With cyber threats on the rise worldwide, cybersecurity was the major focus at the two-day ChannelPro Defend conference held Nov. 1-2 in the City of Industry, CA.
Cybersecurity vendors and experts at the Defend conference at the Pacific Palms Resort emphasized the importance of security for MSPs to protect their SMB clients. In fact, failing to offer security solutions can cause IT service providers to quickly lose clients in competitive situations, according to Christopher Marquez, director of MSP channel for IRONSCALES — and a vendor of Defend.
“I don’t know how an MSP could really be an MSP without offering cybersecurity,” Marquez said. He highlighted how endpoint, email, firewall, and network security are fundamental services to provide.
Cybercrime is forecast to hit $8 trillion in 2023, and may exceed $10.5 trillion by 2025, per security training firm KnowBe4. Cybercrime can result in stolen money, lost productivity, theft of intellectual property, and much more harm to SMBs.
Trevor Serebro
This trend can represent massive threats for service providers, and MSPs serving SMBs should be aware that security is more than just taking care of one thing or one threat, according to Trevor Serebro, North American MSP channel manager with Kaspersky.
“The top thing people talk about all the time is that there’s no silver bullet for security. It’s layers – the obvious thing is that you’ve got to add layers. It is critical that MSPs push that out to SMBs. It’s the basics; a good anti-malware solution, multifactor authentication, patching, encryption of laptops that are out there, backup and recovery.”
That said, in many cases, cybersecurity can offer a business advantage for MSPs, said Naren Sathiya, CEO and a co-founder of cyber risk audit company Telivy, also a Defend vendor.
Security helps service providers achieve business goals like increasing revenue and getting more users, and addresses client concerns about data protection, Sathiya said.
“This really is a conversation about business goals; security is just one aspect to be able to reach those goals. Technology is the way to reach those goals and inadvertently creates liabilities that security just fixes for them.”
Peter Ayedun (center) of TruGrid called cybersecurity a “cornerstone” of any business.
Cyber insurance, which often mandates good security practices, is another way MSPs can prioritize security. Decreasing liability risks associated with their own technology is key, Sathiya said.
On the other hand, customers who are not interested in security are likely not ideal clients for service providers, advised Peter Ayedun, CEO of TrueGrid, a software company that secures access to Windows desktops and apps without any firewall exposure. “Without a doubt, cybersecurity is a cornerstone now of any business,” Ayedun said.
Baxter Lanius
That said, the unknowns are among the most concerning threats for SMBs, Baxter Lanius of Alternative Payments cautioned.
“It’s really the security threats that you don’t know about. No system is 100% secure. But we can all do a better job of ensuring that the vulnerabilities are patched as much as possible.”
Overall, the Defend conference emphasized cybersecurity’s increasing importance, especially for MSPs serving SMBs. Growing threats like ransomware mean that businesses must make security capabilities central to their services.
Delivering robust security solutions, protections, and expertise is now a foundation of competitiveness and reputation for MSPs in the channel. The consensus at ChannelPro Defend was clear: Cybersecurity must be a top priority for the success, growth, and survival of service providers.
Image: iStock
