Managed Cybersecurity Services: Protecting Your Business in the Digital Age
Chances are you know the dangers of slacking on cybersecurity. The stats are impossible to ignore:
- 73% of U.S. small businesses reported a cyberattack last year
- 75% of customers avoid brands after a data breach
- $3.31 million is the average cost of a data breach for companies with less than 500 employees
But what can small and midsize businesses do about it — without blowing their budgets? Managed cybersecurity services offer a cost-effective way to access advanced cybersecurity tools and expertise.
What is managed cybersecurity?
Rather than piecing together a cybersecurity plan on your own, managed cybersecurity entails a provider deploying cybersecurity to fit your business, including managing all solutions and monitoring your network, email, and devices.
What’s included in managed cybersecurity services?
Cybersecurity isn’t the outcome of any one solution. It’s the result of many layers of protection across all your technologies. At the most basic level, it involves securing access, monitoring for threats and responding to breaches. While every business is unique, there are typically three main components to consider: email, devices and network.
The big three: email, devices, network
For every technology that your business uses, there are different security threats and protection measures. At the very least, your managed cybersecurity provider should have a comprehensive approach to these three:
Every employee’s email is a doorway into your business, making them an ideal target for cybercriminals. One compromised account could lead to corrupting your entire network. Ensuring that doesn’t happen comes down layered security on your email, which could include:
- Spam filters
- Anti-phishing tools
- Employee cybersecurity training
- SaaS monitoring
- Multi-factor authentication
Phishing emails continue to be a big problem for businesses. And with the rise of AI, they look more and more convincing. A hacker could easily make an email look like it’s coming from within your own business to get employees to click a link or download a file with malware. While spam filters and anti-phishing software help prevent those emails in the first place, it’s essential that your employees stay up to date on what to look for and utilize multi-factor authentication as an added barrier to hackers on email. Be sure to find a managed cybersecurity provider that offers regular cybersecurity training.
Weak and reused passwords also pose a threat, making accounts more susceptible to hacking especially without multi-factor authentication. SaaS monitoring helps identify suspicious email login attempts and activity. For example, login attempts in foreign countries or sending large files would trigger an alert. Your cybersecurity provider would then contact the email owner to verify the activity and take action if necessary.
Devices
Your business’s phones, computers, and other connected devices all require specific cybersecurity measures. Even your printers store sensitive data and need to be secured. A managed cybersecurity provider should offer device-level protection, including:
- End-point detection and response (EDR)
- Managed detection and response (MDR)
Think of your devices as the “end-points.” EDR monitors their activity, sounding the alarm at the first sign of an attempted breach. However, an alert won’t do you much good without someone to respond to it. MDR includes the EDR plus the human element to help activate alarms to reduce or reverse the impact of a breach.
Network
Your network is what connects all your devices together. Without it, you simply couldn’t do business. While there are lots of layers to protecting your network, one sign of an experienced cybersecurity provider is if they provide:
- Security information event management system (SIEM)
Like MDR, SIEM collects aggregated logs and data from across your network and compares it to existing data about cybersecurity threats. Using statistical models and machine learning, it can detect threats, connect related events to uncover attack campaigns and produce reports for forensic analysis. Because your network is essentially a highway to both your devices and email systems, it’s essential to have strong measures in place to protect it.
What are the benefits of managed cybersecurity services?
One way or another, you need a solution to cybersecurity.
The “wait and see” approach is simply not an option in today’s online world.
Piecemealing cybersecurity solutions together is better than nothing but can end up leaving security gaps and costing you significantly in the long run.
Aside from the sheer convenience of coordinating with one vendor, managed cybersecurity is a cost-effective solution for businesses that don’t have an internal IT team. Securing emails, computers, phones, printers and data across one or more networks requires substantial time and expertise. Managed cybersecurity services are typically priced per device or user. This gives businesses access to enterprise-level protection without having to establish relationships with multiple solutions providers or guess as to what’s needed. A managed cybersecurity provider will do the legwork for you, and tell you how to achieve baseline cybersecurity.
Just as important are the benefits of a cohesive approach. Because technology like emails, devices and networks are all connected, having one center for protection helps avoid critical gaps when disjointed cybersecurity tools don’t coordinate.
Find a managed cybersecurity provider
If you help run a small or midsize business, chances are you could benefit from managed cybersecurity services. Now that you know what to look for, NBM is here to identify the right mix of managed cybersecurity services for your business.
NBM is a managed cybersecurity provider with experience across lots of multiple vertical industries. As a full-service office technology company, we specialize in helping you get back to the business you love. Talk to one of our local specialists about what managed cybersecurity could look like for your business.