The Rise In Outsourcing Cybersecurity To MSSPs

According to recent data, the average global cost of a data breach today is $3.86 million. However, the United States average is more than twice that at $8.64 million. Personally identifiable information is most often at risk, costing businesses an average cost of $150 per record. What’s worse, it takes an average of 280 days to detect and contain the incident, putting business continuity in jeopardy.

Since COVID-19 shut down the world last year, the incidence of cyberattacks has increased almost 400 percent, which we can attribute to the rise of remote work. Of those attacks, cloud services were the most frequent targets. Employees working and accessing the cloud from home became easy targets for malicious actors, who deployed phishing tactics and other strategies to steal login credentials and additional personal data.

Other factors that contribute to the cost of a data breach include a lack of cybersecurity skills, which continues to be a concern as global talent shortages threaten just about every industry. Adding to the problem, the cost of a data breach is almost 160 percent higher for companies without an incident response team vs. those that do.

To reduce risk, maintain compliance, and overcome the skills gaps, many organizations turn to managed security service providers (MSSPs) to fill the void.

What Is An MSSP?
MSSPs offer outsourced cybersecurity services, providing high-level monitoring and management of your organization’s network and systems. They provide various services according to need, including VPNs (virtual private networks), managed anti-virus and firewall, incident detection, threat intelligence, vulnerability testing, and more.

Unlike an in-house security team, managed services operate 24/7/365, ensuring high availability while eliminating the cost of taking on enough staff to maintain adequate security.

The Five Categories Of Security Functions Provided By An MSSP

1. Identify. Your MSSP leverages a comprehensive understanding of your business environment to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, people, assets, data, and capabilities. To address those risks, organizations need to have complete visibility into their digital assets and how they interconnect and a thorough understanding of how cybersecurity risks relate to job roles, responsibilities, policies, and procedures.
2. Prevent. An MSSP develops and implements appropriate safeguards to ensure reliable delivery of critical services. Those safeguards are then used by the organization to limit or contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity event. Controlling access to digital assets, conducting awareness training, implementing processes to secure data, maintaining network configuration baselines, and timely repair of system components all contribute to success.
3. Detect. The MSSP develops and implements various activities to identify cybersecurity events. System and service solutions are deployed to continuously monitor and detect threats to operational continuity and collect the data needed to respond appropriately.
4. Respond. The MSSP initiates actions the moment a cybersecurity incident is detected. To contain the impact of a cybersecurity incident, the organization needs a response plan, communication protocols, systems to collect and analyze incident information, and well-defined processes. These activities are designed not only to resolve the incident but also to incorporate new learnings and continuously improve response strategies in the future.
5. Recover. MSSPs design systems to enable service restoration following a cybersecurity incident. Having a well-defined disaster recovery plan (DRP) is critical for any organization. The DRP should include a step-by-step list of action points and details on coordinating restoration activities with internal and external parties. It should also be capable of incorporating learnings to update and advance the recovery strategy.

What Should You Look For When Selecting An MSSP?
Your initial engagement with an MSSP starts with a full cybersecurity assessment. The outcome will include a formalized security program that consists of a documented set of your organization’s cybersecurity policies, procedures, guidelines, and standards. The ultimate goal of the relationship is to assess, establish, and mature the cybersecurity program for the organization over time.

A full-service MSSP provides a complete range of cybersecurity services, including:

• Managed Security Services: Fully managed services that provide end-to-end security coverage.
• Advisory Services: Cybersecurity consulting and implementation projects (Vulnerability Assessments, Pen Tests, etc.)
• Human Capital Services: Cybersecurity executive search, recruiting, staff augmentation, and everything in-between.

Combining these services addresses the people, processes, and technology required to run a successful cybersecurity initiative.

Where Should You Start?
A cybersecurity assessment is always the first step. While this can be a painful and time-consuming process, Zyston has a solution. Our CyberCAST security assessment offers minimal disruption to the organization at a very affordable price point, meaning you can reduce costs while shortening your time-to-value.

The CyberCAST security assessment results in a report, ready to share with senior executives. The report explains the maturity of the organization’s security posture in a business language they can easily comprehend, making it easy to get buy-in from leadership as they’ll understand the risk—and the value—right away.

As a client’s information security partner, Zyston can both execute the CyberCAST assessment and facilitate the communication of the CyberCAST assessment findings with the client’s leadership team.

For a limited time, Zyston is offering an introductory CyberCAST Snapshot. In just a few short minutes, you can establish your security program’s maturity and get a sense of how it compares to industry benchmarks.

Request your free CyberCAST Snapshot security assessment today.

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