MSSP: The final piece of the Security puzzle for CISOs

CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers) are constantly putting out fires as they face increasing complexities daily with additional threats like AI-based attacks, ransomware, and supply chain vulnerabilities dotting the ever-evolving threat landscape. Even if new security tools are acquired, a lack of skilled staff to manage them exacerbates the problem. As if this is not enough, they face growing regulatory pressures, limited budgets, and resource constraints, often leaving companies vulnerable.

According to a Security Leaders Report, on average, enterprises use 76 security tools, many of which require manual intervention, leading to inefficiencies and errors. The shortage of cybersecurity professionals is severe, with over 500,000 positions unfilled in the U.S. alone, creating additional stress on already overstretched teams. Fatigue from manual tasks and alert overload contribute to human errors, driving high turnover rates in the field—33% of security professionals change careers due to burnout, it is said.

This pressure extends to CISOs themselves, with 32% considering leaving due to regulatory demands and 70% contemplating a change due to overall stress. Board conflicts, like the one that led Alex Stamos to leave Facebook, further strain the role, making the average CISO tenure just two years, compared to five for other C-suites.

This blog focuses on how CISOs, who are tasked to fight evil with their hands tied behind their back, can bolster their arsenal with the right Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) partner. As they grapple with the challenges of limited resources and budgets causing burnout and attrition, can MSSPs be the silver lining? What immediate and strategic advantages do MSSPs bring? How can companies benefit from this partnership and how can CISOs ensure that their KPIs are met? Read on to uncover our perspective.

Going the MSSP way is a wise move by CISOs

An MSSP offers security tools and services such as security management, monitoring, and response services. It acts like an extended arm, especially for businesses with small in-house security teams and limited expertise. An MSSP can therefore be the exact solution to the CISO’s predicament. Let’s find out ‘why’ and ‘how’.

Reduced costs

Having a full-scale in-house security team is expensive, especially when the security budget is tight. Most CISOs do not have a separate budget, as their budgets are carved out from the IT. On average, only 9% of this IT budget goes to security. In such a challenging scenario, partnering with an MSSP makes ample business sense.

For instance, any organization that’s considering running an in-house Security Operations Center (SOC), would have to spend more than USD 2.8 million a year.¹⁰ Running an advanced SOC can be as expensive as USD 5 million. In contrast, using SOC services from an MSSP costs around USD 1.4 million - around 50% cheaper than an in-house SOC. These numbers may further go down depending on what type of services are chosen. CISOs understand that in-house security teams mean full-time resources and tools – this needs up-front capital investment.  

Skill availability

Apart from costs, the availability of the right experts in the market is a concern. As millions of security jobs are still open, recruiting the right talent continues to be a hurdle. It takes more than 7 months to recruit and train a security analyst. Attrition in the security department makes this even worse – it can be assumed that about 3 analysts will leave or be fired from the team.¹²

The lack of resources creates fatigue for the small in-house team, which is unable to cope with the tasks. According to Gartner, by 2025 more than 50% of security incidents will be attributed to a lack of security professionals or human errors.¹³

CISOs do not have to deal with either skill gaps or the availability of talent with an MSSP.  MSSPs employ experienced cybersecurity experts with specialized knowledge in various domains, such as threat detection, incident response, and compliance. MSSPs provide access to skilled professionals and advanced security tools like SIEMs, threat intelligence platforms, and automated detection systems.

Tools, technology & capabilities

As the threat landscape keeps changing with new threats looming around, newer tools are launched in the market. We already discussed that on average an enterprise maintains more than 76 security tools. Managing and adding so many tools can be unrealistic for many companies.

Additionally, organizations that have piled up security tools to avoid buyers’ regret end up not maintaining or patching previous software. This increases the attack surface and vulnerabilities. It can also create non-compliance issues due to software non-maintenance.

When outsourced to an MSSP, all these challenges are easily handled. Additionally, MSSPs provide 24/7 monitoring, threat detection, and immediate incident response capabilities to reduce the risk of undetected breaches. This constant vigilance reduces the average breach detection time.

