By: Nathan Hill-Haimes, Co-Founder, Amvia
How managed service providers prevent cyber threats
Managed service providers (MSPs) offer a range of business support services that can help with everything from accountancy to telephony, but one of the most important services they offer is cyber security. With increasing cyber threats aimed at businesses of all sizes, managing your cyber security couldn’t be more important and that’s where a managed service provider who specialises in protecting businesses can help.
What are managed services in cyber security?
A professional MSP offers a whole range of cyber security managed services, including email security, regular, secure backups, management of firewalls and endpoints, education of staff, and password management. Your MSP will monitor your network, looking out for any suspicious activity and working to block spam and phishing attacks while preventing security breaches. Should the worst happen, and an attacker manages to break through, your MSP can minimise damage and disruption, and have your business back up and running again quickly, with the restoration of a clean backup.
Your MSP will look after software updates and patches, including setting up the right security settings for Microsoft 365, and other needed software. They’ll secure your hardware and your communications, ensuring VoIP calls are secure and encrypted.
In short, they’ll do everything they can to protect you from cyber-attacks and to restore everything quickly should a breach happen.
Why does a business need managed cyber security services?
Well, we’ve given you quite the list of tasks above that a professional MSP has the staff to handle 365 days a year and 24/7. They provide always-on protection and monitoring.
The thing to consider is this; Do you have the range of skills needed within your business to cover every aspect of cyber security? And not only that, do you have the budget to pay an in-house team that will take care of everything for you, not just during the day, but on evenings, weekends, and holidays too?
An MSP can save you money with an agreed service level agreement that provides you with the skills to protect your business, without having to hire a full team and have the added costs of pensions, bonus schemes, paying tax and National Insurance, maternity and paternity benefits, and so on.
Depending on their skill set, an MSP may also bring other options to your business, such as secure remote working, cloud computing, AI, and other technical developments that an in-house team couldn’t match.
How do you manage cyber security threats?
The best place to start is with a risk assessment to identify and evaluate any cyber threats against your business. Look at the severity of the risk and possible consequences, then prioritise them. Look into how to protect against these threats, mitigate them, and deal with them if they happen.
You’ll then need to put protections in place and communicate what you’ve done to staff and managers at all levels of the business, stressing the impact of cyber threats and how each staff member can help.
If you have the know-how, you can do this yourself, but you may be better handing this over to a specialist cyber security MSP. And if you already have an MSP, definitely get them involved in the process as they need to know the results and be involved in deciding what to do about each threat.
This isn’t a one-and-done process. It’s a continuous assessment that needs to be regularly done and updated to stay ahead of cybercriminals and protect your business.
The National Cyber Security Centre has an excellent, in-depth look at cyber security: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/10-steps/risk-management.
How can cybersecurity help protect a company and its employees?
If a business falls victim to a cybercriminal, the consequences can be severe, including loss of vital data, damage to hardware and systems, stolen sensitive information, loss of reputation, loss of money, and more. In the worst case, it’s possible that a company could even go out of business after an attack.
With the right cyber security protection from either your own in-house team or a professional managed service provider, you can keep your data and your business systems as secure as possible, while also ensuring you have a plan and processes in place, just in case the worst should happen.
With good cyber security, including detection, prevention, protection, regular backups, and a well thought out disaster recovery plan, even if a cybercriminal does attack your business, you should be back up and running again quickly.
About the Author:
Nathan is an Investor & Co-Founder at Amvia, a serial telecoms entrepreneur, and inbound marketing expert. From his home in coastal North Devon, Nath works with a portfolio of technology, property & sports investments through his fund Croyde Bay Ventures. When he’s not working, Nath can usually be found surfing, mountain biking, or walking the North Devon Coast with Wilf his Working Cocker.
