By Rich Farbman

Richard Farbman

The need for reliable internet has never been greater, and the rise of fiber and 5G is helping: 61% of U.S. consumers utilized 5G in 2022 alone. The pandemic fueled the need for employees to work from anywhere, and new technologies have broadened the availability of the internet and enabled it to act as the new corporate network.

According to the Pew Research Center, 76% of U.S. employees work from home at least some of the time and economists predict we’ll never return to full-time office work. In the hybrid world, it’s harder to properly secure devices when resources are moved to the cloud and employees are working from everywhere. A shortage of cybersecurity expertise has made this scenario even more complicated: The workforce gap grew by 26% last year alone.

This leaves managed service providers (MSPs) in a more valuable position than ever, as more organizations lean on them for the latest security services and most reliable IT support. Approximately 81% of small- and medium-sized enterprises already utilize, or plan to utilize, an MSP for its knowledge, cost-savings and ability to create a better user experience.

MSPs are in the same boat as their clients — more susceptible to hackers than ever. Their networks are only as secure as the third parties they’re associated with. Let’s dive into the major risks associated with MSP networks and necessary security strategies that should be in play to ensure sensitive data and information remains secure.

Current Risks

MSPs faced an average of 1,372 attacks per week in 2022, up 28% from 2021. This shouldn’t be a surprise, because MSPs make for a more attractive target. Hackers can gain access to dozens of networks through MSPs through supply chain attacks, versus just one network when they hack a single organization. Supply chain attacks are becoming one of the fastest-growing methods: In 2022, they surpassed the number of malware-based attacks by 40%. This widened attack surface greatly increases hackers’ opportunity to find personal data and information to leverage for ransom — $456 million was extorted in 2022.

That leaves MSPs with the immense challenge of properly securing multiple networks. Hackers have an effective playbook to work with, including greatest hits such as ransomware, malware attacks, phishing and identity theft. MSPs need to have a plan in place that best secures themselves and their clients from every kind of attack.

The risks have captured the attention of numerous government entities. Last year, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), NSA and FBI joined their counterparts from the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to issue a warning specifically to MSPs. Now, the risks have gotten so high that CISA officials have created a new program to help warn American companies when they are vulnerable to a ransomware attack — before hackers strike.

6 Key Security Practices

MSPs face the challenge of keeping everyone’s network secure when the stakes and attack surfaces are higher and wider than ever. There are six key steps MSPs should take to …

… secure their network and their clients from any sort of attack.

MSPs are needed more than ever. Their unique ability to assess what is creating risk and how to mitigate it makes them a trusted adviser as the cybersecurity skills gap widens and the tech sector suffers more layoffs. But as attack surfaces grow, hackers sharpen their skills and new technologies inevitably hit the market, MSPs need to ensure their solutions can thwart these risks.

To do that, they need to realize that they are only as strong as their weakest link. Restrictive access policies, strict user permissions and granular network segmentations ensure heightened defense and greatly eliminate human error. MSPs need to practice what they preach and adopt the best security practices.

Richard Farbman is vice president of channel sales at Perimeter 81. You may follow him on LinkedIn or @Perimeter_81 on Twitter.