Top Security as a Service Providers (SECaaS) in 2026

Executive Answer

Security as a service providers cover different jobs, so choosing one starts with defining the security function and who will operate it. This guide compares ten providers across penetration testing, managed detection and response, identity, email protection, and secure access. DeepStrike addresses offensive validation; other shortlisted providers supply preventive controls, detection platforms, or managed response. For security leaders and buyers, the useful comparison is scope, operational responsibility, integration, and total cost. Use the tables and evaluation checklist below to build a shortlist, confirm service boundaries, and test the promised outcome before signing.

For a broader comparison across testing types and regions, see our list of the top penetration testing companies worldwide.

What is security as a service?

Security as a service, or SECaaS, is a delivery model in which organizations obtain security capabilities through an external service, commonly using cloud infrastructure and subscription pricing. The service may provide software, specialists, or both. Its exact coverage depends on the product and contract. The Sophos explanation of SECaaS provides a useful starting definition. If you are unsure which category you need, start with our guide to the types of cybersecurity services.

This distinction matters when comparing security as a service companies. A cloud identity platform can enforce access policies, while a managed detection and response team can investigate incidents. A penetration testing service can validate exploitable weaknesses. Each addresses a different security task, and buying one does not automatically assign the others to the same provider.

SECaaS can help organizations obtain specialist capabilities, support distributed users, and spread spending across a service term. Those benefits depend on deployment and management: someone must still maintain asset inventories, approve access, act on findings, and own business risk. Teams facing a cybersecurity skills gap should identify which operational tasks a provider will actually take over.

SECaaS, SaaS, MSSP, MDR, and SASE explained

Software as a service, or SaaS, describes how software is delivered. SECaaS describes the security capability being obtained. A managed security service provider, or MSSP, operates agreed security services for a customer; managed detection and response, or MDR, concentrates on detecting, investigating, and responding to threats. A security operations center, or SOC, is the team and operating function behind monitoring and response; SOC as a service contracts vary in what they include.

Extended detection and response, or XDR, brings security signals and investigation workflows together across supported sources. Buying an XDR platform does not by itself establish who will operate it. The Cisco and Microsoft profiles below distinguish the relevant tooling and managed services.

Secure access service edge, or SASE, combines network connectivity and security functions. Security service edge, or SSE, covers the security side, including capabilities such as secure web access and zero trust access to private applications. Cisco's SASE explanation distinguishes SSE from the wider architecture that includes software-defined wide area networking, or SD-WAN.

Data loss prevention, or DLP, and cloud access security broker, or CASB, capabilities may appear within several categories. Treat them as functions to check against a specific subscription. A provider's wider portfolio is not a list of everything included in one order.

How we selected and compared these providers

This September 5, 2026 research update retains the ten providers covered in the original DeepStrike guide. It compares their current documented offerings across five service categories. It is a shortlist for commercial evaluation, not an exhaustive market survey or a scored product benchmark.

DeepStrike publishes this guide and is included for penetration testing and offensive validation. The provider order follows the earlier edition. DeepStrike lists itself first as the publisher; the numbers are for navigation and are not a ranking. We reviewed official product documentation and relevant lifecycle notices; we did not conduct a comparative deployment test, buy every service, or independently measure detection rates, response times, availability, or customer retention.

The comparison evaluates documented service scope, likely use case, operating responsibility, and questions that should be resolved before purchase. The suggested fit and evaluation questions are DeepStrike's editorial judgment. Pricing, regional availability, service levels, integrations, and license prerequisites must be confirmed for the buyer's exact order.

Top SECaaS providers: the 2026 comparison

Start with the security task, then compare providers within that category. An identity platform and a penetration testing engagement can both be useful, but their outcomes are different. Product documentation supporting each row appears in the profiles immediately below the table.

