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Advantages of Managed Security Solutions in a pandemic affected World

With an increase in online and virtual activities, cybercriminals have attacked with increased vigor due to the increased opportunities for targeting people.

The impact of the pandemic in the past 1.5 years has changed the business and technology landscape completely. With remote work being the norm today, the outlook towards enterprise security has changed considerably. With an increase in online and virtual activities, cybercriminals have attacked with increased vigor due to the increased opportunities for targeting people. This is corroborated by the 2021 Gartner CIO survey, which states that 64% of employees today are able to work from home. Online work that was only available to executives and senior staff is now widely available to a lot more employees. From an enterprise security perspective, this requires a complete change of policies and processes, as the concept of the perimeter has disappeared. 

While demand for enterprise security skills has rocketed, there is still a huge gap between demand and supply. In early 2019, Gartner had predicted that there would be a global shortage of two million cybersecurity professionals by end 2019. The global pandemic has amplified this shortage. 

In a time of crisis, a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) can help in mitigating enterprise security challenges, and help organizations take a proactive stance towards ensuring security. For example, consider the access to talent. Most user organizations do not have the capability to attract skilled talent, as opportunities to learn are limited. Compared to this, an MSSP can provide enterprise security professionals with access to the latest technologies, good infrastructure, and an effective training program that helps the professional improve his or her skills consistently. 

From a knowledge and industry perspective, leading MSSPs have access to a huge number of customer networks, which when coupled with their own threat intelligence, can help enterprises ward off attacks successfully. MSSPs can also create a test infrastructure for gauging if a website or a server can withstand a global attack. MSSPs also periodically conduct penetration tests to detect if an enterprise has any security vulnerability.  Armed with this knowledge and expertise, MSSPs can identify the root cause of any issue quickly. As MSSPs have access and exposure to multiple clients and have to operate in a highly competitive market, there is a constant focus on upgrading skill sets. This helps enterprises to be at par with the latest tools, technologies, and processes, and take a proactive stance towards security. 

In an age of remote working, MSSPs can use automated tools and platforms for checking if there are any security gaps with respect to devices or people. By using these insights, they can monitor and enforce compliance with respect to security. This is extremely critical at a time when many enterprises are facing huge challenges for being compliant with respect to different regulations. MSSPs are well versed with the latest regulations and policy changes and can help organizations comply with different regulations such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley). By partnering with an MSSP, organizations can be compliant with the latest industry regulations. 

From a holistic enterprise security portfolio, MSSPs can offer a range of services such as intrusion detection, unified threat management services, managed SIEM, penetration testing, DR, and vulnerability testing services. The comprehensive range of services ensures that enterprises are equipped with the best capabilities to protect themselves. 

For an enterprise, the TCO of securing its IT infrastructure comes at a significantly lower cost, as the cost of skilled manpower, tools, and technologies is shared over multiple clients. Most importantly, this model is available using a pay-per-use model, which helps clients conserve their money, as they do not have to invest upfront in hiring trained enterprise security professionals for securing their infrastructure. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation efforts, and there has been an unprecedented rush for helping people to get to work remotely.  This is a time of great risk, and as many CISOs have discovered later, there have been many security gaps, as standard security mechanisms have been bypassed, due to lack of time. An MSSP can not only offload these tasks but also help in providing an independent and process-driven view of ensuring security. For enterprises who are still sitting on the fence on partnering with an MSSP, the Covid-19 crisis may be the best opportunity to ensure a proactive, economical, and efficient way of ensuring a robust security posture. 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house