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Contributed on August 5, 2020

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Why SMBs Need MSSPs & What Benefits Can They Reap?

Blog: NASSCOM Official Blog

One of the most common misinterpretations among SMBs is that they are less likely to be targeted by cybercriminals. Most of them believe that large scale enterprises are the center of attraction for threat actors. Unfortunately, this belief is completely overruled by the attackers. They have realized that a majority of small businesses possess a large attack surface, do not have sufficient security controls in place, and lack dedicated in-house IT & cybersecurity professionals. This makes SMBs more prone and an easy target to cyber-attacks. Moreover, the growing implementation of advanced technologies like Cloud & IoT creates ample opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit the vulnerabilities in the security posture and cause financial and reputational damage to the enterprises.

Recent findings indicate that:

• 28% of data breaches in 2019 involved small businesses.
• The global average cost of a data breach is $3.9 million across SMBs.
• Only 28% of small businesses rate their ability to mitigate cyber risks and attacks as highly effective.
• Phishing and Social Engineering are the most prevalent cyber attacks against SMBs.

Sources: Verizon 2020 DBIR, 2018 State of Cybersecurity in Small & Medium Size Businesses, Cybint – 15 Cyber Security Facts and Stats

Why MSSPs?

SMBs can optimize their security ecosystem, fill the existing gaps in cybersecurity and meet the compliance and regulatory requirements by employing a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP). One can define an MSSP as a third-party vendor who helps organizations in monitoring and management of IT networks, security devices and systems, and keeping security infrastructure up-to-date. It delivers a multitude of services including managed firewall, virtual private networks, intrusion detection, network threat detection, managed UEBA, vulnerability scanning, etc. using their 24/7 available Security Operations Centers (SOCs).

Some of the key security services offered by MSSPs include (but not limited to):

• Continuous Log Monitoring & Management
• Continuous Vulnerability Monitoring
• Web Content Filtering
• Threat Intelligence
• Endpoint Security
• Data Loss Prevention
• Patch Management
• Incident Response
• Reporting, Auditing and Compliance

An MSSP assists businesses to proactively detect, respond and eliminate threats, and transform the overall cyber defence. By outsourcing an MSSP, SMBs can effectively cut down costs on hiring and training of new cybersecurity professionals.

Let’s have a look at some other benefits that SMBs can reap by outsourcing an MSSP:

• Improved Security: MSSPs come with experienced cybersecurity experts and best-in-class security systems to 24/7 monitor the security posture of an organization. They put in advanced security controls along with the existing measures in order to protect business-critical data against growing cyber-attacks and help organizations to prepare risk mitigation strategies, as well as incident response and disaster recovery plans.
• Quick Response to Threats: Since MSSPs remain functional 24x7x365, the cybersecurity threats can be discovered and handled very quickly. On getting a security alert, the dedicated team can immediately react to neutralize the threat and take necessary actions to minimize the chances of its occurrence in future.
• Focus on Business: Security threats often distract SMBs from their core functions. The ability of MSSPs to operate from an off-site location helps companies to continue business operations with minimal cyber intrusions. MSSPs maintain constant communication and provide timely reports containing the status of security issues, audits and maintenance to their clients.
• Reduced Cost: Setting up new security controls like advanced firewalls, intrusion detection systems and threat detection tools require a large investment in manpower and technology. Due to the budget limitation, SMBs either ignore or deprioritize such requirements. One time investment in MSSP can help small businesses to eliminate extra costs on the security infrastructure.
• No Need to Find Talent: Cybersecurity skill shortage is a major concern for all businesses of all sizes across the globe. As predicted by the Cybersecurity Ventures, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally by 2021. With such a shortage of talent, it becomes even more difficult for SMBs to find, hire and retain cybersecurity professionals. Outsourcing an MSSP is a better option for SMBs as the MSSPs comprise experienced cybersecurity professionals.
• Improved Compliance: With time, data regulations are increasingly becoming popular with growing volumes of data. It has become imperative for businesses (of all sizes) to maintain compliance with industry regulations. An MSSP guides organizations on how to comply with mandatory security standards and ensure the security of sensitive business data.

In the age of rising cyber threat landscape, security is the topmost concern for every business across the globe. No industry is left untouched from growing cyber-attacks including ransomware, phishing, DDoS, etc. A proactive approach to cybersecurity using managed security services can help SMBs to reduce the exposure to cyber threats and strengthen their cyber defence.

Being a managed security service provider, the Cyber Security Practice of Tata Advanced Systems is dedicated to offering reliable and robust cybersecurity services to business of all sizes across verticals. From fraud management, security device management to security monitoring and threat intelligence services, we have a wide spectrum of services to protect your organization from cybercriminals looking to damage your brand reputation.

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