A Guide to Managed Security Services [MSS]

A strong and robust security posture is essential for any business with a digital presence or technology ecosystem. Put simply, security services and cybersecurity functions should be the number one priority for your business. Cybersecurity is so important that it must influence all business decision-making to give your business the best opportunity to survive and thrive in a security-conscious digital marketplace.

Managed security services (MSS) are used by businesses to offload the security burden to proven managed security service providers. Such providers have the security and compliance expertise already in-house, the correct toolsets, and a wide range of highly skilled technical resources available to help, advise, and commit to securing your digital business.

Managed security service providers bring a variety of cybersecurity services to the table, covering everything from intrusion prevention, managing firewalls, vulnerability scanning, incident response, and overseeing Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems.

The beauty of these services lies in their remote delivery straight from a cutting-edge Security Operations Center (SOC). This setup enables your business to thrive by giving you access to security expertise, know-how, and technology, all without the hassle of maintaining expensive in-house security teams.

Let’s dig deeper and discover what a managed security service provider is and why they are crucial for addressing security concerns organizations face.

What Are Managed Security Services?

A managed security service provider is a third-party company responsible for securing assets, patching vulnerabilities, and managing risks across all client security devices, such as servers, laptops, and IoT devices.

Comprehensive managed security services typically cover security monitoring and incident response as standard. Many organizations also opt for threat intelligence protection to proactively address emerging security threats as they occur.

Security monitoring involves continuously monitoring, triaging, and resolving security events. A typical managed security service setup will monitor network traffic, endpoints, logs, audits, physical security systems, applications (email, databases), and cloud services.

Security professionals respond to alerts 24/7, swiftly resolving issues or escalating them to internal security teams when necessary. Security experts can advise on handling internal and external threats and how to protect employees from social engineering.

Managed security services providers have access to enterprise-grade hardware and software toolsets to assist with deep scanning of the internal network, helping to identify weaknesses, threats, and vulnerabilities. When a gap is pinpointed, an alert is triggered for triage and resolution.

Specialists utilize advanced threat detection techniques, using intrusion protection systems to aid threat monitoring endpoint detection and penetration testing. These tools help engineers create a security baseline, which forms the groundwork needed to implement recommended improvements.

Security audits, compliance monitoring, and vulnerability scanning are part of the comprehensive security initiatives managed by service providers to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. To help address security issues, look for providers that offer managed firewall services and edge protection security software as standard.

Look for an MSS for continuous monitoring, detection, and response of cybersecurity issues; this approach helps mitigate alert fatigue, ensuring that security incidents are continuously monitored and addressed.

Benefits of Managed Security Services

Managed security services come with a vast array of benefits and advantages that your business can leverage, each designed to enhance your cybersecurity posture.

Access to Highly Skilled Professionals

Cybersecurity professionals are in high demand, and as a result, salaries are high. These two factors make starting your own security team extremely challenging. Thankfully, using a managed security services provider allows you to tap into a highly skilled team of experts who are already aware of the latest cybersecurity threat landscape.

Around-the-Clock Monitoring

When signing up for an MSSP, you can benefit from a proven monitoring system. Monitoring systems are decentralized, making it easy for your business to plug into the monitoring system with minimal local configuration in most circumstances. MSSPs are equipped to respond swiftly to security incidents, minimizing the potential impact and downtime for the organization.

Cost Savings

As discussed earlier, maintaining a skilled security services team is very expensive. Your business can reduce operation costs significantly by outsourcing an internal security team to an MSSP. This allows you to divert the investment, perhaps you can focus on building and infrastructure services instead. These services are typically sold on a subscription or contractual basis, allowing organizations to predict and manage their cybersecurity costs more effectively.

Access to Cutting Edge Technology

MSSPs invest in the latest cybersecurity technologies, tools, and platforms, ensuring that their clients benefit from state-of-the-art security measures without the need for individual organizations to make significant upfront security investments.

Focus on Compliance monitoring.

