Many SMB’s operate with the notion that “it won’t happen to me,” or better yet, according to Raytheon, they plan only to react after experiencing a data breach or cyber attack. Unfortunately, for most, it will be too late. Many breaches put companies out of business for good.
“Cybersecurity is not a waiting game, and organizations without the expertise and tools required to identify and respond to skilled adversaries need to understand that,” said Jack Harrington, vice president of cyber security and special missions at Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. “The old approach waited for technology to flag known threats.”
The new approach is Managed Security Services (MSS). With security threats constantly evolving and essentially a “moving target,” many organizations are giving MSS a serious look. According to Raytheon, IT leaders rely on MSS because:
- It improves their cyber security posture (59 percent)
- Finding and retaining top in-house talent is a challenge (58 percent)
- They lack in-house technology (57 percent)
Check out these findings from a recent Poneman Research Report titled, “The 2016 State of SMB Cyber Security”:
- Prevalent attacks against smaller businesses are Web-based and phishing/social engineering.
- Negligent employees or contractors and third parties caused most data breaches. However, almost one-third of companies in this research could not determine the root cause.
- Current technologies cannot detect and block many cyber attacks. Most exploits have evaded intrusion detection systems and anti-virus solutions.
- Personnel, budget, and technologies are insufficient to have a strong security posture. As a result, some companies engage managed security service providers to support an average of 34 percent of their IT security operations.
- Determination of IT security priorities is not centralized. The two functions most responsible are chief executive and chief information office. However, 35 percent of respondents say no one function in their company determines IT security priorities.
- Cloud usage and mobile devices that access business-critical applications and IT infrastructure will increase and threaten the security posture of companies in this study. However, only 18 percent of respondents say their company uses cloud-based IT security services and most password policies do not require employees to use a password or biometric to secure access to their mobile devices.
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Check out the video “What is Managed Security” here.
Listen ATC’s Darren DeMartino talk about Masergy’s managed security.
