SMBs Turn to MSPs for Support with Zero Trust Model

Businesses today are actively looking for robust cybersecurity protection to keep up with the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape. Many small to midsize businesses (SMBs) are turning to managed service providers (MSPs) for help. In fact, according to IDC, a division of the research and technology company International Data Corp., the managed security services market is growing four times faster than the market for security products.

A growing number of SMBs are outsourcing their security services for multiple reasons:

• There are not enough qualified security professionals to meet the demands of staff shortages in the IT department. The cost and burden of training, hiring, and retaining skilled IT staff is the MSP’s responsibility.
• IT staff do not have the capacity to handle new security initiatives on their own (compliance administration, security budgets, best practices, and so on).
• Businesses spend millions of dollars on security annually, yet cyberattacks continue to occur and the risk of a data breach continues to grow.

Outsourced security has proven to be beneficial for SMBs when MSPs take the right approach. By implementing a zero trust model, MSPs can provide a comprehensive yet cohesive security stack that delivers the protection their customers need without the high price tag.

What Is Zero Trust Security?

Zero Trust is a security framework that was developed by Forrester analyst John Kindervag in 2010. This approach has grown to become one of the most popular frameworks in cybersecurity today.

Zero trust security blocks everything by default and follows a least-privilege model.

Why MSPs Should Be Providing Zero Trust Security

As applications move to the cloud and break down security perimeters, traditional security approaches like antivirus are rendered obsolete.

Users are accessing applications from all types of devices both inside and outside of the corporate network as businesses spread out across multiple locations. To enforce high standards of protection and compliance, MSPs need a solution that is dynamic, flexible and simple.

Why Aren’t Antivirus, EDR and Other Threat Detection Tools Enough?

Antivirus, EDR, and other threat detection tools only look for threats and suspicious behavior. Therefore, they cannot distinguish between DropBox and a piece of malware disguising itself as genuine software.

For example, in March 2020, a major vulnerability discovered in Zoom exposed millions of users. With the right policies in place, these users could have been protected. The problem is, too many MSPs and IT professionals focus on threat detection and fail to prevent data breaches associated with vulnerabilities in applications like Zoom.

MSPs who take the time to review which applications are needed by their users, block applications that aren’t needed and control how permitted applications can behave are enforcing high standards of protection.

Ultimately, the way in which users operate in the complex IT world today is paving the way for a zero-trust approach. If your managed service provider has not already implemented a zero-trust solution, you might want to consider looking for someone new.

Check out this pre-recorded demo to learn more about how ThreatLocker’s Application Control enables SMBs to follow the zero trust model.

For additional information on zero trust, click here for the podcast “What Is Zero Trust and Why Does It Matter?”

 This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.