Enterprise Information Security and Managed Service Providers (MSPs)

Organizations are heavily invested in cybersecurity controls, aimed at securing the evolving attack surfaces within enterprise computing environments. While the majority of said investments are focused on corrective, preventive, and detective security controls, a comprehensive cybersecurity framework is critical to defining security posture and increasing resilience in the face of cyberattacks.

Identifying, accessing, and acquiring proper security solutions to help protect the critical infrastructure of an enterprise can be a challenging task. A costly security solution might prove incapable of fully identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities, threats, and risk areas due to a potential mismatch between an organization’s IT environment and security solutions offered by a Managed Service Provider (MSP).

Unfortunately, small and mid-sized enterprises tend to experience the most challenges, as it relates to evaluating security solutions offered by an MSP. These challenges lead to disparaging situations, whereby the protection of data assets belonging to small and mid-sized enterprises are open to higher levels of risk. According to a recent study, the United States has the highest cost of data breaches in the world, with an average cost of $8.19 million for companies.

Therefore, it is imperative for executive leadership to understand how to reduce cybersecurity-related losses by selecting a managed service provider whose security solutions are equipped with a comprehensive cybersecurity framework.

Characteristics for Selecting A Managed Security Solutions Provider (MSSP)

A Managed Security Solutions Provider is a company that undertakes the management of an organization’s infrastructure, to provide viable IT security solutions, including data security and privacy, networking traffic monitoring, virtual private network (VPN) management, security patch management, etc. An MSSP may also provide customer support services for its native or third-party products, generally powered by a service level agreement (SLA).

In many cases, a Managed Service Provider (MSP) operates a separate section of their business model that provides MSSP processes for clients. Therefore, undertaking a managed service provider evaluation is a daunting task, which many small and mid-sized organizations struggle with, because it entails assessing both the MSP and their MSSP sector.

Here are actionable best practices for selecting an MSSP to meet your business goals and objectives:

• Ensure that the MSSP provides solutions that amplify security goals for detective, preventive, and corrective measures, while contributing to the minimization of cyber incidents.
• Browse the MSSP’s websites and social media presence to assess their partnerships and involvement across your industry.
• Ascertain that the MSSP is equipped with the necessary resources and expertise to implement and assess scalable security controls within your IT computing environment.
• Inquire about the MSSP’s processes for implementing and managing enterprise-level Business Continuity Planning (BCP), Incident Response Planning (IRP), and Disaster Recovery Management (DRM).
• Request for the MSSP’s data security and privacy plan for small and mid-sized enterprises.
• Availability of auditable compliance with government and industry standards and regulations, such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, FISMA, PCI-DSS, GLBA, etc.

How To Recognize A Comprehensive Cybersecurity Framework

A Cybersecurity Framework is a documented set of standards, guidelines, best practices, and processes that helps organizations define policies and procedures around managing information security risk in an enterprise environment. There are several cybersecurity frameworks available in the industry, powered by NIST, ISO, CIS, and COBIT.

However, prior to recognizing and implementing a suitable cybersecurity framework for small to mid-sized organizations, key stakeholders must understand their security posture. Such understanding comes from conducting an assessment of the threats, vulnerabilities, and risks facing critical infrastructures within the organization.

The capable cybersecurity engineers at GoldSky Cybersecurity are perfectly positioned to help evaluate the cybersecurity posture of any organization. Here are key factors for evaluating a comprehensive cybersecurity framework (CSF) offered by a security solutions provider:

• Certifiable end-to-end risk governance and compliance audit (GRCA) capabilities.
• Provision for Enterprise Information Security and Privacy requirements.
• Specificity regarding customizable controls to meet the unique cybersecurity needs of diverse computing environments.
• Integration of up-to-date industry standards, guidelines, regulations, and best practices.

Assessing An MSSP’s Offerings Prior To An Service Level Agreement (SLA) Commitment

The security solutions provided by an MSSP must be assessed prior to SLA commitments and contract signing. These assessments should be based on tangible factors, including cost benefit analysis; technical compatibility of the security solutions; cybersecurity industry reputation of an MSSP’s security product.

A close coordination of relationship and trust-building between an MSSP and a small to mid-sized business is the key to a successful MSSP vetting process. The MSSP evaluation consultation process at GoldSky Security helps to foster a strong relationship with key MSPs across the United States. This ensures that the cybersecurity goals of an organization is kept at the forefront of the service level agreement negotiation.

Prior to the consideration of an MSSP’s service level agreement pertaining to security solutions, the following factors must be determined:

• Third party audit of security service solutions
• Availability of specialized cybersecurity expertise
• Availability of customizable tools, techniques, and procedures
• Scalable security solutions and technologies
• Reliable (24/7) customer support
• Proactive updates to security solutions (tools, practices, procedures

In Closing

The technological advancements made in recent times have made computing environments complex, such that organizations have their information assets spread across data centers and cloud infrastructures across the globe. With the ever-increasing complexity of IT infrastructure and software applications, the scalability of critical cybersecurity requirements for an enterprise is a task better left up to a competent Managed Security Solution Provider (MSSP) that provides security solutions in line with a comprehensive cybersecurity framework.

Additionally, a continuous audit and assessment of a selected MSSP is highly imperative because it helps to ascertain the availability of continuous resources, expertise, and experience that are needed to deploy and manage security infrastructures that maintain the confidentiality, integrity, availability and privacy of critical data and systems. GoldSky Security Professionals can help to align your organization’s security posture to compete with the ever-changing business landscape across global markets.

With offices in Denver, Orlando, Tampa, Nashville and Washington D.C GoldSky offers reliable 24/7/365 security solutions to the entire US.

Get in touch to learn more about how GoldSky can keep your data secure today.