Organizations positioned to scale are often hampered by their inability to effectively monitor and secure their network infrastructure. Businesses are increasingly struggling to maintain security with the explosion of ransomware attacks, new virus strains, and sophisticated phishing. Unpatched workstations, servers, and weak antivirus implementations present serious vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. These hidden failures within an organization’s network may go undetected without a comprehensive monitoring system.
Organizations can look to implement a custom and comprehensive managed security service such as SafetyNet Defender to reduce the stress and cost of managing their own security infrastructure and start focusing on what matters most; growing their business.
Why a Tailored Managed Security Service is Integral to Business Success
Robust managed security services provide businesses an avenue to delegate some or all of their IT operations to a trusted and professional third party organization. These third party organizations are commonly referred to as managed service providers (MSP). Experienced MSPs provide security consulting, 24/7 logging, issue resolution, reporting, and more. Trusted IT service providers put a significant focus on enabling companies to run at maximum efficiency while creating a strategic vision and plan for businesses to adapt their technology over time. Managed IT services can be the differentiating factor that allows organizations to scale. The hard part is knowing which MSP to trust.
Organizations should partner with an experienced and credible managed service provider to implement a scalable, flexible, and custom collection of best-in-class security solutions like the SafetyNet Defender program to increase the security and efficiency of business operations.
What Makes Up a Robust Managed IT Service?
SafteyNet Defender, a managed security service, aims to leverage the advanced threat protection and security capabilities that come with next generation firewalls in order for organizations to maximize their security investment and scale with confidence.
SafteyNet Defender allows organizations to delegate the implementation of an advanced intrusion prevention system (IPS) that leverages next generation firewall capabilities. SafteyNet Defender handles end-to-end management and optimization of these systems so the organization can focus on other high priority business areas.
Organizations are increasingly looking for solutions to their legacy security equipment, and for good reason. Legacy security devices such as older firewall technologies are reaching the end of their security lifecycle and are increasingly becoming more of a security liability than an effective tool.
Legacy security devices require a large team to manage all the individual security devices and to ensure that traffic is appropriately flowing through each device. The SafetyNet Defender program eradicates this pain point by consolidating individual security devices into one cost-effective centralized device.
The SafetyNet Defender program comes in three tiers: advanced, basic, and audit. Organizations can tailor their services by working with their MSP specialist to choose which tier best aligns with their specific security needs.
- Advanced - The advanced tier encompasses quarterly meetings, reviews, and updates. This package is for individuals and environments most concerned with security.
- Basic - Twice a year meetings, reviews and updates. Meetings are used to discuss security assessments and make modifications to existing security infrastructure as needed.
- Audit - The audit level has an annual meeting and update. This tier is mainly for organizations and environments just starting to implement security infrastructure.
Features of a Robust Managed IT Service
A comprehensive managed IT service such as SafetyNet Defender should provide cutting edge technology and value-added features. In the case of managed security services, a MSP should optimize an organization's current security infrastructure and cybersecurity processes with advanced threat protection features. These features can include:
Next Generation Firewall - A dynamic piece of hardware that merges the traditional filtering function of a firewall with additional network security features. Additional security features include firewall VPN, app control, and intrusion prevention.
Antivirus - Advanced antivirus software detects, removes, and protects against malicious software including viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, and adware. Delegating antivirus features to a MSP guarantees that the antivirus is running, has the latest update or upgrade, and that the scheduled scans are running.
URL filtering - Security access tool used to prevent end-users from accessing websites that are potentially harmful or unrelated to business operations.
Sandboxing - Sandboxing is an innovative security technique that utilizes an isolated test environment to securely analyze a suspicious file or URL to identify new vulnerabilities and threats.
SSL Inspection - This feature enables SSL connections to be decrypted so the firewall can allow application control features to scan traffic that would otherwise not be visible.
The graphic below helps illustrate how organizations can transition away from inefficient security infrastructure that requires multiple individual devices to a centralized single piece of advanced security hardware with multiple security functions.
Benefits of a Custom Managed Security Service
Organizations that choose to delegate security services to trusted MSPs are better positioned to maintain business continuity. With a fortified security infrastructure, businesses can feel confident that they are operating at maximum efficiency while also maximizing their security investment. Organizations that implement a comprehensive managed security service like SafetyNet Defender aim to receive the aforementioned benefits in addition to:
- Simple Cost Structure - One monthly payment that includes hardware and service costs including installation, configuration, and management.
- Scheduled Consultation and Reporting - Certified security technicians will meet and discuss security suggestions and then optimize and adjust firewall accordingly.
- Consistent Optimization and Updates - The program provides ongoing updates and patches to the firewall to stay protected from the latest cyber threats.
- Ensured Secure Remote Access - Advanced technology backed by managed security specialists empowers remote employees to securely access corporate networks and important business documents.
Implementing a Custom Managed Security Service for Your Organization
Next-generation firewalls form the backbone of effective business IT security systems and they require regular updates to function effectively. Therefore, no matter what business IT security package your organization chooses, it is imperative that the MSP has the necessary bandwidth and expertise to implement your tailored IT solution.
Organizations that strategically partner with the right managed service provider can implement a custom managed IT service like SafetyNet Defender to delegate cybersecurity processes and enable businesses to scale with confidence.
