Managed Services
A great number of businesses throughout the country have experienced financial setbacks due to COVID. According to Forbes, even some of the biggest companies are on bankruptcy watch. Now, if these huge corporations are struggling, imagine what a Small to Medium-Sized Business (SMB) is dealing with.
Additionally, IT spending has become more necessary than ever. With most companies working remotely it’s almost impossible to operate successfully without a technical plan. Not just for productivity but for safety as well.
Working with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) allows you to collaborate on a plan that meets your business needs while taking security, workflows and efficiency into account. With a reputable MSP you will pay a fixed monthly cost for these services, which allows you to keep costs down and budget accordingly.
Services like these allow organizations to increase productivity, stay connected, and work securely during this new reality. With secure remote access your team will be unstoppable, even with everyone in separate locations.
Human Error and COVID Breaches
At this point in time, you’re probably more concerned with functional technology rather than cybersecurity. Unfortunately, with the increase in hacking due to more remote work a lack of a security plan isn’t an option.
You’re only as safe as your most vulnerable employee. We’ve all done it... opened or clicked on an email or link that we shouldn’t have thereby subjecting risk to the whole organization. It’s more difficult to keep corporate governance in check with the team outside of the office. Users are finding unsafe ways to gain access to the company network and are successful in doing so because of a lack of remote access plan.
According to Verizon Business CEO, Tami Erwin, as remote working surges in the face of the global pandemic, end-to-end security from the cloud to employee laptop becomes paramount. Additionally, the forms of phishing in North America that are most successful involve social engineering and innocent people. The technique most commonly leveraged was stolen credentials, accounting for over 79 percent of hacking breaches; 33 percent of breaches were associated with either phishing or pretexting.
In a worst-case scenario, a data breach would lead to an organization going out of business altogether. In some cases, a lack of technology prevents a company from adapting fast enough to this new remote situation. This can lead to the inability to work effectively and this lack of productivity can impact your bottom line.
Importance of Managed Security
At this point in time, you may not be thinking about cybersecurity in this new remote world. It is important to understand that your team members are now battling new types of distractions, while adapting to change. They may also be using a work-around to access company data or saving items to their desktops, which is a change in the workflow protocol.
Managed Security is one of the most important elements of Managed Services. Managed Security keeps your company’s network monitored and protected at all times.
Cybersecurity is about remaining operational no matter what the world brings your way. A managed security plan will allow your business to function as securely as possible. No downtime means more productivity and keeping business as usual is ultimately the goal during these times.
Security Awareness Training – Baseline of Your Security
The right MSP will perform a baseline assessment for your team to determine the percentage of those who are Phish-prone through a simulated “phishing” or “pharming” attack. This means that every person on your team will receive fake phishing emails. The links and downloadable documents within these will lead your employees to a landing page.
This landing page will inform your employee of where they went wrong and what they should look out for going forward. Additionally, each team member that fails will continue to be phish tested until they don’t fall for the attacks any longer.
A new recent issue is the fact that you’re not physically in the office with your co-workers anymore. When receiving an email from your boss asking you to pick up a new MacBook for yourself, it’s easy to lean over to your colleague to see if you won employee of the month, hence the prize. More people are falling victim because they aren’t used to their current work surroundings and are not reaching out for guidance.
Education is the baseline layer of managed security. Your team members are now an important layer of your defense strategy. Due to the fact that your employees are such a serious risk, keeping them informed, keeps your organization safe. Simulated vulnerabilities, deployed through an MSP increases your employee’s awareness and even more importantly, protects your company’s data.
Remote Access and Endpoint Security
This pandemic has led to companies of all sizes to work from home. Now, you have to take each of these separate locations into account when it comes to your infrastructure. Having 30 employees working in separate spaces means you need to consider each space an extension of your business.
For this reason, endpoint security is more important than ever. The number of endpoints has increased for essentially all organizations that have shifted to remote work. Protecting all these endpoints through a managed security solution prevents your business from experiencing a data breach during a time when it’s even more difficult to bounce back.
With service offerings like threat detection and response and 24/7 monitoring and management your network will be safe at all times. Managed security also incorporates Mobile Device Management (MDM), which makes allows for locking controls and remote wipe, making it that much more difficult for a hacker.
Along with that, there are multiple routes you can take when it comes to accessing your company data from outside of the office. Utilizing both a Virtual Private Network (VPN) access or cloud-based platforms are safe options if you are not accessing public Wi-Fi. A VPN allows you to function on your device and interact with your company network as you would at work. It’s like a safe and secure tunnel to the data you need for your workday.
Cloud platforms like Office 365 and G Suite provides your team access to documents from anywhere, with a secure internet connection. To enhance security, it is important to layer in Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which requires a device and a login.
These platforms also have a number of communication tools that allow your team to quickly communicate and share documents. The speediness of these tools can sometimes make you forget you’re not in the office. Quick communication makes for an increase in productivity.
If you’re interested in learning more about Managed Services solutions and how they can positively impact your business, contact The TNS Group today.
Categories: Managed Service Provider, MSP Blogs
