There may be a certain point where the cybersecurity requirements for your organization do not meet the available manpower in your staff. You may have many devices and servers for development and production needs but cannot afford to hire a dedicated IT/cybersecurity specialist to maintain and secure them. If you notice this issue, you might discuss the idea with your cybersecurity team of outsourcing your cybersecurity staff to a third party.
Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) are businesses that offer cybersecurity consulting and management services to other businesses. A typical MSSP will take on the tasks including vulnerability management, incident response, compliance assisting, and active network security monitoring. More advanced MSSPs will likely provide 24/7 support and alerts.
Outsourcing your cybersecurity program to an MSSP is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you no longer have to worry about maintaining an in-house staff for cybersecurity services. This is one less employee you have to worry about managing. The cost of an MSSP may also be lighter than the cost of providing salaries and benefits to in-house staff. If you feel like there is unqualified talent in your area for security related services, hiring an MSSP alleviates this worry by providing remote staff for you. It can provide a sense of stability to know that a qualified third party is managing your cybersecurity.
On the other hand, many MSSPs have gained a bad rap in the cybersecurity community. Many businesses have run into issues with MSSPs. You may find the MSSP lacks nuance regarding your specific business demands, and that it is hard to communicate requirements with them. Running an MSSP is a business with the goal of turning a profit at the end of the day, and many MSSPs opt to allocate the smallest amount of resources to managing their clients. This can result in a subpar experience for client businesses who are often left with subpar service. And while I did state that having qualified personnel managing your security is a plus, there is no guarantee that every MSSP is going to have qualified personnel. You have no control over who and who doesn’t work for the MSSP and lack insight into the internal procedures in place at the MSSP itself.
Whether or not you embrace the MSSP approach is entirely up to you. However, I will say that building a bottom-up cybersecurity program for your small business is not difficult and can be done by you and a confident team regardless of your technical background. If you do decide to go the MSSP route, it is imperative that you carefully review your vendors of choice. Word of mouth is often the best indicator, and you should conduct a cost benefit analysis to determine whether the MSSP is good for your environment.