1. DeepStrike: penetration testing and offensive validation

Public offering: DeepStrike's penetration testing services describe human-led testing across applications, cloud environments, and infrastructure, supported by a findings and collaboration platform. Its public process covers planning, reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, controlled exploitation, reporting, and technical support. Published reports include reproduction steps, remediation guidance, and root-cause information; the proposal should define exact coverage and commercial terms.

SECaaS relevance: Founded in 2016, DeepStrike LLC is headquartered in Newark, Delaware, has 11–50 employees, and also publishes a business address in Dubai, UAE (IFZA Business Park). Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.

Team certifications: OSCP, OSWE, OSEP, OSWP, GXPN, GWAPT, eCPPT, eMAPT, eWPT, CREST CPSA, CRTP, CRTE, and Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate, as shown on DeepStrike's services page.

Official sources: Pricing , Contact Us

Buyer fit: Engineering teams that need application, cloud, or infrastructure testing with direct remediation collaboration.

2. Palo Alto Networks: secure access and cloud security

Public offering: Palo Alto Networks describes Prisma Access as cloud-delivered security for users, applications, and data, combining zero trust network access, a secure web gateway, a cloud access security broker with SaaS posture management, firewall as a service, and remote browser isolation. Separately, Cortex Cloud is positioned as a cloud-native application protection platform covering application security, cloud posture security, and cloud runtime security.

SECaaS relevance: Both offerings are delivered as subscriptions, and the Prisma Access page states that its operations team and service are SOC 2 certified. Confirm the licensed modules, service regions, data-handling terms, and whether a partner or your own team will operate the policies.

Official sources: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/sase/access; https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/cloud

Buyer fit: Organizations that want cloud-delivered access security for distributed users, or cloud workload protection, from one vendor portfolio.

3. Fortinet: FortiSASE for distributed access

Public offering: FortiSASE combines a secure web gateway, zero trust network access, inline and API-based CASB, firewall as a service, SaaS security posture management, a secure browser, data loss prevention, and digital experience monitoring, managed from one console with one agent. Fortinet also pairs it with Fortinet Secure SD-WAN for branch connectivity and offers agentless access for unmanaged devices.

SECaaS relevance: FortiSASE is delivered from Fortinet's points of presence, and Fortinet also documents FortiSASE Sovereign, a self-hosted option deployed in the customer's own data centers for data residency needs. Confirm the subscriptions, inspection locations, and data-handling terms in the agreement.

Official sources: https://www.fortinet.com/products/sase

Buyer fit: Organizations already using Fortinet firewalls or SD-WAN that want to extend secure access to remote users and branches.

4. CrowdStrike: Falcon Complete MDR

Public offering: CrowdStrike describes Falcon Complete as a 24/7 managed detection and response service in which its analysts correlate telemetry across endpoints, identities, cloud, SaaS, and third-party data. The service includes pre-built containment playbooks and managed remediation performed by CrowdStrike analysts on the customer's behalf to restore a known-good state.

SECaaS relevance: Falcon Complete is a managed service built on the CrowdStrike Falcon platform rather than a software license alone. Define covered assets, response authority, escalation contacts, and data-handling terms in the service agreement.

Official sources: https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/services/managed-services/falcon-complete/

Buyer fit: Organizations that need a staffed team to investigate and contain threats on their behalf around the clock.

5. Cisco: Secure Access and Cisco XDR

Public offering: Cisco Secure Access is a cloud-delivered security service edge offering zero trust network access (client-based or clientless), VPN as a service for applications that are not ZTNA-enabled, and controls for internet, SaaS, and AI application use, with Duo identity and ThousandEyes experience-monitoring integrations. Cisco XDR collects and correlates network, endpoint, email, cloud, and identity telemetry, supports guided and automated response, and in its Premier tier is offered as a managed service run by Cisco security experts.

SECaaS relevance: Cisco states that Secure Access has achieved FedRAMP authorization. For XDR, confirm whether the managed Premier tier or a self-operated tier is being proposed, and define data sources, response approvals, and data-handling terms in the agreement.

