R
Rarely a day goes by where there isn’t a
warning about a new threat or cyber-risk.
It’s a complex threat landscape and those
tasked with defending their organisations
are facing a constant challenge as
they try to stay one step ahead of
the criminals, especially when they’re
required to do so against a budget.
Enter the MSSPs. These specialist
services offer many benefits for modern
businesses – and their popularity looks
set to increase. To find out more about
MSSPs, we spoke to two industry
experts who provide their insight
into the strategic benefits of utilising
these services and some of the key
considerations when looking to engage
a provider.
Why should businesses consider
an MSSP?
SIMON
SIMON WILLGOSS,
WILLGOSS, HEAD
HEAD OF
MANAGED
SECURITY
SERVICES,
OF MANAGED
SECURITY
HELP
AG
SERVICES,
HELP AG
Cast your mind back to the ‘CIA’
triad. When I started my career in
cybersecurity in 2000, everything was
about ‘CIA’ i.e. confidentiality, integrity
and availability.
Protection and discussion of these –
we called it ‘security’ back then – was
paramount in the minds of security
professionals, whether the focus was the
data or the services that the organisation
provides or handles.
So now let me fast forward almost
20 years. Times have sure changed.
Security is no longer as simple as ‘CIA’.
The complexity of modern cybersecurity
means organisations need to focus on:
Simon Willgoss, Head of Managed Security
Services, Help AG
www.intelligentciso.com
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Issue 18
• Hiring, retaining and training
highly skilled resources to support
business 24x7x365
• Implementing and maintaining
the right mix of specialised
cybersecurity technologies
• Implementing and maintaining
mature, automated and orchestrated
technologies; and processes to
tackle and respond to breaches
FEATURE
MSSPs have
teams of expertly
qualified and
certified technical
professionals.
All but the largest enterprises with the
right level of maturity, budget and focus
will find it extremely challenging to do
this. Therefore, the most viable and
efficient option is to get the experts in,
by engaging with the right MSS partner
for managing your security.
The two main benefits of engaging an
MSSP are 1) access to expertise and
2) cost efficiency. Managed Security
Services help move budgets from
intimidating CapEx to more manageable
OpEx while entrusting specific
infrastructure and activities to a team
of qualified experts. This is especially
helpful in the Middle East where the lack
of qualified cybersecurity professionals
is a pressing concern.
MSSPs have teams of expertly qualified
and certified technical professionals.
Through their work with large pools
of clients, they are exposed to and
therefore knowledgeable about the
threat landscape. This exposure creates
a unique learning and development
environment which is almost impossible
to replicate in any single organisation.
Security intelligence will be one of
the key pillars of cybersecurity in the
years ahead, if not this year, so having
access to a varied client pool provides
MSSPs with the wealth of information
they need to provide value. Furthermore,
MSSPs can invest in and unlock the
value of, best-of-breed technologies that
customers – especially SMBs and SMEs
– simply would not be able to afford. The
pay-as-you-go model lends itself to both
upward and downward scalability. And
availability is also a factor as, with an
MSSP, customers get 24x7 support with
assured 99+% availability which ensures
that business is always ON.
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