A threat actor got into the network through the firewall and began targeting a server. But Huntress caught the activity early and locked down the affected environment, giving First Column IT time to respond. The team quickly got the issue under control, and there was no sign of data loss or a drawn-out recovery.
That could’ve been the whole story. For First Column IT, though, the incident confirmed something they’d been working toward for years. They’d spent a long time figuring out which vendors they could trust, what compliance really required, and whether those decisions would hold up when something real happened.
First Column IT has been in business for over 20 years. In the recent past, however, the managed service provider (MSP) has dedicated countless hours helping their clients prepare for CMMC while also pursuing their own certification.
CMMC, short for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, is the framework used to assess whether organizations working with the US Department of Defense (DoD) can protect sensitive government information. Meeting that standard requires security tools that help teams monitor their environments, respond to threats, and show assessors clear evidence that the right protections are in place. For First Column IT, that meant choosing tools that could hold up in an audit and still do the job in a live incident.
Challenge | When the old stack starts getting in the way
As CMMC became a bigger part of their business, First Column IT needed tools that made sense from both a security and compliance standpoint.
That got harder when their previous endpoint detection and response (EDR) started creating problems of its own. Systems were slowing down. Some actions were being blocked without clear visibility into what had happened. On top of all this, the EDR’s support staff was difficult to work with, and the issues weren’t getting resolved cleanly.
At the same time, First Column IT was working toward their own CMMC certification while helping a growing number of their clients do the same. With more than a third of their client base needing CMMC compliance, the team couldn’t afford a security stack that slowed systems down and made audits harder to navigate.
“We looked at a lot of different vendors as we moved towards getting audited,” said Nick Pritchard, Director of Compliance for First Column IT. “We knew we had to find the right stack that would excel from both a cybersecurity standpoint and a compliance standpoint.”
Solution | A stack built for audits and incidents
First Column IT chose the Huntress Security Platform—featuring Huntress Managed EDR, Managed Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR), and Managed Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)—as part of their stack. The First Column IT team had already heard good things about Huntress, but once they re-evaluated the platform in the context of compliance, the fit became clearer.
The switch immediately solved an ongoing issue, with the drag from the old EDR going away. Pritchard says his pitch to clients was pretty simple: the change wouldn’t cost more, their systems would run better, and it would help them meet compliance requirements.
With regard to compliance, First Column IT points to the shared responsibility matrix as one of the most useful parts of the process. In practice, that matrix serves as a guide for CMMC assessments, clearly showcasing which security responsibilities belong to Huntress, which belong to the MSP, and which belong to the client. That makes it far easier to align documentation, gather evidence, and help assessors understand how tools like Huntress Managed SIEM fit into the environment without sending everyone down unnecessary rabbit holes.
That clarity made a real difference. Within six months, First Column IT achieved their own CMMC Level 2 compliance and then helped a client do the same. Level 2 matters because it applies to organizations handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and maps to the security requirements they’re expected to meet.
Results | Real support for CMMC and threat response
Cybersecurity outcomes
The clearest proof came during a live incident. When a threat actor got into a client network and began attacking a server, Huntress detected the activity and isolated the affected environment within seconds. First Column IT was alerted right away and worked with the Huntress Security Operations Center (SOC)—a 24/7 team of elite threat analysts backed by AI—to investigate what happened, identify the root cause, and patch the issue. The incident was resolved with little to no downtime for the client.
First Column IT also says Managed ITDR clearly surfaces risky sign-ins and suspicious mailbox rules that could point to phishing or compromised accounts, allowing them to respond to potential identity-focused attacks with speed and agility.
Operational outcomes
The move to Huntress made everyday security operations easier. Because Huntress products work well together, and because they’re built and managed by Huntress, First Column IT is finding it easier to help their clients work toward CMMC certification.
First Column IT also calls out the Huntress SOC for being responsive and helpful during incident response. Pritchard praises the SOC for being “super helpful” anytime his team needs a clear picture of what happened.
And on the SIEM side, Pritchard says one of the things he likes most is that it’s “not noisy.” The shared responsibility matrix also makes audit prep smoother by giving assessors and clients a clearer view of who handled what.
Financial outcomes
For First Column IT, the move to Huntress didn’t require charging clients more, which made the transition easier to roll out. It also removed the system slowdowns caused by the previous EDR, which meant less friction for clients and less cleanup for the team supporting them.
First Column IT relied on Huntress as part of their own CMMC Level 2 compliance effort and helped a client achieve the same outcome. For a business serving compliance-driven clients, that carries obvious value even without a hard dollar figure attached to it.
Conclusion
First Column IT did the hard part. The team spent years learning the demands of CMMC, working through vendors, and building a security approach that could hold up in the real world. Huntress gave them support where it counted: swift, reliable protection during incidents, documentation that helps during audits, and a 24/7 SOC that moves quickly when something needs attention.
Pritchard sums it up best, saying, “Huntress has been really helpful for our CMMC compliance and helping our clients with it.”
