Cybersecurity: Are You Giving It the Importance It Deserves?

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You just have to switch on the TV or read the headline of the morning newspaper to know the effect of cyberattacks on businesses and people around the world. According to Check Point Research, cyberattacks grew 50% year after year, with every company facing 925 cyberattacks every week globally. The attacks are rising not just in number but in severity too.

According to IBM and Ponemon Institute research, the average data breach cost rose to 44.24 million in 2021, compared to $3.86 million the previous year. The rise in attacks has made it more essential for managed IT service providers to provide cybersecurity amenities and technologies to their clientele, or many wouldn’t know where to start. They want to rely on their reliable counselor—their MSP—to help them by eliminating the attack risk they consistently face.

The support that an MSP renders concerning cybersecurity can range from helping to execute the basics to launching a complete-scale, round-the-clock monitoring and management operation. It is up to the MSP to know which engagement level is preferable for their client base and business. The best answer is that an MSP should do something to help their clients eliminate the risk of attack.

Conquering the Cybersecurity Basics

MSP services can do a lot to support their client in cybersecurity. A good place to begin is to evaluate their environment and acknowledge major assets, determine real-time protection, and monitor possible instant risk areas. An MSP can help its clientele strategize a plan to enhance their overall cybersecurity posture and restrict their exposure.

Some of these services may affirm that the usual cybersecurity protection exists, such as MFA and antivirus software. It also ensures that all critical devices are covered for all vulnerabilities, and monitoring services are implemented to acknowledge all suspicious activities. These are common securities that an MSP system offers for clients of every size and industry. However, with the basic things in place, a question always comes to your mind: “Am I doing enough for cybersecurity?”

Taking It a Step Higher for Cybersecurity

There are several things that managed IT services can do to boost their cybersecurity protection. Along with the basics, an MSP can offer enhanced protection, such as firewalls, SSL scrutiny, DNS filter, SIEM, managed endpoint inspection and response, VPNs, and more.

Innovative MSPs can launch their own security operations center to aid their clients. An SOC allows an MSP to provide large-scale, round-the-clock monitoring and management of the customer’s environment. Though expensive, it pays off in the long run by offering better security to clients.

Another field where an MSP can offer service is cybersecurity awareness education and training. Most cyberattacks still happen because of human error or phishing. By educating and training employees and updating their knowledge on these rising attacks regularly, an MSP helps eliminate such attacks.

Preparation for a Breach

While anticipating a breach is impossible, a critical action to help a customer respond quickly and effectively to an attack is possible. The hard truth is that the average breach takes approximately 287 days to site and contain, and it may take around 316 days for companies with more than half of their teams working remotely.

However, organizations can reduce their costs by 30% or more if they can contain the breach within 200 days, as per the same study. MSPs enhance the procedure by executing cautious monitoring procedures to check behavioral anomalies and check attacks ASAP. Also, an MSP can help in preparing a business for a breach.

A managed security service provider can help develop a playbook in response to the incident to run fire drills with clients to prepare everyone for an attack. It consists of tabletop exercises providing insight into what to do, who to make a call to, and other actions needed from detection to complete remediation.

MSP also offers to secure a client’s POS system to help them manage their payment systems. It helps mitigate the risks involved in making payments. Using an effective point of sale system can help companies run their retail businesses effectively and efficiently. Guarding the POS will help keep the transactions secure and more private.

Cybersecurity: A Cutting-Edge Opportunity for MSPs

While cybersecurity is essential for every business, it offers MSPs a unique chance to reinforce their reputation as reliable counselors and add new revenue streams to their business. An MSP offers several offerings to its clientele to stand out from the competition. According to the Markets and Market firm research, the worldwide IT managed security services market will reach 443.7 billion by 2026.

To start, an MSP (managed service provider) should consult its clients to understand their cybersecurity threats and assess how they can help reduce a client’s risks to almost zero. By drafting an effective strategy, an MSP can help mitigate the risks of its clients easily.

FTx Solutions was formed out of a need that Darren and I had as retailers to find solutions that would work for our business. When we couldn't find the right solutions, we ended up building our own, which enabled us to help our fellow retailers and wholesalers as well as ourselves.

Douglas Nolan