Security as a Service (SECaaS) is not a new term, but with the increase in remote workers, a decrease in IT budgets, and an increase in hacker activity, SECaaS is more important than ever. Here are 5 important security-as-a-service questions that could help your organization improve your IT budget and security levels.
What is Security as a Service?
According to AT&T, Security as a Service (often abbreviated as SECaaS) is a means by which organizations ensure the highest levels of threat detection and response in the most cost-efficient manner by utilizing managed security service providers (MSSPs).
Security as a Service empowers organizations to outsource needed security tasks – such as security monitoring, threat detection, and remediation – to dedicated teams of external security experts that use advanced security solutions, allowing internal IT and security teams to focus on core business needs.
The cybersecurity skills shortage is a persistent problem that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. By outsourcing specific security tasks to an MSSP, you are able to control your budget while allowing security-focused experts to monitor your networks around the clock. This benefit not only saves you time and money but also allows your team to focus on the necessary functions of your daily operations.
Security as a Service Examples
Security as a service is offered by MSSPs through a myriad of different security services. While they may have different names, the basic service examples include the following managed services:
- Security Assessments
A Security Risk Assessment is a required step when determining the needs or success of your security program. It’s possible to retain organizations to complete multiple assessments throughout the year based on your need – gap analysis, penetration tests, etc.
- Managed SIEM (Security Information Event Management)
A SIEM is a complex tool that requires expertise to implement and maintain. To be effective, a SIEM has to be constantly updated and customized because external threats and internal environments are constantly changing. A Managed SIEM service provides insightful analysis for real-time threat detection and incident response.
- Managed Detection and Response
Endpoint security has skyrocketed in popularity since COVID-19 sent most workers to work from home. Managed Detection and Response is the next generation of antivirus that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to prevent and detect cyber threats on endpoints.
- Firewall -as-a-Service
Firewall-as-a-Service is designed specifically to cut the complexity and time needed to get your network running smoothly and securely – and keep it there. Analysts suggest that 80% of IT total cost of ownership (TCO) occurs after the initial purchase.
An outsourced Patch Management solution will scan your systems, check for missing and available patches against our comprehensive vulnerability database, download and deploy missing patches and service packs, and generate reports to effectively manage the patch management process of the enterprise.
- Vulnerability Scanning
Managed vulnerability scanning provides support for the full range of assets including everything from servers and network infrastructure to cloud, containers, web apps, and IoT. This Security as a Service tool extends vulnerability management by covering the breadth of the attack surface (IT, Cloud, IoT/OT) and provide a depth of insight into the data (including prioritization/analytics/decision support).
- Incident Response
Does your organization understand how to contain and stop a cyberattack when it occurs? If not, the answer to stopping the bleeding and fixing the problem is Incident Response.
- Compliance
Managed compliance services is an outsourced service that will help organizations maintain their regulatory compliance. As each organization has different compliance requirements, the services involved will depend on each organization’s requirements.
- Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
As one of the top cyber security solutions every organization needs, business continuity, and disaster recovery is the best way to recover after a data breach.
5 Reasons Companies Need SECaaS
Through managed services offerings, most MSSPs are able to offer enterprise-level cyber threat detection and remediation. The top five reasons organizations should consider SECaas include:
#1. More In-Depth Services – Managed services are much more than threat detection and prevention, or just checking the boxes on compliance requirements. Depending on your needs, managed services can include email encryption, SIEM (security information and event management), IAM (identity and access management), endpoint protection, firewall protection, IDS/IPS, DLP (data loss prevention), and DRaaS (disaster recovery as a service).
#2. Operational Expense Budget – rather than taking a cut out of a large budget from capital expenses, managed services are charged on a monthly basis.
#3. A High Level of Security Expertise – The only job of MSSPs is to keep you secure. There is no need for you to worry about finding cybersecurity talent, training, and maintaining them, your MSSP has a dedicated team of very highly-trained security analysts working for you full-time.
#4. Simplified Security – rather than maintaining a security portfolio of tens or hundreds of vendors, MSSPs stay updated on the latest in security technology so you don’t have to.
#5. Remediation – Not all MSSPs offer this service. But, with Cybriant remediation is included in all managed services. Most MSSPs will alert you when something is wrong, but what if you don’t have the expertise to fix it? That’s where our team of security analysts walks you through the remediation process.
SECaas Benefits
By keeping up with the bleeding edge of security trends and technologies, MSSPs like Cybriant can help you stay ahead of security threats with well-tested, leading-edge technologies.
Ransomware, Trojans, crypto mining, and more make the news regularly these days. Businesses and consumers are both aware of the threats. Yet there is no single vaccine that can keep you safe. The volume of threats is growing. Cybercriminals are mixing up their tactics to outwit their targets, and the result is increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.
Password theft and password-based breaches remain a daily occurrence in 2020. But that’s only one area of concern. Cybersecurity experts warn that “the worst is yet to come.”
Security as a Service vendors will help you to stay on top of evolving threats. For a small, fixed monthly cost, you add a team of experts to your arsenal. Instead of reacting after the fact, they work to identify any vulnerabilities. Instead of reacting, they work to identify vulnerabilities and prevent attacks.
When security is internal, a single person or small, overworked team tries to stay current. Working with a managed security service provider (MSSP), in-house IT teams focus instead on business tasks. They can trust the MSSP to know the latest, greatest technologies. The MSSP’s experts do the necessary training and attend the security conferences and your business benefits without having to spend finite resources.
Is Security as a Service a Good Investment?
Considering the cost of a data breach, Security as a Service is a good investment for most businesses.
According to CSO Online, US organizations face the highest costs with an average of $8.19 million per breach – up 5.3% in 2019 – driven by a complex regulatory landscape that can vary from state-to-state, especially when it comes breach notification. In the UK the figure has risen over 4%, to $3.9 million, and is slightly higher than the global average after several years of tracking lower.
The average cost of each lost record went down slightly to $146 from $150 in 2019. The most expensive type of record to lose was customer PII records, which were involved in around 80% of breaches in the study. The least expensive record to lose was employee PII and was the least likely type of record to be lost in a breach.
Those costs aren’t the only risk of a data breach, though. Your business also risks:
- theft of international property
- loss of competitive advantage
- damage to brand reputation
- customer churn
- regulatory fines
No matter your business size or industry, you are at risk. It’s that simple. To consider the cost of a managed service to protect your organization from the cost of a data breach, start with an assessment. Our team will help you understand which managed service would work best for your organization. Schedule a consultation today.
Top Security as a Service Provider
According to a recent announcement, Cybriant remains one of the top 100 Global Managed Security Services Providers. We partner with many of the organizations on the list as well. Find out more about the recent announcement here.
To learn more about top security as a service provider, take a look at the reviews on G2 Crowd. Take a look at what a few of our happy clients have said:
“Cybriant helped us to get on top of our SOC needs with their all-inclusive SOC as a Service program. We have found them to be professional and friendly. They really know their stuff!”
“I like the experience they have. The team we worked with is seasoned in all things security. The staff was very friendly and firm.”
“We wanted to put in a SOC, but we did not have a SOC and it was determined we would outsource this function. we realized a significant gain in expertise while not having to build out entire SOC capabilities avoiding significant capital outlay.”
In Conclusion
The threat landscape is always shifting. You might be at risk from targeted attacks against your employees (e.g. faked business email communications), ransomware (holding your data hostage), or other advanced threats.
Managed services ensure you have the people, processes, and technology to prevent an attack. Plus, if the worst happens, they have the skills to mitigate the damage and get you back up and running quickly.
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