Mandiant vs Thales (S21sec)
Mandiant and Thales (S21sec) are both Services firms that work with your existing tools. Mandiant targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Thales (S21sec) serves Enterprise. Mandiant includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 2 for Thales (S21sec) (Network, OT/ICS).
Buyer brief
Mandiant and Thales (S21sec) are both Services firms that work with your existing tools. Mandiant targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Thales (S21sec) serves Enterprise. Mandiant includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 2 for Thales (S21sec) (Network, OT/ICS).
Mandiant offers broader coverage (5 surfaces vs. 2). Thales (S21sec) may suit teams that need depth over breadth.
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Enterprise organizations wanting threat intelligence integrated directly into MDR from 500+ frontline analysts | Critical infrastructure and public-sector buyers that need Thales/S21sec regional cyber detection and response |
| Price | Mandiant software benchmark: ~$83K/yr; not Managed Defense | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 3/6 actions · Configurable | 2/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Dashboards | Reports only |
| Warranty | None listed | None listed |
- Best fit
- Enterprise organizations wanting threat intelligence integrated directly into MDR from 500+ frontline analysts
- Price
- Mandiant software benchmark: ~$83K/yr; not Managed Defense
- Response authority
- 3/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Critical infrastructure and public-sector buyers that need Thales/S21sec regional cyber detection and response
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 2/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Reports only
- Warranty
- None listed
Detailed comparison
| FIELD | MandiantTECH-AGNOSTIC | Thales (S21sec)TECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Positive | Mixed |
| Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender for EndpointSentinelOne Singularity | Customer endpoint security tools |
| SIEM integrations | Google Security Operations (native integration) | Customer SIEM platformsThales SOC tooling |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on | EPEndpoint: LimitedCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: LimitedNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Covered |
| Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | IsolateContainCustom playbooks | ContainCustom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | ✓ Included |
| Cost | ||
| Price range | Third-party buyer data reports an average Mandiant software cost around $83,000/year. Treat this as a Mandiant buyer benchmark, not a clean Managed Defense MDR quote. | Not published |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | – |
| More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | No |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Cloud workloads | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Identity | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | + Optional | ✓ Included |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom enterprise subscription pricing. Factors: users, data volume, features, contract terms. | Custom quote for Thales Cyber Detection and Response, Managed Security Services, SOC and MDR. Public prices are not published. |
| Hidden cost warnings | ~$83K+/year estimated, premium enterprise pricing. IR retainer is separate and must be purchased independently for full incident response. Managed Defense for Google SecOps currently GA in US only, international customers face limitations | The current S21sec domain routes to Thales-branded services, so buyers wanting legacy S21sec-specific delivery should confirm contracting entity, SOC location and delivery team.. Public pages do not publish prices, minimum terms, service credits, MTTD/MTTR or formal MDR SLAs.. Thales offers a broad cybersecurity services portfolio; buyers should separate base MDR scope from CTI, DRPS, DFIR, CERT, ICS monitoring and advisory services.. Named endpoint, identity and cloud containment actions are not public and should be confirmed tool by tool.. Data retention, raw log access, offboarding and detection-content export rights are not described publicly. |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Custom enterprise agreements | Custom cyber detection and response engagement, Managed Security Services, SOC and MDR, Critical-infrastructure cybersecurity services |
| Channels | PortalPhone | EmailPhonePortal |
| Data access | Dashboards | Reports only |
| Dedicated analyst | ✓ | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific | EuropeMEAAPAC |
| Onboarding | 4-8 weeks typical for enterprise deployments | Not published. Thales describes customer-centric service roadmaps and selecting/deploying detection and response technologies, but no standard MDR onboarding timeline. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareGovernment (Federal)DefenseCritical Infrastructure | Critical InfrastructureGovernmentDefenseEnergyManufacturingAviationSpaceFinancial ServicesTelecommunicationsHealthcareTransportationAutomotiveUtilitiesMaritime |
| MTTD | Not formally published. Claims alerts triaged by expert within minutes. | Not published |
| MTTR | Not formally published. Claims response in minutes, not hours. Participated in 2020 MITRE ATT&CK evaluation (APT29) with one of the highest enriched alert counts in the MSSP detection category. | Not published |
| Community view | Mandiant brand is synonymous with threat intelligence and incident response. TrustRadius 6.9/10 (11 reviews). PeerSpot 8.4/10 (Mandiant Advantage, not MDR-specific). Limited public reviews for Managed Defense specifically. Primary criticism: premium pricing, dashboard complexity, and IR being a separate retainer despite Mandiant's IR reputation. | The current public evidence is strong for Thales-branded global SOC, MDR, CTI, DFIR and critical-infrastructure detection and response, but weak for S21sec as a standalone public MDR brand. Buyers should validate current delivery model, SOC location, response authority, pricing and whether the contract is with Thales/S21sec in the relevant country. |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001ISO 27017ISO 27018FedRAMP HighPCI DSSGDPR | DORATIBER-EUPCI DSSEASA Part-ISEASAICAOUNECE |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type II (via Google Cloud)ISO 27001 (via Google Cloud)FedRAMP High P-ATO (Google Cloud infrastructure, 150+ services). Mandiant Advantage Automated Defense is FedRAMP Ready at High Impact Level (2022).ISO 27017 (via Google Cloud)ISO 27018 (via Google Cloud) | 8 threat intelligence and AI-driven SOCs around the worldSOCs in France, Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain, and New Zealand and Australia |
| Founded | 2004 | – |
| Data retention | Per-contract basis. Google Cloud data residency options available. | Not published. Public pages do not describe default log retention, raw log access, storage tiers or export terms for Thales SOC and MDR. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
FAQ
What is the main difference between Mandiant and Thales (S21sec)?
Mandiant is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Thales (S21sec) is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Mandiant covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 2 for Thales (S21sec).
How do Mandiant and Thales (S21sec) differ in response capabilities?
Mandiant supports 3 autonomous actions (custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, network containment) and approval is configurable. Thales (S21sec) supports 2 autonomous actions (custom playbooks, network containment) and approval is configurable. Incident response is not included with Mandiant and included with Thales (S21sec).
How does Mandiant pricing compare to Thales (S21sec)?
Mandiant pricing: Third-party buyer data reports an average Mandiant software cost around $83,000/year. Treat this as a Mandiant buyer benchmark, not a clean Managed Defense MDR quote.. Thales (S21sec) pricing: Not published. Watch for with Mandiant: ~$83K+/year estimated, premium enterprise pricing; IR retainer is separate and must be purchased independently for full incident response. Watch for with Thales (S21sec): The current S21sec domain routes to Thales-branded services, so buyers wanting legacy S21sec-specific delivery should confirm contracting entity, SOC location and delivery team.; Public pages do not publish prices, minimum terms, service credits, MTTD/MTTR or formal MDR SLAs..
Should I choose Mandiant or Thales (S21sec)?
Choose Mandiant if: enterprise organizations wanting threat intelligence integrated directly into MDR from 500+ frontline analysts. Choose Thales (S21sec) if: critical infrastructure and public-sector buyers that need Thales/S21sec regional cyber detection and response. Mandiant is not ideal for sMBs or budget-constrained organizations (~$83K+/year estimated pricing). Thales (S21sec) is not ideal for buyers that need a standalone legacy S21sec-branded MDR package.
Daylight Security
AI-native MDR for buyers comparing active remediation across endpoint, cloud, identity, and SaaS. Daylight works with existing EDR/SIEM stacks and uses ChatOps-native collaboration, so it can be a useful third reference point in this comparison.