Many companies have become overwhelmed with the threat of a breach, compliance, exploding security budgets, and not understanding what information security really is and how it is best managed. A solution that organizations are increasingly touting is partnering with a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) to empower their security organizations with the people, processes, and technology to secure their critical assets and data.
Research suggests that seven out of ten businesses consider outsourcing via MSSPs. They’re taking advantage of some serious time- and cost-saving benefits!
What Exactly are Managed Security Services (MSS)?
Managed Security Services, or MSS, are solutions that monitor business networks and endpoints, respond to potential threats, and take action to stop and repair breaches.
An MSSP provides these cybersecurity services and takes charge of security monitoring, attack prevention, and incident recovery.
Below are five reasons why MSSPs have become an increasingly popular solution for businesses looking to secure their data environments.
1. MSSPs Offer Better Protection
In many organizations, security tools and technology can generate up to 2.7 billion actions from its security tools per month, including logins, uploads, and others. A tiny fraction of these are actual threats – less than one in one million. In a security research study, more than 31% of research respondents admitted ignoring alerts altogether because they think so many alerts are false positives, and more than 40% feel that the alerts they receive lack actionable intelligence.
Some organizations have up to 20 different cybersecurity solutions, and nearly half use more than six. Most of these solutions have integration issues creating data silos that are inefficient, ineffective, and almost always generate additional security threats. MSSPs typically have integrated technical solutions that leverage best-of-breed technology that specialists have integrated over time for companies of all shapes and sizes. More importantly, MSSPs have scale and are able to spread the fixed cost of their technology investment across a broad customer base, hence passing the savings onto the customer.
The bottom line is that specialists who provide managed security support services are more effective at protecting organizations than in-house security teams in most cases. In addition, quality MSSPs offer service level agreements (SLAs) that essentially provide their clients with guidelines concerning incident response times and other guarantees in the event of any security incidents. These commitments alone have driven many organizations to seek the protection of an MSSP and shift the risk away from the organization to a specialized third party.
2. Cost Efficiency and Lower Total Cost of Ownership
Modern cybersecurity programs are costly to build and maintain. The tools and capabilities mentioned above often require dedicated hardware or appliances to run and frequently come with an annual licensing cost. In addition, staff salaries and the necessary training to use the new tools add to the cost. MSSPs allow businesses to replace large, frequent capital expenditures associated with investing in new cybersecurity tools and capabilities with predictable, ongoing operational costs.
Thus, for a fraction of the cost, businesses can leverage an MSSP to provide 24x7 coverage. When factoring in the total costs of security – especially hiring or training cybersecurity staff to maintain the latest tools (cybersecurity salaries are rising at almost 7% and frequently start at $100,000+) – MSSPs can provide an immediate return on investment (ROI) for businesses deciding between building a security capability internally and outsourcing to an MSSP. One recent study by CompTIA reported that 46% of managed I.T. service users have cut their annual I.T. costs by 25% or more.
3. MSSP Allow You to Focus on Business
The security world has been wondering when organizations will take protecting their customers, employees, and data seriously. Executives have historically pushed this issue down to their CISO, I.T. Security Managers, or other employees, all while pleading ignorant when a breach occurred under their watch. As was suggested earlier, this year has proven to be a tipping point, and executives are being asked by their boards and stakeholders to confirm that the organization is protected.
The issue has become so significant in many organizations that the security diversion has shifted the business leaders' focus from executing the company mission of making money and serving its customers in creating a viable security organization. As the best experts in the security business say, "Amateurs mitigate risk. Professionals manage risk." That means there will always be risks, and it is impossible to eliminate every risk. However, risk needs to be managed in a cost-effective way that is aligned with the business objectives.
Ultimately, security is not a technical issue; it is a business issue and must be managed so that the business and its executives can focus on its mission. The organization serves customers, protects and engages its employees, and delivers value to its shareholders.
4. Access to Specialized Expertise and Skill Sets
One critical item that business leaders have learned over the past couple of years is that information security is more than technology. As we've heard repeatedly, it is the people, processes, and technology, and unfortunately, the process piece seems to get lost on so many business leaders. When implementing a security program, businesses need to align the program to the business needs, understand the risk tolerance of the company, put ISO, NIST, or CSC controls in place, set goals concerning how their organization should manage the controls and, ultimately, how to improve their overall security posture without overspending.
An MSSP can also assist businesses in meeting compliance needs and tailor their cybersecurity program to the unique needs and risks specific to each industry. Quality MSSPs have consultants whose expertise lies in implementing controls, managing risk, and developing customized I.T. security strategies to meet business goals.
By tailoring cybersecurity services to the top risks and compliance needs applicable to each business, MSSPs are able to maximize return on investment while addressing the most pressing risks and needs.
5. Taking Advantage of Managed Security Providers' Advanced Technology
A critical advantage of an MSSP is rooted in the technology they leverage to protect their clients. As we suggested earlier, while the technology that fills the halls of RSA and Blackhat is leading edge, none of it provides a silver bullet, and even the best-of-breed layered security solutions have been compromised.
MSSPs will not only have operated and tested most of this technology, but they also either build solutions organically from what they have tested or integrated into their overall solution. The benefit to the organizations that they serve is that the MSSPs use technology that matches the needs of their clients and the skillset of their workforce. Further, there are no bells and whistles to turn off and on or a need to hire experts to configure and manage the technology.
Conclusion
The threat landscape is always changing, and you need to have the security posture to withstand the nastiest attacks.
Hiring an MSSP means:
- You have professional information security oversight 24 hours a day.
- Threats are responded to quickly, and action is taken fast.
- You have access to expertise from the get-go.
- There’s no need to worry about compliance.
- You save serious money compared to hiring a cybersecurity team in-house.
At ChoiceTel, we're your eyes and ears against security threats before they get close to your business.