[BreachExchange] Overcoming cybersecurity challenges with managed IT services

[Audrey McNeil]

https://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2017/mar/28/
overcoming-cybersecurity-challenges-with-managed-it-services/

If there is one thing we can be certain about when it comes to
cybersecurity, it’s that the landscape will remain dynamic and turbulent
over the coming years. Today, news headlines are dominated by cyberattacks
and breaches that span across all industries – causing security to be top
of mind for almost all businesses. However, these headlines don’t seem to
be slowing down, which means that businesses are still struggling to keep
up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape.

So, what are the biggest obstacles businesses face in achieving a stronger
cybersecurity posture, and how are MSPs best suited to help clients and
prospects overcome these obstacles?

Cybersecurity Insiders’ 2017 Cybersecurity Trends Report recently uncovered
that lack of skilled employees, lack of budget and lack of security
awareness among employees are the three biggest cybersecurity challenges
for businesses. Let’s break these down one by one.

Lack of skill

The problem: Finding qualified talent remains an ongoing challenge in the
business world – specifically when it comes to IT security. In the report,
45 percent of respondents list lack of skilled employees as the first major
obstacle to achieving stronger cybersecurity. It’s clear that cybersecurity
is a rising concern today, but why is it still so difficult for businesses
to find and retain security talent? For some, this can be attributed to the
lack of training, certification, or even hands-on experience, while others
believe that conventional education and policies simply can’t meet demand.
Nevertheless, lack of skill has become a major obstacle in preventing
businesses from achieving stronger cybersecurity.

In fact, this will remain a major obstacle for businesses because it’s
estimated that by 2019, 1 to 2 million cybersecurity jobs will remain
unfilled. The struggle to find employees with the right security skill set
is plaguing businesses, including the small- and medium-sized businesses
(SMBs) that you serve. More often than not, these businesses don’t have the
necessary resources or bandwidth to support their cybersecurity needs.
Unfortunately, this leaves them very vulnerable to attack.

The solution: To address this skills gap, SMBs can leverage a managed
services provider who has the appropriate technology, level of skill,
experience and understanding of IT systems. Your clients won’t have to
worry about learning curves or lacking the right IT skills because they’ll
have access to your team of highly-trained technicians. With 24x7x365
monitoring and support, any issues that arise will be promptly remediated
and taken care of. Additionally, the preventative solutions you provide,
such as remote monitoring and management (RMM) and antivirus, will help
bolster your clients’ cybersecurity defences and reduce their vulnerability
to threats.

By leveraging your IT services, your SMB clients will have peace of mind
knowing that you’ll always be working in the background to monitor and
manage their IT systems, scan for any malicious activity and ensure that
their network and endpoints remain secure.

Lack of budget

The problem: No matter the issue, lack of financial resources always seems
to be a major roadblock for businesses. Although we’re seeing a slow
increase in the investment of cybersecurity, 45 percent of respondents
still list lack of budget as the next major obstacle to achieving stronger
cybersecurity. The problem is that cybersecurity spending is still not at a
level that matches the changing threat landscape.

Often, security budgets are hard won because you can’t see the results
right away – it’s more about protecting against future issues. And for SMBs
especially, financial resources are already limited, which means that not
having the budget to invest in stronger cybersecurity can make them much
easier targets.

The solution: Fortunately, one of the biggest values of managed services is
greater cost savings. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on security
hardware and software, your clients can leverage your technology, services
and expertise – all at a fixed monthly cost. Also, when SMBs outsource
their IT security needs to an MSP, they won’t have to deal with the added
costs of onboarding new employees, training processes or paying for their
benefits.

By handing off some of these needs to a trusted technology partner, SMBs
can free up time for their in-house staff to think more strategically –
which, in turn, increases profitability. Overall, an MSP can provide
businesses with scalable IT services that can be customized to their needs,
fit within their budget and keep them protected against current and future
threats.

Lack of security awareness

The problem: In a perfect world, employees would act as a company’s most
effective security defense. However, this is not a perfect world. Sometimes
the greatest vulnerabilities are created by employees who did not receive
proper security awareness training. We all know that human error has been
responsible for some of the worst data breaches, and this happens mostly
when security training is an afterthought. In fact, 40 percent of
respondents say that lack of security awareness among employees is the
third highest obstacle to strengthening cybersecurity. Organizations could
risk their reputation, customer trust, and potentially their bottom lines
when employees aren’t properly trained and end up mishandling data or
falling for a phishing attack.

The solution: Working with an MSP is one of the best ways to overcome this
obstacle. It’s in an MSPs nature to stay up-to-date on today’s threats so
that they can provide the security awareness education employees need to
guard against malicious schemes.

In working with an MSP, clients will have continuous support for not only
their IT systems, but also their security-related planning, procedures and
protocol. MSPs work with standards such as PCI compliance day in, day out,
and should be able to steer clients within the specific parameters and
regulations they need to adhere to. All in all, leveraging the knowledge
and expertise of an MSP can allow businesses to close the security
awareness gap and ensure that they’re well-equipped to face the
cybersecurity landscape – with both internal and external defences.
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