CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Expel vs Kroll

Expel sells managed detection and response (MDR) delivered through its Workbench platform, with 24x7 human analysts working in the security tools a customer already has. Kroll is a global financial and risk advisory firm. CISO Tribune files both under MDR and managed SOC. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Expel
  • Kroll
Expel vs Kroll: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
ExpelExpel sells managed detection and response (MDR) delivered through its Workbench platform, with 24x7 human analysts working in the security tools a customer already has.expel.comKrollKroll is a global financial and risk advisory firm.kroll.com
What it sells
  • Expel MDR[5][7]A managed detection and response service that works with the security tools a customer already has.
  • Ruxie[3][5]Expel's AI and automation engine used in its MDR service.
  • Enterprise Security Risk Management[7]A Kroll team for proactive threat and risk mitigation and crisis response.
  • Kroll Responder MDR[1][5]Managed detection and response with 24/7 security monitoring.
  • Cyber Risk Retainer[1][5]A retainer with credits usable across Kroll's professional services portfolio.
  • Cybersecurity Risk Assessments[16]Reviews of an information security program using the NIST Cybersecurity framework as guidance.
  • Complex Digital Events[15]Bespoke services for complex incident response, regulatory investigations and litigation support.
  • Enterprise Risk Retainer[14]A retainer for cyber insurance partners and their clients.
  • AI Report Validation[18]Independent verification of AI-generated research by investigators.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNew York, United States[2][10][12]
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • August 31, 2026Kroll launched APEX, a capability on the CrowdStrike Falcon platform that quantifies effort, cost and value of AI and automation for cyber investment decisions.[11]
  • July 15, 2026Kroll acquired ABC economics, an economics and competition advisory firm headquartered in Berlin, Germany.[12]
  • January 29, 2026Kroll launched two new practices, Kroll Economics and Decision Intelligence.[9]
  • November 17, 2025Kroll completed its acquisition of Madison Pacific, a corporate trust and agency services specialist headquartered in Hong Kong.[10]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 3, 2026[4]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[13]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetKroll supports thousands of law firms and corporate cyber clients. Kroll's Cyber Insurance Services Team serves carriers, brokers, breach counsel and policyholders. Kroll offers a baseline review aimed at small and medium businesses. Kroll performs security assessments for global clients from nearly every industry and government agency. Kroll's M&A advisory team works with public corporations, private equity investors, financial sponsors, family-owned businesses and other private companies in middle-market transactions.
Last verified
September 27, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Expel and Kroll are both filed under MDR and managed SOC.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Expel's primary category is MDR and managed SOC; Kroll's is Incident response and forensics.
  • Expel lists Expel MDR and Ruxie. Kroll lists Enterprise Security Risk Management, Kroll Responder MDR, Cyber Risk Retainer, Cybersecurity Risk Assessments, Complex Digital Events and 2 more.
  • Kroll is headquartered in New York, United States.

What it sells: Expel

What Expel MDR does[5][7]
Expel MDR provides 24x7 SOC monitoring, with analysts who investigate and respond. Expel says it connects to an existing stack and correlates threats across endpoint, identity, cloud, network, SaaS and more. Expel states a 14-minute mean time to remediate.
What Ruxie does[3][5]
Expel says Ruxie gathers evidence, enriches alerts and matches patterns in seconds. Expel analysts then investigate and make the critical calls.

What it sells: Kroll

What Enterprise Security Risk Management does[7]
Kroll's global Enterprise Security Risk Management team works on proactive threat and risk mitigation and reacts to crises, offering personnel, expertise, advisory and bandwidth. Kroll's Threat Life Cycle Management uses end-to-end cyber and physical risk solutions to uncover exposures, validate defenses, implement new or updated controls and fine-tune detections. Kroll describes itself as senior advisers to clients on all security and threat-related issues.
What Kroll Responder MDR does[1][5]
Kroll Responder MDR delivers 24/7 security monitoring and response that includes understanding the root cause, hunting for further evidence of compromise and eradication. Kroll Responder MDR for Microsoft provides enriched MDR for Microsoft Security. Kroll offers a complimentary $1 million incident protection service warranty with no vendor-specific hardware requirement.
What Cyber Risk Retainer does[1][5]
Kroll offers a Cyber Risk Retainer with credits that can be used across its professional services portfolio. Kroll states that up to 20% of unused services credit may be applied to the following year upon renewal. Kroll's retainer includes access to a global team of 700+ incident response, litigation and breach notification experts.
What Cybersecurity Risk Assessments does[16]
Kroll's Cybersecurity Risk Assessments include a detailed review of the information security program, from policies and procedures to technical controls, including people, processes and technologies. At the conclusion of an assessment, clients receive a summary report designed to communicate security posture to senior management. Kroll offers a baseline review aimed at small and medium businesses.
What Complex Digital Events does[15]
Kroll provides bespoke services for complex incident response, regulatory investigations, litigation support, board-level engagements and national security matters. Kroll's Complex Digital Events services use a combination of non-practising attorneys and technical experts to guide and deliver complex investigations. Kroll provides forensic investigations and expert testimony supporting data breach litigation, trade secret/intellectual property theft and employment disputes.
What Enterprise Risk Retainer does[14]
Kroll offers an Enterprise Risk Retainer to cyber insurance partners and their clients. The retainer includes a pre-negotiated agreement for instant access to risk expertise. The retainer includes service credits to proactively strengthen risk posture before an incident occurs.
What AI Report Validation does[18]
Kroll's AI Report Validation practice centers investigators who deconstruct AI-generated narratives, test their claims against professional-grade sources and determine what was fabricated, distorted or omitted. Kroll conducts original research to fill gaps.

