Key Advantages And Benefits of Partnering with an MSSP
Author: John Judge
Security Operations Center (SOC) Manager John has over 25 years of experience with delivering and supporting global network security solutions. In a previous role he was the Head of Global Networks where he built a global network team delivering services to 45,000 users across 300 sites. John joined VirtualArmour in 2007 and manages the delivery of 24/7/365 SOC services. He has extensive network and cyber experience and has completed over 25 certifications during his career.
Date: August 28, 2024

Cybersecurity products are necessary expenses when doing business in the twenty-first century. Our databases have been moved to the cloud and employees have relocated to their homes, and the result of these changes is that malicious actors no longer need to break into guarded buildings to access sensitive information or disrupt business operations. They need only to exploit vulnerabilities in the system. If you don’t have a well-rounded security stack, an attack could cost your organization huge sums of money as well as reputational points.

There are a lot of products on the market, but MSSP benefits outweigh many singular products by a wide margin. Partnering with an experienced MSSP can ensure your organization is protected against everything from classic attacks to the most sophisticated new threats.

We are going to look at what MSSP is, why partnering with security providers like MSSPs are so important in keeping your data safe, and some of the top benefits of adding these services to bolster your security posture.

What is an MSSP?

An MSSP, by definition and acronym, is a managed security services provider. It is a third party that manages and monitors your network security. Most commonly, this means you have a cloud-based platform that is implementing, managing and monitoring a range of security products around the clock through a combination of advanced technology and a remote security operations center staffed with a team of security experts. 

Managed security services providers take the guesswork out of designing, implementing, and managing the solution that’s right for your organization. These solutions have proven time and time again to be incredibly beneficial for large and small companies alike. The reason is apparent when you review some of the core functions you can expect out of partnering with an MSSP.

Cyber Security Assessments

The first step in designing an effective network security solution is to assess your current security posture. This not only alerts the organization to potential vulnerabilities in the network, but also gives it a clear picture of which products are and aren’t necessary to protect its specific needs.

A thorough cyber security assessment alerts us to the most pressing issues, allowing us to triage the organization’s security needs. Knowing where your cyber security is performing admirably and where it could use some attention paves the smoothest path toward creating an airtight environment.

Endpoint Protection

With a large portion of the workforce moving off site since the COVID pandemic of 2020, organizations have opened their networks up to a wide range of potential entry points for cyber criminals. Remote employees now log in through an extended network of personal computers and personal devices known as endpoints. Those devices can be easy targets for a driven hacker, if the proper precautions aren’t taken.

Endpoints can be exploited through simple security missteps, such as poor password hygiene, employees clicking on malicious emailed links, mismanaged firewalls, and more. An MSSP monitors endpoints to ensure only authorized users are accessing the system, and that their behavior doesn’t cross the threshold into suspicious activity. Endpoint monitoring and detection can often stop a security incident before it begins.

Threat Hunting

Threats aren’t always terribly obvious when we look at them. Cyber criminals are continuously devising new and novel ways to gain unauthorized access into our systems, and some of them are very good at flying under the radar. If your security team hasn’t experienced a certain type of attack before, they may not know what to look for.

It’s a managed security services provider’s business to know all about the advanced techniques used to separate us from our data and disrupt operations, allowing them to actively hunt for threats that may otherwise go unnoticed. When this provides early detection, an organization is much more likely to come out of security threats with minimal damage.

Managed Detection and Response

We can’t stop all attacks before they strike. When we find ourselves affected by a security incident, a quick and efficient response is necessary so we can quarantine affected systems and minimize any potential damage.

An MSSP can provide rapid response tools to help us automatically respond the second a breach is detected. Both out of the box and custom responses are possible, meaning you retain control of exactly how your organization responds.

If you already have a dedicated security team on staff, you may wonder how partnering with an MSSP benefits organizations like yours. Let’s take a look.

Top MSSP Benefits

There are many benefits and advantages that you will get out of partnering with an MSSP. Some are absolutely essential, while others give us insights into our networks that simply provide peace of mind.

24/7 Threat Detection and Response

Most in-house security teams don’t have the capacity to monitor the network and all connected peripherals 24 hours a day. It’s a big job that requires someone to be on staff and alert, even in the odd hours of the night. Choosing instead to use an MSSP benefits your security team in a few important ways.

First, with an MSSP, you get a suite of powerful technology to assist in monitoring. That means that even if your security team misses a possible threat, it is likely to be picked up by one or more pieces of software designed to identify these threats through advanced threat prevention algorithms. 

Second, having a highly experienced team of security advisors on the lookout 24/7 takes some of the load off of your in-house teams. This allows them to focus more intently on specific duties, making your overall security posture considerably stronger.

And third, when an attack does occur, responding to it as quickly as possible is the best way to minimize the damage done. If it occurs in off hours when no one is watching the network, the result of a delayed response could be irreparable damage to the organization’s reputation and finances.

