How do you tackle cybersecurity when you can barely find enough people to operate your IT department?
The panelists at "Simplifying Cybersecurity with Managed Security Operations” addressed that issue at MSP Expo’s Security Solutions track on Thursday, June 22, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Quick answer: Integrate managed security software services into your IT plan.
Mark Porter, CEO and president at HighWire Networks said cybersecurity insurance premiums have increased from between 6-20 times their previous rates in the past years.
Now everyone’s rushing for more security. “Insurance is the driving force, not regulations,” Porter said.
Into the breach steps managed security-service purveyors.
“What we do well is we manage risk,” said Porter. One of his main goals is to educate employees on why security is an everyday task.
“We want to be the voice of reason,” John Peterson, chief product officer at ZTEdge added. He listed three main issues MSPs suffer from in regards to security:
- Too many tools
- Too much data
- Too few people.
For example, Porter said the average enterprise uses more than 50 security tools – 53, to be exact. The data overload makes real security breaches more difficult to find. And we all know how hard it is to find skilled tech employees.
“Tool problems, it’s not a technology issue, it’s a business issue,” explained Peterson, chief product officer at ZTEdge. The real problem is how to handle all the data, all the noise, he said.
“You can’t just throw people at the problem,” Porter said. “Your IT departments are understaffed as it is.”
One trick is to examine benign tickets, to see what data can be gleaned from those innocent breaches. That isn’t a task for techs, but it is something managed security software can accomplish, according to Peterson.
Another suggestion is to use AI-based software to respond to Tier 1 and Tier 2 tickets. “Automate them with a tool set and you can scale it linearly without adding people.” Peterson said.
Peterson said managed security software offers assistance in three main areas:
- Identifying Threats
- Issuing Alerts
- Upgrading Processes.
Peterson said his company has interfaces for more than 300 products. He says he watches how his customers use his product at scale, so he can teach others. “We learn a lot from our customers,” he said.
The more MSPs and security vendors can learn about security threats, the better they will be able to service their end customers. But, there’s never a time to be complacent or stop learning and looking at the data.
Edited by
Erik Linask
