How To Choose An MSSP?
Introduction
Security Operations Centers (SOCs) maintain 24×7 watch over the infrastructure of the organization.
They monitor, detect and analyze security threats with an aim to keep the infrastructures secure. As more and more organizations are shifting to an infrastructure-as-a-service model, SOCs should be able to monitor heterogeneous networks and provide security intelligence for the protection of their critical assets such as data centers, enterprise applications and cloud computing.
How To Choose An MSSP?
It is important that service providers choosing an MSSP today take into account the following factors:
Ability to monitor different network devices and technologies:
Organizations need to monitor various network devices and software in addition to firewalls, routers and IDS/IPS systems. These include virtual machines (VM), IP phones or IP cameras used in organizations’ IT environments. The ideal solution would be one that supports all these machine types across multiple vendors under a single pane of glass with no setup cost or license fees attached.
Flexibility in deployment:
Organizations need to monitor both on-premise and cloud infrastructures. The ideal solution would be one which allows easy configuration of installation parameters such as network port, SSL certificate information etc., at the time of initial provisioning with no additional setup or maintenance cost. It should also support secure remote access for administrators.
Security intelligence via analytics:
Security Analytics is one of the key features organizations look for when choosing an MSSP. Organisations need security intelligence data to make informed decisions about security operations, risk management and compliance auditing. Services that provide detailed reports like asset inventory, user behavior analysis (UBA), device profiling (DP), threat vulnerability assessment (A) are more useful than ones that don’t. Security intelligence also plays a critical role in incident management and post incident analysis (PIA). Organizations need to make sure that the services they choose offer a minimum of 2 years’ worth of rich security data for complete visibility.
Compliance readiness:
SOCs need to maintain audit trails for all activities performed by their analysts, which is referred to as “RUM” or request-for-updates/modifications. It’s important that service providers offer this feature so SOCs can easily demonstrate compliance with various industry regulations such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX etc.
Centralized administration:
Since an MSSP will have access to multiple customer networks, it should be able to support centralized configuration and policy management for all its customers. This includes the ability to define common policies across multiple organizations, be it security or compliance policies.
Integration with other tools:
SOCs often use various tools in addition to the MSSP platform to automate different processes such as IPAM, asset management, user behavior analysis , etc. It’s important that service providers offer seamless integration with these additional tools so that an organization can choose the right security intelligence solution based on their requirements and not have to compromise on any other factor due to lack of integration capabilities.
The above factors will help you compare your options when looking for a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) or Cybersecurity Service Provider(CSP).
Importance of MSSP
MSSP services are a crucial part of the overall security strategy for any organization.
Since most MSSPs provide an additional layer of protection against Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), organizations need to make sure that their existing security infrastructure is strong enough to handle these potential APTs.
In addition, Dynamic cloud services have made it easier for hackers to access data in real time from anywhere across the globe. This means SOC managers must have sophisticated tools capable of monitoring different cloud infrastructures and come out with actionable intelligence rapidly in order to stay ahead of emerging threats. They also need a constantly updated knowledge-base on hand at all times that can help them counter new types of attacks as they emerge.
Businesses need to work with a MSSP that is capable of providing them with the right security intelligence and post-breach analysis required to handle such incidents.
MSSPs also offer the following additional business benefits:
1. Compliance:
MSSPs provide organizations with an extra layer of security as well as a secure offsite backup for disaster recovery, which is critical from a compliance standpoint. In the event of a breach, organizations can easily demonstrate that they have taken all necessary precautions and actions to meet regulatory requirements via thorough documentation provided by their MSSP.
2. Business continuity:
As we’ve mentioned, MSSPs also provide businesses with an additional offsite backup for disaster recovery and business continuity that could mean the difference between business survival and complete collapse under worst case scenarios such as earthquakes or floods. Again, this is something organizations can attest to in case of any audits or breaches since they can either recover data themselves (in case of smaller companies) or rely on the MSSP to restore it in case of a cyber-attack and loss of critical data.
3. Future-proofing
It’s important for organizations to partner with an MSSP that is constantly evolving and adapting its services in order to keep up with future threats and developments in web application attacks, zero-day vulnerabilities, etc.
4. Clear ROI:
From a business standpoint, one of the most important factors to consider while selecting an MSSP is how easily they can demonstrate the benefits of such a partnership through clear ROI (Return On Investment) metrics since this will directly impact your bottom line and thus help justify your investment in these security intelligence solutions.
5. Unified visibility:
The key goal behind selecting an MSSP is to come up with a unified view of all your security, network and threat data in order to detect new emerging threats or anomalies quickly. MSSPs must be capable of merging this information into one cloud-based console so that businesses don’t have to rely on disparate solutions for different use cases.
Conclusion:
MSSPs provide crucial security for businesses and greatly reduce the costs involved in running a secure and compliant IT infrastructure. It is critical that today’s organizations choose the right MSSP solution to avoid any unnecessary expenses or risks to their data.
In addition, with so many MSS providers available these days, it can be difficult for businesses to filter out the ones who are most capable of providing them with the support required in handling cyber-attacks. The points mentioned above will help you narrow down your options when choosing a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) or Cybersecurity Service Provider(CSP). A well-reputed service provider should have a strong technical team backed by years of experience in both network monitoring and incident response. They should also have a strong presence in the security intelligence market as well as plenty of experience working with various cloud infrastructures such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and more.
By choosing a trustworthy MSSP, businesses can ensure they’re on the right path towards establishing a secure and compliant IT infrastructure that will serve them for years to come.
