEM deployments.
The bottom line
Security tools are important — but visibility is what makes them effective. Continuous monitoring ensures you’re not blind to what’s happening in your environment.
It’s the difference between catching a threat early, when it’s still harmless, or catching it only after real damage has been done. In 2024, the organizations staying ahead of threats are the ones who can see them happening, not the ones who wait for a once-aday report or a single alert that comes in too late.
Curious what continuous monitoring would look like for your organization?
NTS helps businesses across South Georgia and North Florida design and operate continuous monitoring using tools like Microsoft Sentinel and Defender. We can show you where visibility is missing today and what it would take to close those gaps.