Questions about Expel and Kroll

What do Expel and Kroll sell?
Expel sells Expel MDR and Ruxie. Kroll sells Enterprise Security Risk Management, Kroll Responder MDR, Cyber Risk Retainer, Cybersecurity Risk Assessments, Complex Digital Events and 2 more.
Are Expel and Kroll in the same category?
They share MDR and managed SOC. Expel's primary category is MDR and managed SOC and Kroll's is Incident response and forensics.
Where are Expel and Kroll headquartered?
Kroll is headquartered in New York, United States.
Who are Expel and Kroll sold to?
Kroll supports thousands of law firms and corporate cyber clients.
What have Expel and Kroll announced recently?
August 31, 2026: Kroll launched APEX, a capability on the CrowdStrike Falcon platform that quantifies effort, cost and value of AI and automation for cyber investment decisions.

About Expel

Expel sells managed detection and response (MDR) delivered through its Workbench platform, with 24x7 human analysts working in the security tools a customer already has. Expel says its service is built so that technology makes it fast and humans make it accurate.[5]

Expel describes the service as managed detection and response with analysts who can be reached directly over Slack or Teams. Expel says customers connect Workbench to their existing stack, and Expel then correlates threats across endpoint, identity, cloud, network, SaaS and more. Expel says no agents need to be deployed and no rip-and-replace is required.[5]

Ruxie is the name Expel gives its AI and automation engine. Expel says Ruxie gathers evidence, enriches alerts and matches patterns so that Expel analysts can investigate and make the critical calls. Expel states a 14-minute mean time to remediate for its MDR service.[5]

Expel Workbench is the platform through which customers see Expel's work. Expel says customers can see every investigation and response in real time inside Workbench.[5]

Expel says its MDR covers cloud, endpoint, identity, network, SaaS, email and more, across more than 160 technology integrations. Expel names Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, CrowdStrike, Okta and Wiz among those integrations.[5][10]

Expel also offers email threat detection and response, in which Expel says it monitors the email environment 24x7. Expel says this works alongside Proofpoint, Mimecast, Abnormal Security and Sublime. Expel also describes MDR coverage of the AI attack surface, covering attacker use of AI, employee misuse of AI tools and attacks on customer-built AI systems, with detections mapped to MITRE ATLAS.[6][7]

Expel was started by practitioners. Dave Merkel is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Justin Bajko is a co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, and Yanek Korff is a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer. Greg Notch is Chief Technology Officer.[8]

2. Expel says Workbench infrastructure runs on GCP and AWS in the U.S, and that alert data is retained up to 15 months, configurable per contract.[1][2][5][9]

Expel on the record

Sources

Expel full record

  1. [1]Workbench operations platformExpel · expel.com · published August 5, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Expel announces 20 million in series b fundingExpel · expel.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Leading managed detection and response (MDR) provider | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed October 24, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Expel Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 24, 2026 · Tier C
  5. [5]Managed Detection and Response Services | Expel MDRExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Email threat detection | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]AI attack surface coverage | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Company | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Security and compliance support from your MDR | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Managed Security Solutions | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A

Kroll full record

  1. [1]Cyber riskKroll · kroll.com · published October 16, 2025 · Tier A
  2. [2]Kroll Announces Formation of Kroll Business ServicesKroll via Business Wire · businesswire.com · published April 20, 2021 · Tier A
  3. [3]Kroll | Financial and Risk Advisory SolutionsKroll · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Risk AdvisoryKroll · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Cyber Security Services | Cyber & Data Resilience | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Application Security Services (AppSec) | Cyber and Data ResilienceKroll · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Investigations, Diligence and Compliance | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Kroll Launches New Practices Leveraging Technology and AI to Accelerate Decision-Making and Achieve Competitive AdvantageKroll · published January 29, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Kroll Completes Acquisition of Madison Pacific GroupKroll · published November 17, 2025 · Tier A
  11. [11]Kroll Introduces APEX to Drive Measurable Business Outcomes from AI InvestmentKroll · published August 31, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Kroll Bolsters Global Economics Capabilities with Acquisition of ABC economicsKroll · published July 15, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Kroll Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  14. [14]Cyber Insurance Services | Incident Response Partner | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Complex Digital Events | Cyber and Data Resilience | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Cyber Risk Assessments | Cyber Risk | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Data Risk, Discovery & Litigation Support | Cyber & Data Resilience | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]AI Report Validation | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]M&A Advisory Services | Corporate Finance | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Valuation Services | Valuation AdvisoryKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Business Valuation Services | KrollKroll · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

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