Should South Florida Businesses Outsource Cybersecurity?

Should South Florida Businesses Outsource Cybersecurity?

The cybersecurity landscape has taken a darker tone in recent years. The rapid surge in digital footprint and the increased adoption of remote work has been accompanied by a significant increase in cyber threats. According to Cybercrime Magazine, there’s a ransomware attack on a business every 11 seconds.

To address the cybersecurity threat, businesses are increasingly seeking to outsource their enterprise security tasks. The rising use of MSSPs (managed security service providers) is significant. In fact, according to a MarketsandMarkets study, the global spending on managed security services will grow by 13.9% annually and surpass the $43 billion mark by 2025. This study attributed the growing use of MSSPs to the rising cases of security breaches as well as the greater sophistication and increasing number of cyberattacks.

With that in mind, is outsourcing cybersecurity services possible without an unwarranted level of risks, especially for high-risk, high-target industries like healthcare and finance? Is it better to keep cybersecurity operations in-house, or are there benefits that outweigh the potential risks? Keep reading to find out.

What Are the Advantages of Outsourcing Cybersecurity Services?

Here is an outline of the top 7 reasons why you should outsource cybersecurity services:

1. Save Time and Money 

While many people may perceive that hiring an in-house team is less expensive than outsourcing, that’s not the case. Having an in-house cybersecurity department is a lot more costly to set up and maintain than you might think. You need to hire specialized trained staff to run this department. Besides the monthly salaries, you’ll also need to pay for employment taxes, retirement benefits plans as well as the specialized training of your internal team. You will also need to purchase the necessary cybersecurity software to help maintain the services that this department will be responsible for.

With outsourced cybersecurity, you don’t need to hire and train IT personnel. Additionally, you will only be paying a monthly service fee, which will end up costing less in the long run.

2. Better Resources and Expert Advice 

Given the substantial skill set required to undertake the cybersecurity task, an in-house operation can have increased risks unless a solid system of checks and balances is put in place. There are several moving parts that need to be constantly monitored and adjusted to ensure ongoing success, and not every organization has the appropriately skilled management to oversee this.

Outsourcing allows you to tap on a much larger pool of experienced specialists to help analyze and resolve complex security issues. A cybersecurity provider has knowledgeable and experienced personnel who stay updated on the latest technology solutions. These specialists have pretty much “seen it all” and can quickly resolve issues based on past experiences with other clients.

3. Leveling the Competition Playing Field 

If you are an SMB (small and medium-sized enterprise), you may not be in a position to afford the level of security that larger businesses provide through their internal support services. This puts you at a big disadvantage. Outsourcing the cybersecurity function of your business may help your small business in leveling the playing field.

You will gain access to top-tier security expertise and technology that large businesses enjoy. This gives you a competitive advantage against other businesses within your industry, no matter their size. In these times when customers care about how secure the data and information they share with you is, having a robust cybersecurity infrastructure in place can boost customer loyalty and trust. You’ll also get to focus on expanding your business without having to worry about matching the security levels of your competitors.

4. Enhanced Security 

In this day of ever-increasing cyber-attacks and hacks, having the resources and experience of a company that specializes in these areas is paramount. Being able to tap on the expertise of a seasoned outsourced company can save you the financial hardship and embarrassment of a cyberattack by listening to and implementing recommendations made to you by this company. Outsourced cybersecurity firms have superior services, tools, and knowledge to properly implement the best cybersecurity practices. Rather than an organization floundering around and guessing and hoping that they have enough cybersecurity measures in place, they should invest in and trust the advice of a seasoned cybersecurity firm.

5. Round the Clock Monitoring and Quick Response Times 

One of the key reasons why most businesses outsource their cybersecurity services is that you never know when cybercriminals may strike. Cybercriminals only need a few minutes to launch an attack against your business. Because of this, it is vital that you are well-prepared to respond to and remediate all cyber threats at any time of the day.

For instance, picture a scenario where an unauthorized intruder gets detected right after business hours. But because of the limitations of your internal IT department, the issue has to wait until the following working day for qualified personnel to work on them. This can result in irrecoverable damage to your business’s data and assets.

Outsourcing cybersecurity is ideal in such a scenario, given that you will have someone who stays vigilant outside of your business hours. They are responsible for ensuring that your network is safe and that your business has excellent cybersecurity hygiene. They do all this within the agreed-upon budget. Keeping an in-house team may be impractical and highly costly. Additionally, the quick response times you get when you outsource minimizes the duration of downtimes.

6. Customization of Your System for Best Predictions 

Besides recognizing your network devices and understanding threats, outsourced cybersecurity services can be tailored to protect your business’s unique network conditions. This customized configuration will be based on the types of applications and servers you run and the different types of user profiles that make up your workforce. As your environment changes, your cybersecurity solution will be modified to adapt to the changes in the environment.

7. Future-Proofing 

Digital transformation is an ongoing process that requires a regular cadence of review of an organization’s internal processes, procedures, and technology. An organization needs to plan for the future or risk being left behind. Every day, a new cybersecurity threat emerges, and you need to be aware of such threats lest your business gets impacted by them.

Outsourced cybersecurity providers keep up with emerging threats and insist on generating a security and disaster recovery plan for their clients. This way, they can ensure not only security but also the continuity of their client’s businesses.

Are There Disadvantages of Outsourcing Cybersecurity Services?

Amongst the disadvantages of outsourcing cybersecurity services is the simple ideology that you have granted an external party full access to your network. This translates to having to be very cautious and judicious as to who gets this type of access. Giving this kind of access to the wrong organization can be disastrous for your business.

Another con of outsourcing has to do with accountability and risk. If you work with an outsourced organization, there is a different kind of relationship. Given that they are not your employees, MSSPs are accountable in a different way. The only recourse you have is firing the organization. What’s more, it is possibly riskier to partner with an MSSP as they may be more exposed given that they deal with multiple clients. In case one of their clients gets breached, possibly all of their clients could be affected as a result. The SolarWinds incident is a good example of this.

What Should You Outsource and What Should You Keep In-house?

The decision on whether to outsource all or some of your security tasks needs a high degree of examination of an organization’s risk profile and its current and future capacity to fulfill its security requirements. As such, each organization must come to its own conclusions about what it should keep in-house and what it should outsource.

An organization that determines that it’s unable to undertake certain security tasks due to the fact that its internal IT department does not have the talent, time, or bandwidth to effectively execute the job should opt to outsource its cybersecurity task. Similarly, an organization whose security personnel don’t want to handle certain tasks because they are focused on high-priority functions should outsource such tasks.

Bottom Line

Outsourcing cybersecurity services is highly recommended once a system is in place and all endpoints are covered – an expert SOC engineer is needed to analyze alerts and remediate any vulnerabilities. This type of support is a dedicated position, and an in-house department is often too busy to effectively protect a business. The key to outsourcing is setting up alerts and communications where the business can see what is going on and being worked on.

GiaSpace Provides Reliable and Dependable Cybersecurity Services for South Florida Businesses

With cybersecurity threats emerging every other day, it is crucial for businesses to stay vigilant and maintain a healthy cybersecurity posture. Nonetheless, most SMBs find it challenging to build robust security models given their low budgets. In these cases, the ideal option is to outsource cybersecurity services.

At GiaSpace, we offer customized cybersecurity solutions that help protect your business from different cybersecurity threats. Contact us today to learn more about our cybersecurity services.