Threat detection and incident response are critical parameters. For instance, if a company with limited in-house capabilities takes longer to detect and respond to a breach, then it’s likely to have a longer period of downtime. The longer the downtime, the more revenue losses. For most enterprises, the cost of hourly downtime is about USD 300,000, and these costs have been rising.¹⁴ This signifies the importance of faster detection and incident response which an MSSP can offer. Every hour means lower costs incurring out of downtime.

Even further, implementing advanced technologies like AI & ML in-house can be expensive as well as complicated, but these technologies are needed for advanced threat detection and remediation. Partnering with a service provider with the latest capabilities such as AI, ML, & Automation is much simpler.

Regulatory compliance

Companies need to be compliant with many data security and privacy regulations, usually more than one. For example, a multinational financial company might have to deal with GDPR, PCI DSS, CCPA AML, and more.

The cost of non-compliance with each one of these regulations can be pretty steep. For instance, GDPR fines can go up to Euro 20 million or 4% of annual turnover (global), whereas PCI DSS ranges between USD 5000 to 100,000 per month until compliance is met.

In 2023, Meta was fined a staggering amount of USD 1.2 billion (under GDPR) relating to the unlawful transfer of customer data to the USA.¹⁵ Non-compliance costs bother CISOs much because of too many hassles, and they usually need external help staying compliant with multiple, ever-changing regulations is complex and resource intensive.

MSSPs provide expert teams with in-depth knowledge of regulatory frameworks. They also leverage advanced tools like automated compliance monitoring and real-time reporting. They ensure continuous compliance by managing audits, maintaining required controls, and swiftly addressing gaps, allowing businesses to avoid costly fines, reputational damage, and operational disruptions while staying focused on growth.

Scalability

With staff and skill shortages, it’s difficult for CISOs to take on additional projects. For instance, if a Zero Trust security architecture is to be implemented on top of existing solutions – more resources are needed. Resources are also needed to manage the operations after the implementation. Such business requirements cannot be met overnight – hence MSSP is a good alternative.

MSSPs offer scalable solutions that grow with the business. Whether a company needs to expand coverage, integrate new systems, or manage peak security demands, MSSPs adapt more easily than in-house teams. The additional advantage is not just scaling up but also scaling down – the number of resources can be reduced if there’s no requirement in the future.

Picking up the right partner

There is no doubt that picking an MSSP makes a compelling case. However, there are the following key considerations that businesses must oversee before zeroing in on anyone. Here is a checklist that we have designed to help you identify the right partner.  

1. Do services and solutions offered by the MSSP integrate with current technology investments?
2. What are detection and response capabilities? What are the metrics used to measure the success? What are the SLAs?
3. What different regulatory compliances does the MSSP support?
4. What is the scope of the service offerings? Are the SLAs defined?
5. What is the level of reporting and visibility? Will there be real-time dashboards available? Will security operations be transparent enough? What will the frequency of different reports be?

The above questions help businesses align with the right MSSP that aligns with their security needs, technology requirements, and strategic goals.

How InfoVision can help

As one of the most trusted MSSP providers, we can help to improve your security posture and resilience. Right from endpoint protection solutions to the implementation of modern Zero Trust security solutions, we’ve got you covered.

Our customers trust us for our robust capabilities such as threat detection, incident response, intrusion detection, managed firewall, virtual private network (VPN), and various security assessments. For businesses that want to evaluate their current security posture, we offer different security assessments. 

We enable businesses to access the latest technologies and security platforms like AI, ML, Automation, and more for enhanced detection capabilities. We also offer compliance assistance empowering CISOs and other C-suite leaders to focus on their core business objectives. 

With security professionals having sound industry experience, businesses can easily onboard resources to scale up operations. Above all, our core strength is in security policy configurations, access management, 24/7 threat detection, and swift response to cyber risks. InfoVision also has experience in managing security operations of large organizations – and if you need advice on where to begin, talk to us today.

Need help in managing security or improving current security posture? Get in touch with us today for a discovery call.

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