We’ve rounded up key observations in the report that we believe are beneficial to be shared and further discussed.
Here are 5 lessons to learn from the ‘2022 MSP Threat Report’, what they mean and what you can do about it for your business:
1) “Government agencies worldwide increase their efforts to take down major cybercrime groups, showing that everyone must do their part to protect the industry, from individuals to global law enforcement.”
Doing your part to protect the industry and your business starts with managed security services.
The unfortunate truth is many New Zealand businesses cannot afford to protect themselves against cyber-threats. The cost of solutions, products and technical staff quickly spirals to unaffordable levels.
From our suite of solutions, AdvantageProtect bundles together a monthly service designed to protect New Zealand businesses, their data, and their clients, coupled with a dedicated New Zealand based Security Operations Centre, operating around the clock.
It can be used as a complete end-to-end solution, can be provided as individual components to augment or to backfill an organization’s internal strategy.
Want to know more? https://advantage.nz/managed-security-services/
2) “The average ransom increases, with some companies receiving demands for up to $50 million.”
Understanding the potential losses of your business is a vital step in avoiding a cyber-attack on your business as best as possible.
Advantage has assessments available that provide a foundation health-check on the current state of your IT platform, both from a security and an operational perspective.
With the security assessment, you’ll receive a detailed report outlining the current state of your network security posture. On the other hand, with the system assessment, you’ll receive a detailed report outlining the current state of your IT platforms and systems.
Learn more: https://advantage.nz/solutions/consulting-services/cybersecurity-assessment/
3) “The US government steps up its role in cybersecurity, including announcing sanctions, declaring cyberattacks an act of terrorism, and forming a new ransomware task force.”
Recognizing the worldwide threat that cyber-attacks could have on your business may not take you away from the firing line, but it does give you the time to prepare.
You can reduce your network risk and improve productivity by implementing managed firewall services, one effective tool in your tool-belt against cyber-attacks.
Key inclusions to our ‘Managed Firewall Service’ are set out below:
- Firewall monitored for security events 24/7 and ingestion of firewall logs into SIEM platform
- Threat intelligence, including GCSB’s ‘Malware Free Networks’
- ‘Firewall MAC’ changes completed by trained engineers
- Weekly offsite firewall configuration backup (if our management platform is used)
- Regular firmware upgrades
- 6-monthly firewall audit
- 4 basic change requests per month
- Monthly reporting
Firewalls are fundamental to protecting network traffic and the flow of sensitive data and are a key component to meeting compliance mandates, including PCI, GDPR etc. Our solution is delivered by a dedicated highly skilled team, focused on ensuring that security gaps are closed, and the risk of data breaches significantly reduced.
Let’s talk about your options: https://advantage.nz/contact
4) “Large enterprises—Colonial Pipeline and JBS Foods—are forced to shut down partially or fully after suffering ransomware attacks, resulting in substantial monetary losses and other issues.”
Understanding the cyber-threats to your business, whether your business be small or large, will help you get the most out of your security solutions and avoid fatal cyber-attacks.
In-house IT staff are often overburdened with support work and may find it difficult to keep up, often putting employees in the unenviable position of having to troubleshoot issues that can plague IT systems.
For those businesses in growth mode, the need for robust IT support is vital.
Scalable, co-managed IT services give your organisation options. Whether you need skilled project delivery resources, expert technology consultancy or whether you want redundancy support to ensure you deliver great IT support to your team, AdvantageManage offers a variety of scalable options.
Understand your options: https://advantage.nz/co-managed-it/
5) “Late-year predictions say over 700 million ransom attacks will happen by the end of 2021.”
Recognizing that cyber-attacks are an increasing threat to the future and will, unfortunately, grow in our ever-growing technological world, it is incredibly important to keep both yourself and your business aware of these threats.
Threat awareness and getting the basics right is key to reducing the likelihood of a ransomware attack. However, if you are breached, know that Advantage Incidence Response is available to support you and get your business up and running fast.
Our approach is “containment-first”, meaning that we are able to stand-up operations much faster than incident response providers focused on the traditional “forensics-first” approach.
As a business owner, your success against cyber-attacks is deeply rooted in how well you leverage your technology, understanding that the slightest hiccup in your IT infrastructure can derail your entire business.
Refer to our incident response page: https://advantage.nz/solutions/incident-response/incident-response-and-forensics/
You can access the full ‘2022 MSP Threat Report’ by ConnectWise here: https://info.connectwise.com/globalassets/media/asset-docs/ebook/2022-msp-threat-report_ebook.pdf
