In today’s day in age, most organizations understand that they are at risk to cyber-attacks and are scrambling to get a firm handle on their cybersecurity programs. Many, however, are overwhelmed by the magnitude of resources needed to establish and maintain a good cybersecurity program. Small to medium-sized businesses often find this challenge especially daunting because there are often fewer resources available for a cyber program, but these businesses are every bit as vulnerable to cyber-attacks and reputational damage from cyber intrusions.
One option that organizations have when deciding the best way to handle their cyber strategy is hiring a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP). An MSSP takes the risk and burden of maintaining an expensive cyber security program off your organization, allowing you to focus on more important things: the organization itself.
If the following complaints sound familiar, you may want to consider hiring an MSSP.
1. It’s been challenging for you to find and retain talent.
In the recent years, organizations are recognizing now more than ever the importance and necessity of investing in security. However, finding and retaining cybersecurity talent isn’t the easiest of tasks.
Anyone familiar with the cyber industry also knows there is a critical talent shortage. The most recent reports estimate that by 2021, a staggering 3.5 million cyber security jobs will be available. There simply aren’t enough people with the right skills available to fill those positions and because of the supply and demand, cybersecurity salaries are continually on the rise.
With an MSSP, you can have access to all of that expertise at a fraction of the cost. When you need vulnerability management, you’ll work with a vulnerability management expert. When you need penetration testing, you’ll work with a penetration testing expert. This can be extremely valuable, especially for businesses with small to medium sized networks.
2. You lack the necessary resources to monitor your security at all hours.
Security is a time-consuming and complicated challenge. Even if a company employs an internal security team, most companies cannot afford to have eyes on security 24/7.
Unfortunately, adversaries do not keep typical business hours. They’re often active after-hours to remain under the radar and avoid detection. An MSSP provides those eyes on your network and security posture at all times of the day and night, allowing you to get some sleep and focus on what’s important to the organization.
3. You don’t have the budget necessary to hire the right people and implement the right tools.
As we mentioned earlier, finding and retaining cyber talent can be expensive. So can implementing and managing the tools necessary to fully manage the security of your organization.
Organizations can easily spend upwards of $1 million per year after calculating the cost of staff with a variety of skills such as threat hunting, incident response, alert tuning, event management, forensics, malware analysis, penetration testing, and other critical skills needed- not to mention the cost of tools such as Security Information and Event Management, Intrusion Detection & Intrusion Prevention systems, endpoint protection, vulnerability scanning, and forensics platforms.
An MSSP can help manage this cost by obtaining volume licensing, utilizing tools for multiple organizations, and providing cyber skills when they’re needed instead of paying for them constantly, even when not in use. An MSSP can even manage these tools for you, fully outsourcing your security program.
4. You can’t keep up with the latest security technologies.
Cybersecurity is the heart and soul of an MSSP and because of this, an MSSP always invests in the latest technology to support their customers. For individual companies, this can be a pricey and time-consuming endeavor. New monitoring systems have to be tuned to prevent alert fatigue and new technology implementation costs can be prohibitive.
By using an MSSP, you’ll be able to take advantage of the latest and greatest technology without the hassle of changing platforms, or re-training your staff in the latest security tools.
5. You’re in over your head with security that you don’t have the time to focus on the business.
Cybersecurity professionals are overloaded with new technologies and threats, so it can be easy to get distracted and lose sight of the organizational goals.
An MSSP takes on the burden of cybersecurity and allows you to shift your focus back to your business needs.
So, in short, with an MSSP, you get:
- Access to the brightest minds in multiple areas of expertise
- 24/7 monitoring & alerting with cutting-edge technology
- Cost savings
- Improved peace of mind