Official sources: https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/secure-access/index.html; https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/xdr/index.html

Buyer fit: Organizations with existing Cisco infrastructure that want secure access and detection-and-response tooling from one vendor.

6. Zscaler: internet and private application access

Public offering: Zscaler Internet Access is a cloud-native security service edge and secure web gateway covering URL filtering, a zero trust firewall across all ports and protocols, TLS/SSL inspection, CASB, inline data loss prevention, IPS, DNS security, sandboxing, and browser isolation. Zscaler Private Access is a separate service that connects users to private applications without a VPN.

SECaaS relevance: Both services are delivered from Zscaler's cloud, and Zscaler publishes its certifications, authorizations, and audit reports through a compliance portal. Confirm inspection exclusions, data-processing locations, and connector responsibilities in the agreement.

Official sources: https://www.zscaler.com/products-and-solutions/zscaler-internet-access

Buyer fit: Organizations that want to replace on-premises web proxies and VPNs with cloud-delivered internet and private application access.

7. Okta: workforce identity and access management

Public offering: Okta Workforce Identity covers single sign-on, adaptive multifactor authentication with phishing-resistant FastPass, lifecycle management that syncs with HR systems for onboarding and offboarding, Universal Directory, privileged access, identity governance, identity threat protection, and identity security posture management. Okta lists more than 8,000 pre-built integrations.

SECaaS relevance: Okta is delivered as a cloud identity service and publishes its trust and compliance information at trust.okta.com. Confirm the modules in the subscription, data-residency options, and who maintains lifecycle workflows and access policies.

Official sources: https://www.okta.com/workforce-identity/

Buyer fit: Organizations that need consistent access control and automated joiner-mover-leaver workflows across many applications.

8. Proofpoint: email threat protection

Public offering: Proofpoint Core Email Protection is an AI-based email security product for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace that targets phishing, business email compromise, and ransomware. It can be deployed through Microsoft Graph API integration or as an inline secure email gateway, and it includes post-delivery removal of malicious messages, attachment and URL sandboxing, automated handling of user-reported emails, and an investigation workbench.

SECaaS relevance: The service operates alongside cloud email platforms without replacing them, and API deployment does not require MX record changes. Confirm the deployment model, message-handling and retention terms, and which capabilities require separate licensing.

Official sources: https://www.proofpoint.com/us/products/email-security-and-protection/email-protection

Buyer fit: Organizations on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace that want an additional email threat-protection layer.

9. Check Point: Check Point SASE

Public offering: Check Point SASE combines private access (ZTNA, agentless ZTNA, an enterprise browser, a global private backbone, and firewall as a service) with internet access protection (a hybrid secure web gateway with on-device inspection, SaaS security, and browser and Wi-Fi security), plus SD-WAN for branch connectivity.

SECaaS relevance: Check Point's SASE site states SOC 2 Type 2 certification and ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA compliance. Confirm which inspection runs on the device versus in the cloud, endpoint requirements, and data-handling terms in the agreement.

Official sources: https://sase.checkpoint.com/

Buyer fit: Organizations that want secure internet and private application access with inspection partly performed on the user's device.

10. Microsoft: Defender Experts MDR

Public offering: Microsoft Defender Experts MDR is a separately sold managed detection and response service in which Microsoft analysts manage the incident queue around the clock, triage and investigate incidents, and either act or guide the customer's team through the response. Plan 1 covers Microsoft Defender workloads; Plan 2 extends coverage to selected non-Microsoft telemetry collected in Microsoft Sentinel and adds expert-authored Sentinel content.

SECaaS relevance: Microsoft documents that Plan 2 requires Microsoft Sentinel and at least 1,500 licensed seats, and that Plan 1's third-party network signal enrichment is closed to new enablement from September 1, 2026, ending at the next renewal for existing users. Confirm regional availability, data handling, and transition terms in your agreement.

