It seems that not a day goes by without newly discovered hacking incidents making headlines. Typing “data breach” into Google News yields millions of stories about all kinds of companies, from banks to healthcare providers to local governments. Cybercriminals are relentlessly assailing a wide range of targets with ransomware as well as leveraging phishing messages and other methods to infiltrate private networks.
With hackers constantly cooking up new schemes, it’s exceedingly difficult for businesses to keep track of novel threats that traditional anti-virus solutions and defensive measures won’t recognize. If an organization experiences a data breach, the incident can result in significant damages: The global average total cost of a breach reached $3.86 million in 2020, according to the Cost of a Data Breach Report from IBM Security.
The report – which draws on interviews with more than 3,200 people with knowledge of breaches at their organizations – also reveals that 70 percent of study participants feel remote work would inflate data breach costs, meaning that the pandemic and many companies’ decision to transition their teams to working from home has potentially made security incidents more fiscally devastating.
If you’re a cyber liability insurance provider, you might wonder what you can do to help your clients effectively fend off cyberattacks and lower their chances of suffering a data breach. Given how quickly the threat landscape changes, it makes the most sense to partner with a managed cybersecurity service provider that can keep risk levels low for your clients (and, by extension, you as an insurer) with advanced IT security tools and expertise.
Going Beyond Traditional Defensive Measures: How Businesses Can Effectively Combat Hackers
Due to the rapid emergence of new malware and hacking tactics, businesses can’t properly secure their networks with defensive and reactive strategies alone. To achieve the best possible security posture and keep risk levels as low as possible, they must adopt a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity with multiple layers, including advanced IT security solutions and a team of experienced analysts to manage those platforms, interpret their findings and respond to threats.
In our experience working with our partners in the cyber insurance industry, we’ve found that the following IT security products and services prove the most advantageous for providers seeking resources for their clients.
Full Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) package: This offering involves a third-party partner handling everything so the client can relax and focus on other aspects of running their business. This end-to-end security solution includes a wide range of next-gen tools and services to ensure the highest level of protection against new and emerging threats, including the following:
- Application and web content monitoring
- Data and database integrity monitoring
- Cloud security services
- Compliance as a Service (HIPAA, GLBA, PCI, HITRUST, Sox, ISO, FISMA and POPI)
- Multi-factor authentication
- Vulnerability assessment
- Network and endpoint managed detection and response (MDR)
- Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS)
- And more
Visit our MSSP offering page for more information.
Comprehensive security risk assessment: Investing in a thorough assessment to identify any weak points hackers could exploit is an excellent first step toward a solid security strategy. Clients learn their current risk level and how their approach to cybersecurity measures up compared to industry best practices, in addition to shedding light on any internal and external vulnerabilities.
Visit our IT security assessment offering page to learn more.
Incident response services: If cybercriminals do manage to break into a client’s network, it’s wise to have a cybersecurity incident response team prepared to contain and eliminate the threat as soon as possible to minimize the damage. Our incident response team provides the following services:
- Threat analysis
- Malware detection
- Data breach notification
- Crisis-handling guidance
Visit our cybersecurity incident response offering page for details.
Incident Response Services in Action: Resolving a Ransomware Infection for an HVAC/R Industry Warranty Solutions Provider
To provide a real-life example of the advantages of managed cybersecurity solutions, a company that provides warranty solutions and facilities management to the HVAC/R and plumbing industry once came to us with a big problem: Hackers had infected their IT environment with ransomware, which had encrypted all of their data.
Although the company wasn’t one of our managed cybersecurity clients at the time, our team still resolved the issue quickly with our incident response services. Our security analysts assessed the incident and then told the client to shut everything down to contain the infection. After that, we dispatched our Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) to the site, and they worked with the client’s IT team to establish a temporary quarantine network. Next, we brought machines online one-by-one, deployed our security solutions, and triaged and cleaned up the affected ones.
Ultimately, we completely restored the client’s operations in only two and a half days. They also signed up for our full MSSP offering to prevent future breaches. To read the story in greater detail, check out the full case study: Security Incident Response for HVAC/R Industry Warranty Solutions Provider
At the end of the day, partnering with the right managed cybersecurity service provider can mean fewer data breaches for you and your clients – and minimal harm done if an incident does occur.
If you’d like to learn more about effective data breach prevention and response, our security team would be happy to assist you. Feel free to give us a call at 877-599-3999 or email sales@stratospherenetworks.com.