Expanded Security Team

Not all organizations have a security team capable of covering all corners of their security stacks. This is primarily due to the fact that not all regions have enough skilled applicants to fill open positions and that not all organizations have the resources to staff a large security team onsite. An MSSP benefits organizations by solving both problems.

MSSP providers have skilled security teams on duty 24/7, meaning organizations aren’t responsible for filling security roles and the cost is minimized by requiring fewer resources. This means we can have an expanded team of security experts at a fraction of the cost we would incur hosting them in-house.

Access to Specialized Skill Sets

Even when an organization has a well-staffed security team, there is a decent chance that those teams don’t have broad experience with all aspects of the security stack or haven’t seen enough threats to develop a wide range of expertise. The personnel on our 24/7 SOC monitoring teams come from a variety of backgrounds, giving them a range of specialized skill sets that creates a well-rounded team, ready to handle any threat.

Proper Implementation and Maintenance Assured

Choosing and setting up cybersecurity services is a great first step, but if they aren’t properly implemented and maintained, we don’t get the value we expect out of them. When we partner with an MSSP, we work with teams that specialize in proper implementation and maintenance of our security products.

Optimized Security Stacks

When our security products are properly implemented, we gain tremendous visibility into the value we are getting out of each product in the stack. If something isn’t providing us with the value we expect out of it, we know. If something needs a tweak to perform at its best, we can see that too. All this knowledge allows us to optimize our security stacks so that they provide us with the protection we require without the need for redundant or superfluous products.

Rapid Incident Response

As we touched on earlier, responding to any attack as soon as possible is vital if we want to minimize any damage caused by bad actors gaining unauthorized access to our networks. One of the biggest MSSP benefits is the ability to respond rapidly to security incidents.

Through an MSSP, we are able to design autonomous responses to different kinds of threats, meant to isolate and eliminate them. In-house security teams and stakeholders can be automatically and immediately notified of the situation, allowing more time for them to expand upon the definition of an appropriate response.

Working with Current Threat Intelligence

The sheer number of threat types out there means that practically no single security expert has experience with all of them. This makes access to up-to-date threat intelligence a necessity if we are to set up our security posture so that it’s prepared for new and emerging threats. 

MSSPs have access to top tier intelligence that allows both their technology and the teams in their security operations centers to effectively defend against and respond to even the most advanced threats out there.

Compliance

Many industries are subject to rigorous compliance standards, governed by outside bodies that evaluate security postures to ensure sensitive data is well protected. For instance, organizations in the financial and healthcare industries handle data that could cause serious problems for their clients and patients if a malicious actor gained access to it. If this is the case for your organization, this is one of the MSSP benefits you can’t do without. Partnering with a managed security services provider to manage your network security is a great way to ensure your organization remains compliant.

Lowered Operating Costs

Last, but certainly not least, one of the flashiest MSSP benefits is a lower operating cost for your organization. Outsourcing the management and monitoring of our security systems and devices delivers the direct benefit of taking the burden of hiring, training, and retaining top security talent. Those costs can then be invested in other places, helping your organization to run more efficiently and making stakeholders happy. When it comes to affordable cyber security, MSSPs are second to none. 

Choosing the Right Provider

There are a lot of great reasons to partner with an MSSP. That said, the benefits of managed service providers won’t always be evident if you don’t do a little research beforehand. The cheapest option will not always be your best choice, so let’s dig into what you should be looking for in your MSSP.

Top Tier Tech

MSSPs manage a range of security technologies for their clients, and the effectiveness of that tech is key to providing the security you need. Some providers will employ fancy graphics and marketing jargon to demonstrate the need for a particular product, but they should also be able to tell you exactly what that tech does and why you need it to protect your assets.

A Breadth of Experience

One of the most important factors in choosing the right MSSP to handle your security needs is their level of experience. A startup company may have very sophisticated software and very talented security teams, but without exposure to a wide range of threats, they may lack the experience necessary to handle new and emerging threats effectively and expeditiously.

A Customizable Solution

Not all organizations are created equally. Every company deals with different types of information and provides products or services a little differently. That’s why it’s so important that you have the ability to customize your network security solution to meet your unique needs. The right MSSP can tailor your solution to provide the protection you need and eliminate the products you don’t.

Responsiveness

Since speed is such an important part of a well-defended network, it is important that you partner with a responsive MSSP. If you are alerted to a potential threat event and you are unable to get a hold of someone to walk you through the next step, your network will remain vulnerable until the threat is addressed. Read reviews and client testimonials to learn as much as you can about the responsiveness of the MSSP you are considering before pulling the trigger.

Reach Out to Learn More

Knowledge is power when it comes to protecting your organization’s most valuable assets, so reaching out to a managed security services provider can provide you with important information that will be pivotal in getting the MSSP benefits that will keep your data safe and put your mind at ease.

Virtual Armour works with state of the art technologies and highly qualified security teams to deliver the value our clients have come to expect. If you would like to learn more about our suite of offerings, reach out for a consultation.