Association of cloud and managed service providers has developed a methodology for rating the cyber risk rating of cloud & managed service providers

The International Association of Cloud & Managed Service Providers (MSPAlliance®) today announced that is has developed a cyber risk rating for cloud and managed service providers. Based on its 15 year old standard for MSPs, the cyber risk rating will allow service providers (and their customers) to more accurately assess the cyber risk of the provider, and by extension, of the customer environment. The Cyber Verify Risk rating is a system designed to communicate cyber risk protection practices employed by service providers. Consumers of cloud and managed services can use the Cyber Verify rating system to determine what type of provider will be best suited to their needs.

What Does the Cyber Verify Rating Solve?

Global cyberattacks are non-discriminatory and are undoubtedly on the rise. Organizations of all sizes and varieties are seeking to protect themselves against a wide range of repercussions often associated with cyberattacks, data breaches, and other forms of nefarious cyber activity. Now more than ever, the consumer needs the ability to readily identify the Cyber Risk rating of the service provider delivering proactive IT and cyber security services to them.

A Cyber Risk rating brings several important tools to providers and their customers in this fight against cyber bad actors:

• Transparency – the Cyber Risk Rating will further help providers communicate their capabilities in fighting against cyberattacks on behalf of the customer

• Education – customers unaware of what capabilities and tools are most helpful defending against cyberattacks can now have knowledge of these services, tools, and technologies

• Trust – customers need to know which providers are delivering proactive cyber defensive solutions compared to those providers merely reacting to attacks. Reactive providers do not help customers prepare for or guard against cyberattacks; but instead deliver “after the fact” clean up services, once the damage has been done.

 

 

“The Cyber Verify Risk rating is a continuation of the work MSPAlliance has been doing for nearly 20 years,” said Celia Weaver, president of MSPAlliance. “Providing service providers and customers with greater transparency and information to make educated decisions regarding cyber defense is what matters most to us and the global MSP industry that we represent.”

The MSPAlliance certifications include the following:

• MSP Verify – for providers of managed IT services
• Cloud Verify – for providers of cloud based applications, including Software as a Service, and cloud based infrastructure
• SOC 1 Type 1 & Type 2 – can be added to any MSP or Cloud Verify project
• SOC 2 Type 1 & Type 2 – can be added to any MSP or Cloud Verify project
• Data Center Verify – for providers of data center services
• Business Continuity Verify – an independent verification of MSP business continuity operations
• GDPR Verify – for service providers wanting to demonstrate compliance with GDPR

For more information about MSPAlliance or the MSP Verify certifications, please visit www.mspalliance.com/