Over the last decade, network security professionals have become desensitized to the growing volume and sophistication of attacks. It’s no longer just about preventing attacks – today’s brand of network security is equally focused on increasing risk tolerance and minimizing the impact of an attack once it happens.
MSSPs are at the forefront of both battles – to protect and to prepare – and are assuming increased risk on behalf of their clients. While customers may be obsessive about data loss prevention (DLP), they are relying increasingly on highly personal social media interactions to conduct business. This is just one of many examples.
So, how do MSSPs provide security in this desensitized environment? Protection and preparation, when conducted simultaneously, require a deeper level of security capability and focus. It’s a matter of providing security services that increase risk tolerance, while still minimizing risk. If MSSPs want to fight both battles smartly, they should consider the following:
- Be contextually-aware. Spotting a threat or potential incident is no longer enough. MSSPs need access to full contextual-awareness to fully understand the nature of the threat, how to protect against it and what protocol to follow. This includes the type of file being accessed, the type of application, geolocation attributes, time/date, etc.
- Take a multi-tenant approach. A multi-tenant architecture makes room for co-management capabilities, like role-based access control. This gives customers the ability to do simple tasks that don’t risk security, but rather increase it. Furthermore, it takes the burden off of the MSSP to free them up for more strategic, impactful security activities.
- Be fanatical about auditing. With a myriad of compliance mandates, a complete audit trail of any changes and incidents are a necessity. MSSPs must focus on ways to streamline auditing – not treat it as an afterthought.
Written by: Matt McKinley, U.S. director of product development, Stonesoft
For more information:
mssp.stonesoft.com
www.stonesoft.com