EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Three quarters of CEOs (74%) are concerned about their business’s ability to avert or limit damage from a cyber attack. Although most executives recognize the role of cyber security in maintaining organizational stability, some are instructing security admins to delay cyber security maintenance and upgrades due to resource constraints.
In the long run, this can imperil a business. For organizations that are struggling to prevent threats, to implement innovative technologies and to reduce capital expenditures, managed security service providers (MSSPs) represent a pragmatic and powerful solution.
MSSPs offer comprehensive expertise and cyber security provisioning, allowing businesses to direct internal resources back towards core operations. In this article, discover the benefits of using cyber security managed services. Find out about how to dramatically improve cyber security while cutting costs and more.
10 cyber security managed services benefits
1. Get expertise on demand. An MSSP offers access to a pool of elite cyber security practitioners who are constantly monitoring the threat landscape and up-to-date on the latest cyber security best practices. These individuals can offer small and medium sized businesses the same level of expertise that’s accessible to a large corporation with a healthy budget.
2. 24/7/365 threat monitoring. Cyber attacks can occur at any hour of the day, during any day of the week. An MSSP provides around-the-clock security monitoring, ensuring that your organization is protected 100% of the time. Leveraging an MSSP is like having a security guard stationed outside of your perimeter 24/7 – ever vigilant and continuously ready to respond to suspicious activity.
3. Proactive threat detection & response. MSSPs leverage advanced security tools and threat intelligence – in other words, a highly sophisticated technology stack – to identify and respond to potential breaches before they occur.
Specifically, MSSPs often use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to stop threats before they can cause any damage.
4. Compliance assistance. MSSPs can relieve the strain that is adhering to increasingly complex requirements across divergent geographic locales and market sectors. They effectively reduce the risk that is non-compliance, which can result in fines, reputational damage and legal action.
5. Vulnerability management & patching. An MSSP can bring focus and follow-through to vulnerability identification and patch management. They can prioritize risks and streamline patching processes, relieving your team of hundreds of hours of labor.
An MSSP will hold itself accountable for patching swiftly, so that your team can focus on core business operations, not on vulnerabilities.
6. Improved incident response. In the event of a cyber attack, an MSSP can provide a pre-defined incident response plan and a battle-tested roadmap, minimizing damage and operational downtime.
The MSSP acts as an extension of your own team, but saves you from the cyber security and IT headache. The service provider simply restores normalcy while keeping you informed and in control.
7. Scalability. As your organization expands through mergers and acquisitions or adopts new technologies, an MSSP can seamlessly adapt. An MSSP can secure a growing network (employees, devices, cloud resources), without forcing your organization to pursue a security overhaul.
8. Access to advanced technologies. MSSPs leverage state-of-the-art technologies and threat intelligence, which can be costly for individual organizations to buy and manage on their own.
An MSSP provides an organization with the same firepower as is available to industry giants, without the burden of managing complex technologies in-house.
9. Improved security awareness. Level-up your human firewall. MSSPs go beyond technology to address the human element of cyber security. Their engaging employee training programs can equip a workforce to identify and block phishing attacks, social engineering threats and other common threats.
10. Cost-effectiveness. MSSPs offer predictable monthly costs, which are sometimes lower than building an in-house team from scratch. This translates to efficient security budgeting, allowing for the scaling of defenses without spiraling expenses.
Selecting cyber security managed services
Finding the right MSSP requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. For instance, be sure to understand your own organization’s cyber security needs. Consider aligning them with an MSSP’s strengths. In turn, this will enable you to build a robust defense; one that protects your organization from relevant threats.
Ready to embark on this journey? If interested in learning more about cyber security managed services, please see this thought leadership article featuring Check Point expert Tony Sabaj.
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