Official sources: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-xdr/defender-experts/defender-experts-mdr-overview

Buyer fit: Organizations whose security operations already run on Microsoft Defender and that want Microsoft analysts to augment their SOC.

How to choose a SECaaS provider

Use a three-part evaluation: scope, operate, validate. This is DeepStrike's proposed buying framework, not a certification or a scored assessment of the providers above. It turns a feature comparison into questions that can be answered through a contract and a controlled evaluation.

Define the scope and the outcome

List the assets and security outcomes you need to cover. Include production applications, APIs, endpoints, identities, email, cloud accounts, and branch or remote access only where they are relevant. For each, record the current owner, provider role, exclusions, and evidence of completion.

Separate similarly named tasks. A web application penetration test needs application roles and workflows in scope; a network access service needs traffic paths and access policy. A dashboard showing both does not make their responsibilities interchangeable.

For cloud environments, document the accounts, services, roles, and application paths included in the evaluation. A cloud penetration testing scope should explain which agreed weaknesses will be assessed and how findings reach the people able to fix them.

Agree who operates the service

Write a responsibility matrix that covers onboarding, policy changes, monitoring, investigation, containment, recovery, and offboarding. Distinguish time to acknowledge an incident from time to investigate or contain it. The service agreement should define severity, clock start, coverage hours, dependencies, and exclusions for each commitment.

Ask what happens if a required connector stops sending data or an endpoint becomes unhealthy. An evaluation should include how that coverage gap is detected, who receives it, and who restores service. Response authority also needs boundaries: disabling an account or isolating a production system may require different approvals.

For engineering teams, connect testing to release management. A DevOps penetration testing workflow should establish what changes trigger review, how testers receive access, who owns remediation, and when a retest closes a finding.

Validate outcomes before committing

Use provider-approved simulations, test accounts, and agreed environments for a proof of value. Define the expected signal, the owner, the expected action, and the evidence you will accept before the exercise starts. Record failures as well as successful demonstrations.

For an MDR evaluation, a safe simulation can show whether a relevant signal reaches the service, becomes an investigation, and follows the agreed escalation process. For identity, use a test account to check provisioning and removal. For penetration testing, review a redacted report and confirm that a remediated finding includes a documented retest outcome.

These exercises evaluate workflow and coverage within their defined scope. They do not establish a universal detection rate or prove that every attack will be prevented.

Compare total cost, integration, and exit terms

Compare proposals over the same contract period and asset scope. A practical budget includes subscription charges, onboarding, required components, data ingestion and retention, internal operating time, optional response work, and migration or exit costs. This is a budgeting checklist; it is not a claim that every provider charges each item separately.

For testing services, scope and complexity should be compared before price. The penetration testing cost guide explains scoping considerations that help buyers request comparable proposals. Confirm retesting and additional release coverage explicitly instead of assuming they follow from a recurring subscription.

Integration claims also need a practical check. Ask the vendor to demonstrate the exact identity provider, ticketing workflow, logging destination, and API permissions your team will use. Establish who repairs the integration after a platform change and how the team detects missing data.

At exit, the customer should know how to obtain usable findings, incident records, configurations, and audit evidence to which it is contractually entitled. Plan credential revocation and data deletion alongside export. Keep overlap between old and new services long enough to validate coverage under an agreed migration plan.

Security assurance and compliance questions

Security outsourcing can support an assurance program, but the buyer still needs to understand its own obligations and the provider's precise role. Ask for evidence that matches the contracted service, legal entity, locations, and time period. A logo on a product page does not establish the scope of an assessment.

For organizations subject to the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules, a cloud service provider that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits electronic protected health information on behalf of a covered entity or business associate can be a business associate. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explains the relevant cloud computing and business associate agreement requirements. Review the data flow and agreement before sending that information to a service.

Testing can contribute technical evidence within a broader healthcare security program. The HIPAA penetration testing guide explains that relationship; a successful test does not by itself establish HIPAA compliance.

