The Rise of Managed Cybersecurity Services
When you understand that the internet is a place filled with risks that threaten the very survival of your business, you have to look at cybersecurity as a vital business capability. Cyber attacks happen every day but only the big ones make it into your news feed. Unless you have a spare quarter of a million dollars or so that you can afford to lose if you have a data breach, it makes sense to up your game with managed security.
What’s managed security? It’s simply the outsourcing of cybersecurity management, often combined with managed IT services.
With a managed security services provider (MSSP) you get access to comprehensive security expertise without the burden of hiring, retaining, and paying an internal team. You don’t just get all the security specialties that you need. You get them in the right amount and that’s what makes managed security so efficient.
Managed security services aren’t new. In fact, internet service providers back in the late 1990s offered managed firewalls to their customers. Do-it-for-you security made sense back then for the same reason that it does now – you get expertise that you don’t have in-house.
What’s changed is that technology is a lot more sophisticated, so it requires a much higher level of expertise. There are also a lot more threats to contend with, and the impact of a data breach can be devastating.
Still need convincing that your business may need to improve your security stature with managed security services? Read on for other trends in the security landscape that demonstrate the necessity for the advanced security that only an MSSP can provide.
Remote Workers, Cloud Services, and the Internet of Things
Your network today looks a lot different than it did just a few years ago when you could encircle every computer within your own internal cyber space with a technical barrier. Now you have remote workers, web applications and all kinds of equipment connected from many locations. You’ve essentially become a multi-location business and your network is a lot more complex than it used to be.
The complexity of your spread-out network makes securing everything more complex too. Managed security service providers utilize tools like EDR that your internal team may not have access to that keep each endpoint visible. Each tool needs to be managed and requires attention when alerts signal possible intrusions. So it’s not just the tools, it’s the people working with the tools that ultimately deliver the security benefits that you need.
Cyber Insurance
It used to be that few businesses needed to have cyber insurance, but it’s becoming more and more common. In fact, some organizations are discovering that having this kind of coverage is a requirement for doing business with customers or vendors.
Underwriters are examining your risk exposure to determine what your cyber insurance rate might be, and if you don’t have a sophisticated cybersecurity strategy, chances are good that you won’t get your best rates. In fact, you might not even qualify for cyber insurance.
Partnering with a managed security services provider (MSSP) helps you navigate through the process of obtaining cyber insurance by creating and implementing a cybersecurity strategy that includes what underwriters are looking for. Becoming better at managing cyber risk doesn’t just help you get insurance. It helps you manage your overall business risk.
Increased Cybersecurity Accountability
In the near future, you may not need to be in an industry that’s governed by regulatory compliance in order to have compliance requirements. More and more companies are asking their customers and vendors to demonstrate how they are protecting the information they gather and store in the course of doing business, and acceptable cybersecurity is required.
A managed security provider can work with you to build a cybersecurity strategy that is based on a framework like NIST. Using a framework not only gives you the foundation for a robust strategy, but it provides a way to communicate about security so that everyone is on the same page.
Time to Up Your Cybersecurity Game?
These days, the ability to manage cyber risks is essential to business sustainability and outsourcing managed security services is the most cost-effective way to bring that capability to your small business.
If you want to be confident that your cybersecurity strategy is going to give your company the resilience you need to prevent cyber attacks, and bounce back quickly if and when you have an intruder, then you should partner with a company that has demonstrated cybersecurity expertise.
XPERTECHS is a managed security services provider (MSSP). We partner with companies to align their security tactics with their risk exposure and close the gaps that make data and people vulnerable to a cyber intrusion.
Get in touch to schedule a cybersecurity consultation.
