Blackpoint Cyber announced its newest product, Managed Application Control (MAC), a day before ReCON 2023, its annual, virtual cybersecurity event that gathers cybersecurity experts and MSPs/MSSPs for a deep dive on tactics and strategies, held on May 25.
Managed Application Control is designed to protect MSPs and their customers from attacks by legitimate IT applications with a full SOC response. At ReCON 2023, Loren Hextall, senior partner success manager at Blackpoint, Hextall said the MAC program takes a zero-trust approach and significantly reduces overhead and user friction with simplified security management, increased admin visibility, reduced false positives, and improved operational efficiency. MAC will become part of the Blackpoint Response Bundle along with MDR, Cloud Response, Vulnerability Management, and Managed EDR.
Also at ReCON 2023, Blackpoint announced that its new Blackpoint University courses will go live on June 5, 2023, with in-person classes at IT Nation Secure in Orlando. Afterwards, some courses will be available to all MSPs while others will be limited to Blackpoint partners. The in-person and online courses range from general MSP business improvement training such as leadership and sales to technical deep dives into subjects like threat hunting and cloud security.
Framing the announcement, Blackpoint CEO and founder Jon Murchison (pictured), whose background includes working for U.S. Intelligence services in offensive capacities, provided a cybersecurity-specific state of the MSP and MSSP world today. Boldest statement? The United States can protect us physically, but not in cyberspace. That, he stated, is up to MSPs and MSSPs.
Drawing comparisons between MSPs and MSSPs, Murchison said some large MSPs are moving into MSSP territory, and both groups struggle to provide adequate solutions supported by 24/7 operations centers with immediate response. Outsourcing for SOC support and security expertise is a no-brainer, he added.
Quoting CompTIA’s Trends in Managed Services 2022, Murchison said MSPs with business training average 30% higher growth, and he offered Blackpoint University as a source for some of that training.
Guest speakers from inside and outside Blackpoint provided their own perspectives. Brandon Wales, executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, also believes that MSPs “protect everything,” from water treatment plants to small manufacturers and even jails, five of which have come to him recently after successful infiltrations. He regularly sees cities with all major systems, including police, fire, and business operations, all in one Windows domain.
Hextall spoke on the ways the role of MSPs has changed as they better protect, guide, and help their clients evolve as businesses. Yet only 15% of MSPs carry cyber insurance today, she added, and only 10% of all cyber risks are insured.
During the Q&A portion of the webinar, Blackpoint VP of Security MacKenzie Brown and Crowdstrike Director of Professional Services, Incident Response Clark Harshbarger, added their own reasons MSPs need to continually improve their security capabilities. Threat actors now have a wider range of attack surfaces, thanks to remote and hybrid work situations. Those getting more involved offering cybersecurity services to clients need to understand the ROI of their security program and follow through with configuration, monitoring, and incident response services. One warning to MSPs was that law enforcement won’t help you or your client after a breach or data loss, because their job is chasing criminals.