Managed security services help to fast-track your business compliance needs. Once onboarded with an MSSP, a large number of the security requirements of compliance programs such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, ISO, etc., are largely met. MSSPs are well-versed in regulatory compliance standards, helping clients maintain adherence to industry-specific regulations and avoid legal challenges.

Tap into Global Threat Intelligence

MSSPs have access to Threat Intelligence databases that give insights into emerging threats and vulnerabilities on a global scale. Knowledge is power, so knowing what threats are about is half the battle won, allowing you to implement advanced security measures and ensure a proactive stance in safeguarding organizations from potential cyberattacks.

What Do Managed Security Services Include?

Despite greater awareness of security challenges and the need for proactive security services, many businesses still struggle to meet the required standards to help guarantee protection against the latest cybersecurity risks. So what are you getting for your investment?

• Comprehensive managed security services include continuous managed security monitoring, advanced threat detection, and incident response. MSSPs are responsible for addressing all security vulnerabilities and proactively managing potential exploits within a client’s network and company’s infrastructure.
• You get access to a security team with the latest toolsets that can keep up with evolving cyberattacks. If issues do occur, they have the ability to address the issue and recover from the incident.
• Perhaps the most important service included is the fact that you can hand over your security services to a proven security specialist. This can potentially release huge amounts of your time and resources to focus on core business activities, safe in the knowledge that security is in the hands of the experts.

How Do I Choose a Manage Security Service Provider (MSSP)?

It is vital to uphold the security of your business, so it’s essential to choose the best-managed security service provider for the job. Outsourcing is still a sizable investment, albeit much more affordable than going solo, so choosing the right people for the job is a critical business decision to get right.

There are many factors you should have at the forefront of the decision-making process.

What does the MSSP Offer:

Discover exactly the services offered by the MSSP. Learn what areas of information security they specialize in, network security, cloud security, endpoint security, data security, or even industry-specific compliance measures. Do they specialize in one area, or do they have capabilities in all areas?

24/7 Support Excellence

Proactive security requires 24x7x365 monitoring and response. Choose a provider that guarantees around-the-clock access to resources and a team that monitors your environment continuously. Look for a provider that offers a support hotline, a number where you can escalate priority concerns no matter the time of day. Look for robust Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and pay particular attention to alert response times and resolution times.

Resilient Support on Difficult Times

Pick a security provider that will be by your side during difficult times. We only need to look back a few years to realize the devastating consequences and events like a global pandemic have on the global population. What about natural disasters, major incidents, or theft? You need a provider who will be with you every step of the way. The best providers will help you to implement security contingency plans to incorporate into your very own disaster recovery plans. The provider’s security infrastructure needs to be colocated in a tier-3 or higher data center, one that guarantees automated failover and guaranteed 100% around-the-clock operation.

Proactive, Not Reactive Security Operations

Proactive security is when MSSP experts push for recommended changes within our business, the aim is to offer continuous improvement initiatives that improve your security posture over a period of time. You don’t want an MSSP that is reactive only, one that only responds after an issue has already happened. Proactive Security involves regular patching, regular training, 24×7 monitoring and threat intelligence, penetration testing, and subsequent fixes.

Realistic Budget

We have already discussed that security professionals are in high demand and that there is a shortage of skilled professionals in the sector. That being said, don’t let your MSSP charge exorbitant fees for security packages. Security services can be affordable, and remember you may only need a selective number of managed security services from your managed service provider. Most will offer a banded service, such as platinum, gold, silver, and bronze packages, with each banding increasing the number of services and the complexity of the service.

Atlantic.Net: Your Managed Security Service Provider

Atlantic.Net is celebrating our 30 years in the managed detection business, and we are proud to serve our customers. We offer a full range of managed security services for your business. Our team of experienced professionals will manage your security program, handle all security alerts, and ensure that you are fully compliant with all necessary regulations.

With our comprehensive suite of services, including firewall, endpoint security, vulnerability management, and cloud security solutions, you can rest assured that your organization is fully protected.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help secure your business.