What to Look for in a Philadelphia Managed Security Provider

With cybercrime on the rise, your company needs to take cybersecurity very seriously. This article will review how to find the right managed security services provider in Philadelphia.

Protect Your Organization From Cybercriminals

Organizations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that have preventative IT security measures in place might think that they are well-protected against cyber threats. However, enterprise cybersecurity software is not enough to prevent cyber attacks and data breaches. Instead, the cyber threat landscape continuously evolves, making proactive security monitoring critical for businesses of all sizes.

Many businesses turn to managed security services providers (MSSPs) to handle all aspects of their network security needs. Reliable managed security providers offer real-time threat monitoring, alerting, and fast incident response. However, managed security services providers are not all equal. Some provide an insufficient level of threat detection and fail to provide strong remediation when incidents occur. At the same time, many companies simply do not have the ability to hire enough expert talent for their in-house IT departments and must rely on third-party managed security providers to address data protection and other cybersecurity issues.

Finding the right managed security services provider in Philadelphia is critical for your business. Your company’s MSSP partner should provide you with specialized knowledge, expertise, threat intelligence, and cutting-edge technology to identify, quarantine, and eliminate complex threats before they can disrupt your business operations and damage your IT infrastructure. When your company is searching for the right managed security provider, here are some key differentiators you should look for.

In-Depth Knowledge and Expertise

Your company’s MSSP should provide 24/7 endpoint and network monitoring to extend the reach of your in-house security resources. A good provider should also feature talent with a deep level of knowledge and expertise in various security areas to complement your IT department’s talent. Look for an MSSP with in-depth knowledge of the threat landscape, the approaches used by threat actors, and the best types of tools that can defend against cyber attacks.

Your in-house IT department might be staffed with generalists who lack the specialized knowledge and skills for close security monitoring, incident response, investigation, and data protection. A good MSSP should provide this type of specialized knowledge to supplement your in-house resources. Look for a provider that conducts extensive staff training, has a broad range of recognized accreditations, and has extensive experience with numerous threat detection tools and technologies. Your provider should seek a detailed understanding of your organization’s networks and risks to provide a tailored solution for proactive threat detection and response.

Advanced Security Tools

The right managed security services provider should have the latest cybersecurity tools and provide a range of technologies to protect different types of IT environments for their clients. Your company should look for a provider that offers multiple types of threat detection technologies, including cloud security, SIEM, vulnerability scanning, threat monitoring, and more to quickly identify and respond to cyber threats in their early stages before they can cause widespread damage. Choosing a provider that offers technologies from multiple vendors can help ensure solutions will be tailored to your specific IT and environments.

A provider that has automation capabilities can also help to aggregate vast amounts of data and contextualize security alerts for consolidation so that the security operations center (SOC) team can review them on a single platform instead of moving between several systems. Efficient delivery of cybersecurity services can enable a faster incident response

Provision of Security Audits and Insights

A common complaint about managed security providers is that some perform observation and monitoring and pass along alerts rather than auditing an organization’s security posture and providing outcome-focused solutions to identified security gaps. Your company should look for an MSSP that provides comprehensive security audits and gap analysis. The provider should offer solutions to fill the gaps and ensure data protection. It should also help with behavioral analytics and recommend training to improve awareness among staff.

Preventative Threat Hunting and Monitoring

Cyberthreats have become increasingly evasive and sophisticated, increasing the need for a proactive rather than passive approach to monitoring. Threat-hunting and detection should be offered in real-time with the latest security intelligence and analytics to hunt for threats that could evade your company’s existing cybersecurity defenses. Effective threat-hunting should include the use of a broad range of security technologies and the performance of forensic analysis to quickly identify early threat indicators to prevent an attack’s onset.

Full Integration of the Incident Response Measures

Philadelphia businesses require high-level guidance on incident response and remediation once threats are identified. A managed security services provider should prioritize incident response and provide detailed reports, notifications, and advice about how to remediate incidents and ensure cyber attacks are addressed before they can spread. A good provider should provide managed detection and response services through which threats can be quickly isolated and contained. They should provide a fast response to a broad range of threats and have support ready to help with priority incidents.

Versatility and Flexibility in Deployments

Organizations have varying security postures and many types of infrastructure, including cloud, virtualized, hybrid, and others. While efficiency is critical, it doesn’t have to be separated from security. Organizations of all sizes need providers who offer rapid deployment of tailored, scalable solutions. Rapid and versatile deployment across all of the various types of infrastructure within the organization is important to achieve a high level of threat visibility across all environments without unnecessary delays and disruptions in the company’s normal operations.

Contextualized Analytics and Security Intelligence

Managed security services should incorporate security information from both external and internal sources to provide a broader range of security intelligence and contextualized analytics. A company that relies on multiple sources of intelligence can help to more effectively identify the tactics used by threat actors to improve threat detection and incident response.

In-Depth Knowledge of Offensive Methods for Managed Security

Your organization should want a partner that only offers defensive expertise and waits to react to potential threats. Instead, the right provider should provide offensive measures to prevent intrusions from happening in the first place in addition to providing strong defenses. Both offensive and defensive security experts should work as a cohesive unit to maximize the effectiveness of the security processes and controls.

Security assessments should be performed to evaluate how well your organization’s security measures function against various types of cyber attacks. Regular testing should be performed to evaluate the validity of the controls and improve the detection of data breaches, cyber threats, and incident response.

If you would like to learn more about what to look for in an MSSP or what Meriplex can do for your company, contact us for more information.