The MSP’s Blueprint for Cyber Resilience
For many businesses, downtime and data loss are simply not an option–but merely rejecting these scenarios doesn’t preclude them from happening. The old adage that “failing to plan is planning to fail” is even more true when it comes to cybersecurity.
Unfortunately, the ever-evolving nature of the modern threat landscape presents a greater challenge to today’s increasingly data-reliant organizations. SMBs, and the managed service providers (MSPs) they rely on, need concrete cyber resilience strategies that help them reduce their vulnerability to threats.
The Modern Threat Landscape
Despite the troubling headlines, few people who aren’t directly involved in security realize that cyberattacks have become big business during the last few years. Estimates indicate that global ransomware payments amount to $20 billion per year, a number expected to rise to about $265 billion within a decade. Average payouts have also gone up by over 171% in the last two years, reaching over $300,000.
Smaller businesses are at particular risk. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, “88% of small business owners felt their business was vulnerable to a cyberattack.” Yet these are the very companies that are most likely to lack a comprehensive cybersecurity team, the knowledge of how to begin mitigating the threat or a security-focused MSP to help them.
Today’s hackers are no longer the iconic “guy in a black hoodie.” They are sophisticated, well-funded and well-equipped–and they’re going after your clients’ data.
No organization is immune. Helping clients survive in this threat environment means being able to predict, withstand, and adapt to challenges.
Building Cyber Resilience
Cyber resilience is a measure of your ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from adverse events such as cyberattacks, natural disasters, equipment and communication failures, and more.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated in 2019 that “every company is a software company.” Think you’re not in the software business? You’re probably wrong. Today, software doesn’t just drive productivity, it unites almost every department of an organization. Everyday processes are both defined by, and dependent on, software.
What this means is that as an MSP, you can’t afford not to understand your clients’ IT infrastructure underlying their everyday business activities. And as your clients grow, you’ll naturally want to add layers of protection, recognizing the criticality of software to your services.
Understand Your Clients’ Unique Needs
There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits all data protection and security strategy. No set of policies or procedures can be created that suits all businesses, so it’s up to you to determine, in collaboration with all departments and stakeholders, what the most vital resources and processes actually are.
Build a holistic view of your clients, making sure to:
- Survey the client’s entire organization and document key processes
- Evaluate the types and severities of risks the client is most likely to encounter
- Conduct a risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities and analyze potential business impacts
Balance Security and Protection
Don’t assume that data protection and data security are the same thing.
- Data protection keeps clients’ valuable data backed up and available in the event of a disturbance.
- Data security keeps clients’ data safe against online threats, relying on up-to-date threat intelligence.
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