While plenty of cloud providers offer robust security, this isn’t always enough to fend off the slew of cyberthreats that are very widespread about today. Managed services providers (MSPs) can step in as an essential business partner, bolstering your cloud security with the right tools and tailored solutions. Below, we explore the importance of MSPs and how they further strengthen your cloud environments against potential breaches.
What is an MSP?
A managed services provider, or MSP, is a specialized company that assists businesses in managing their IT infrastructure, services, and security. As cloud computing grows ever-more prevalent, MSPs can play a vital role in ensuring businesses’ data protection.
A majority of MSPS currently offer managed security services, with some considering a move toward cybersecurity counseling. Such support has proven especially valuable in recent years, with over a third of businesses experiencing a cloud-related data breach in 2022 alone. As companies move more sensitive data to the cloud, the need for MSPs to provide comprehensive, adaptable security solutions is only set to grow.
How MSPs can help fortify your cloud security
MSPs offer various essential services that can significantly boost your company’s cloud security:
Proactive risk assessment and planning
An MSP can craft a detailed cybersecurity plan aligned to your business needs and infrastructure. These providers will meticulously assess your company’s existing security posture, conducting thorough audits to identify vulnerabilities, potential entry points for cyberthreats, and areas lacking adequate protection. These regular assessments provide the basis for forming (and maintaining) a security strategy specifically tailored to your cloud environment. Such customization is crucial, as cloud infrastructures can vary from one company to another.
An MSP will carefully consider your business goals, data sensitivity, compliance requirements, and industry best practices, creating a robust cybersecurity blueprint that addresses current threats while preparing your business for emerging risks.
Continuous monitoring and threat detection
Another benefit to hiring an MSP is their guarantee to constantly monitor for and address potential threats. MSPs use advanced tools and technologies to track cloud and local system activity, user behavior, and network traffic. These include intrusion prevention systems, advanced analytics, and machine learning algorithms that identify anomalous patterns indicative of cyberthreats (e.g., high volume of login attempts or mass downloads).
Upon detecting these potential risks, MSPs can then initiate rapid incident response protocols, combining automated alerts and human intervention to promptly mitigate these threats. These procedures typically involve a swift analysis of each threat’s nature and impact, followed by targeted countermeasures (i.e., malware removal, quarantining files, network segmentation) to neutralize the threat while minimizing disruptions to normal operations.
Incident response and recovery
MSPs typically have a comprehensive strategy for minimizing damage and ensuring a swift recuperation of normal activity in case of a breach. This usually involves immediately identifying the nature and scope of the breach, which allows them to determine the affected systems, data, and potential entry points. The MSP may then simultaneously initiate containment strategies to isolate the threat and prevent lateral movement across the network.
MSPs also perform forensic analyses to identify the breach’s root cause, uncover any vulnerabilities exploited, and evaluate the extent of potential data exposure. This can be used to inform the development of the MSP’s recovery plan, which usually includes the restoration of compromised systems, validating the integrity of restored data, and systemically applying security patches where appropriate. Collaboration with internal teams, your cloud provider, and regulatory bodies may also take place, helping ensure compliance and transparency.
Regular backup procedures
Finally, an MSP can offer dependable backup procedures as part of their cloud security strategy. This protects your files from common causes of data loss, including cyberthreats, system failures, or accidental deletions. An MSP will automatically back up your sensitive information and applications to the cloud, ensuring redundancy across geographically diverse locations.
With these protocols in place, you’ll have the option of restoring compromised data to a clean slate in the event of a breach. A reliable MSP will also often perform regular testing and validation of your backup data, ensuring its accuracy and reliability during recovery processes.
With cybercrime on the rise, it pays to invest in your cloud security. To learn more about the security benefits of partnering with an MSP, get in touch with our experts at XBASE today. We offer tailored guidance on the best ways to elevate your cybersecurity, both on and off the cloud.