For payment environments, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) states that merchants which outsource all payment processing still retain PCI DSS responsibilities. PCI DSS is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Establish the applicable responsibilities with the parties managing the payment environment and compliance program.

Where testing is part of that program, define systems, segmentation, and the evidence expected from the engagement. DeepStrike's PCI DSS penetration testing guide provides further context for scoping; no provider selection automatically delivers compliance.

For processing covered by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 28 sets conditions for using processors, including contractual requirements and provisions involving other processors. Review the actual processing arrangement and subprocessors, rather than using a generic claim that a service is “GDPR certified.”

ISO/IEC 27001:2022 concerns information security management systems. If a provider supplies a certificate, check the certified entity, service scope, validity, and issuing body. It does not certify that every possible customer deployment is secure.

Finally, evaluate zero trust claims through the access decisions the service enforces. NIST SP 800-207 describes zero trust architecture without treating network location as sufficient grounds for implicit trust. Ask how the proposed design authenticates users and devices and authorizes access to the specific resources you need to protect.

Frequently asked questions

Can a small business start with one service?

Yes. Start with the most consequential gap and a service the team can operate or have operated on its behalf. Define the owner and expected outcome before expanding. A small business with an application assurance requirement can use a scoped testing engagement; a business struggling to handle alerts should evaluate the relevant managed response service.

For application-focused teams, the startup and small-business penetration testing guide can help frame an initial assessment around the systems the business depends on.

Does cloud delivery mean no local components?

It can still require agents, connectors, identity integrations, or network configuration. Ask for the deployment diagram and a list of dependencies. Include device coverage, private application access, fallback behavior, and the work required from your own team in the evaluation.

How should we evaluate a reseller or service partner?

Identify the contracting party, the underlying technology vendor, and the team delivering each service. Ask which organization handles support, configuration changes, incident escalation, and service credits. Request a single written responsibility map so a problem cannot fall between separate vendor and partner agreements.

How should we handle data residency requirements?

Ask where each type of data is collected, processed, stored, backed up, and accessed by support personnel. Cover logs, email content, files, identity information, and test evidence separately. Review the proposed arrangement against your organization's requirements and applicable obligations before activation.

Should the team operating a control also validate it?

Use an assurance approach that provides the independence your organization needs. An operational demonstration can confirm configuration and workflow. A separately scoped assessment can examine whether important weaknesses remain. Define the evaluator's access, independence, evidence, and limitations rather than treating any one test as complete assurance.

When should we review the contracted scope again?

Revisit scope when the business adds important applications, changes identity or cloud architecture, acquires another organization, or introduces a new data handling requirement. Confirm the cost and operating impact before expanding coverage. Include a scheduled scope review in the service relationship as well as reviews triggered by material changes.

For example, a new mobile product may require its own mobile application penetration testing scope, including relevant client behavior and backend interfaces. An existing web application test does not automatically cover that new product.

Conclusion

The right SECaaS shortlist starts with a defined security job and a clear operating model. Compare providers on contracted scope, responsible people, integration requirements, total cost, and evidence from an agreed evaluation. Preserve the controls that already work and use additional services to address identified gaps.

If offensive validation is part of your requirement, ask DeepStrike for a scoped penetration testing consultation covering your assets, testing cadence, and retest expectations. Teams deciding between a single assessment and recurring coverage can compare DeepStrike's continuous penetration testing service with the approach described in the penetration testing as a service guide.

About The Author

Mohammed Khalil is a Cybersecurity Architect at DeepStrike, specializing in advanced penetration testing and offensive security operations. With certifications including CISSP, OSCP, and OSWE, he has led numerous red team engagements, focusing on cloud security, application vulnerabilities, and adversary emulation. His work involves dissecting complex attack chains and developing resilient defense strategies for clients in the finance, healthcare, and technology sectors.