You have heard this many times: MSPs are under attack. Criminals are targeting these IT service providers to gain access to the systems and data of dozens of organisations in one fell swoop.
But how serious is the situation exactly?
Recent research commissioned by N-able found that 90% of MSPs experienced an increase in cyber attacks since early 2020. A third of them became victims of a successful attack in the last quarter. 82% of MSPs saw attacks on their customers rise, while over half of them suffered financial losses and business disruptions after a cyber attack.
Are the odds stacked against MSPs?
Not so fast. While the number of attacks is rising, we also have better tools to defend our systems against malicious activities. For instance, the average number of attacks prevented per month has increased from 8 to 14 in the same period of the study.
MSPs are fighting back.
80% of MSPs have increased their security budgets by 5%, and 70% of businesses have boosted their security spending by 7%. While most providers are doing a great job with automated backups and URL-based web filtering, there is room for improvement for workstation backup, DNS filtering, and the use of two factor authentication.
Additionally, MSP cybersecurity is on governments’ radar after recent high profile supply chain breaches involving MSPs. Legislation may require MSPs to adhere to cybersecurity principles and protect data at rest and in transit. You may also need to meet standards for data backups, staff training, and more.
You know you must up your security game. But how can you prioritise resources to strengthen your defence, offer better protection to your clients, capture the fast growing opportunities in today’s market, and stay ahead of the curve to remain relevant and competitive?
How can MSPs strengthen their defence against cyber attacks cost effectively?
MSPs should focus on data security, cloud security, and infrastructure protection. Here are the key areas to direct your resources:
1. Security Assessment
These starting points can help you strengthen your own cybersecurity posture and build a solid foundation to deliver long-term security solutions for your clients:
- Conduct a Security Maturity Assessment to identify security risks, prioritise your effort, and focus your resources cost-effectively.
- Use a virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) service to access expert strategic and technical support without the overhead.
- Conduct a vulnerability assessment to identify vulnerabilities in your environment and propose appropriate security controls.
2. Alert and Workflow Automation
Attacks have increased in volume and sophistication, and MSPs can no longer manage their defences manually. Automation is critical for responding to attacks and alerts promptly, helping you ensure the safety of your infrastructure and your clients’ systems.
You can use various tools to automate workflows to support backup and recovery, patch management, web filtering, redeployment security tests, configuration checks, and more. Automation can help strengthen your defence while freeing your staff to focus on strategic tasks and provide better customer service.
3. Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
Despite the effectiveness of MFA, only 40% have implemented the technology themselves. Meanwhile, merely one third of their clients have activated two factor authentication (2FA). Yet, identity management is a highly cost effective way to prevent cyber attacks, especially in today’s work-from-anywhere environment.
MFA is low hanging fruit and an opportunity that MSPs shouldn’t ignore. It’s already widely available and doesn’t take much time or resources to activate. Implement it in your company, and educate your customers about the method’s benefits.
4. An Open XDR Platform
The foundation of any cybersecurity strategy is having a bird’s eye view of your own environment and your clients’ networks. An open Extended Detection & Response (XDR) platform consolidates all your monitoring tools and gives you a single pane of glass view of your environment to improve threat detection accuracy and cost efficiency.
An open XDR solution, such as inSOC’s MSP Protect, offers cross layer detection and automatically correlates data from various sources to facilitate threat detection. You can minimise delays caused by duplicate alerts, reduce repetitive tasks with automation, and provide security analysis services to your clients to drive revenue.
Respond to Today’s Cyber Threats with Ease
Given the statistics and projections of the cybersecurity landscape, is it time for MSPs to scramble and strengthen their defence?
Yes, it’s definitely time to fight back. But no, you don’t have to scramble.
inSOC works with many vendors helping MSPs to fight back. For example, as a member of the N-able Technology Alliance (TAP) program we proactively assist N‑able partners and our MSP clients to grow their businesses and boost their reputation, by offering top notch managed cybersecurity solutions with comprehensive reporting.
Our leadership team has worked closely with N-able for over 10 years. Our solution dovetails neatly with their product suite, which integrates with our open XDR security platform to deliver cutting-edge protection to help MSPs and MSSPs stay ahead of the curve.
While addressing security measures for your customers, you must lead from the front by implementing the same technologies and strategies to protect your systems. That’s why we offer MSP Protect, a complete MSP cybersecurity solution to help you protect your environment and stay compliant.
Ready to get started? Let’s find out where you stand with our first-stage security solution. Learn more about our cybersecurity consultancy services and book a time to talk to see how we can help
