24/7 Security Monitoring for Small Businesses

Attackers do not keep office hours. Most ransomware is detonated at night and over weekends precisely because that is when defenders are away from their desks. Our managed cybersecurity practice exists to close that gap: a real analyst watching your environment at 3 a.m. with the same rigour as 3 p.m. If you only want one thing from this page, it is this — threats get caught when they happen, not when someone next logs in.

What does 24/7 security monitoring actually involve?

24/7 security monitoring means a SOC continuously ingests logs and telemetry from your endpoints, servers, firewall, Microsoft 365 and cloud apps, correlates that data, and has a human analyst triage every alert it raises. The goal is simple: confirm or dismiss each signal fast, then act.

Our service covers:

• Continuous threat monitoring — round-the-clock surveillance of endpoints, servers, network devices and cloud services by certified security analysts.
• Human-led alert triage — every alert is investigated by an analyst, not just an automated rule, so genuine threats are separated from false positives.
• Rapid containment — when a real threat is confirmed, we isolate affected systems and begin investigation inside our SLA.
• Monthly threat reports — what was detected, what we did, and what to fix next.
• Environment-tuned detection — rules tuned to your estate to cut noise and focus on threats that matter to you.
• No rip-and-replace — we integrate with your existing Microsoft 365, firewall and endpoint tooling.

The detection engine is Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (Microsoft's endpoint detection and response platform), monitored by AMVIA's own analysts. For the underlying detection capability, see our endpoint detection and response service.

How does AMVIA's 24/7 monitoring work?

Onboarding to steady-state runs in five stages. We assess your environment, deploy monitoring, tune detection to your estate, then run continuous surveillance with monthly and quarterly reviews. Most clients reach full coverage within days, not months, because we monitor the tools you already own.

1. Onboarding — we assess your environment, deploy monitoring, and configure detection rules. 2. Continuous monitoring — the SOC watches your environment 24/7, investigating every alert. 3. Threat detection — when suspicious activity appears, analysts investigate and grade severity. 4. Response and containment — confirmed threats are contained immediately, with full communication to your team. 5. Reporting and improvement — monthly reports and quarterly reviews keep tightening your posture.

This sits alongside our managed SOC service and feeds directly into incident response when a confirmed threat needs full remediation.

Why do UK SMEs need 24/7 security monitoring?

Because the threat is now routine, not exceptional. 43% of UK businesses experienced a cyber breach or attack in the past year, according to the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025 (DSIT). Antivirus and a firewall stop known malware — they do not catch an attacker logging in with stolen credentials.

That gap is exactly where breaches happen. 22% of breaches involved compromised credentials as the initial access vector (Verizon DBIR 2025) — activity that traditional antivirus cannot see because no malware is involved. Continuous monitoring layers behavioural analysis, log correlation and human judgement on top of your existing defences, so a valid-looking login from an unexpected location gets questioned instead of waved through. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre treats logging and monitoring as a baseline control, not a luxury.

Ransomware makes the round-the-clock point starkly: 19,000 UK businesses were hit by ransomware in 2025 (Sophos State of Ransomware 2025), and overnight is the favoured strike window. Daytime-only monitoring leaves a 16-hour hole every weekday and the entire weekend uncovered.

In-house monitoring vs AMVIA managed 24/7 SOC

Building a true 24/7 capability in-house means hiring for three shifts, buying tooling, and writing detection content — a six-figure commitment before the first alert is triaged. A managed SOC gives you the coverage without the headcount.

Pair this with vulnerability management and SIEM for SMEs for a complete detect-and-respond layer.

How much does 24/7 security monitoring cost?

AMVIA's 24/7 security monitoring starts from £5 per user per month, scaling with the number of users and devices in scope. Because we monitor the Microsoft 365 and endpoint tooling you already license, there is no large upfront platform spend — you pay for analysts and detection, not duplicate software.

Final pricing depends on your estate size, the systems in scope, and whether you bundle managed detection and response or incident response. We scope it in a short call and quote a fixed monthly figure — no usage surprises.

Why choose AMVIA for 24/7 security monitoring?

AMVIA monitors security for 1,200+ UK businesses across legal, finance, healthcare and professional services, from our Sheffield-based, UK-staffed SOC. We hold Cyber Essentials Plus certification and Microsoft Solutions Partner status, and critical incidents (P1) are responded to in under one hour, with a 2-hour target for lower-priority alerts.

• UK-based, UK-focused — engineering and SOC operate from Sheffield; we understand UK compliance, infrastructure and the threats facing British SMEs.
• Certified and accountable — Cyber Essentials Plus and Microsoft Solutions Partner status, verifiable, not aspirational.
• Human-led — analysts triage every alert, so your team only hears about confirmed threats that need a decision.
• One provider — security, Microsoft 365 and connectivity under one accountable roof.