Actu
Nicolas Capitone, Masergy Communications: IT skills gap driving managed security services providers
May 2017 by Nicolas Capitone, Director of Southern Europe at Masergy Communications
Once again, the issue of cyber security raises its head as the news that the UK-based payday lender Wonga has suffered a data breach – in which bank account details and partial credit card numbers may have been accessed by hackers.
Outside of the IT security industry, it’s just another in a long list of companies that have fallen victim to cyber criminals. Within the industry it’s yet another piece of evidence pointing to the fact that, for a security professional their battles are never-ending.
In fact, in 2016 there were more than 4,000 data breaches that exposed over 4.2 billion records, according to research from Risk Based Security. The costs of data breaches in France are growing too; on average the total cost of a data breach is €3.4 million, an increase of 8.6 percent – so says The Ponemon Institute 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study.
With more and more companies falling victim to hackers, growing attack surfaces due to the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), and security budgets staying tight, talent remaining scarce, and tools lacking seamless integration, it’s no wonder that Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are starting to worry about how best to protect their organisation.
Everybody knows
CIOs know first hand the high cost of cyber security. They’ve likely experienced the skyrocketing salaries that security experts are demanding. They also know that there is no way to make computers, networks or systems completely safe from hackers.
It’s a wicked game of supply-and-demand. As cyber attacks grow, skilled security professionals are demanding – and getting – higher and higher salaries. Organisations desperately need to beef up their security posture as these cyber professionals are only too well aware.
But just how bad is the salary situation?
According to research by McAfee, the salary of permanent IT security professionals in France was over 2.5 times the national average salary and, in the same report, it stated that the IT security market in France will grow to €4.45B in 2018 (up from €2.86B in 2013).
Building 24x7 coverage using trusted partners
Meeting the growing salary expectations whilst ensuring enterprises remain protected is a constant challenge and It’s an issue that is being solved by Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs).
Working with a managed security service provider can help you control those costs. For example, some MSSPs have been proven to offer savings of up to 60 per cent in a variety of security areas.
MSSPs enable these cost savings by reducing your capital expenditures, staffing and training needs. What’s more, when your enterprise IT teams work with MSSPs, they can increase their own efficiency by working with trusted partners that can automate many time consuming activities, such as responding to and analysing security alerts.
In addition, you no longer need to provide all the manpower and skills yourself. Instead, you can utilise a services provider’s staff for continuous monitoring 24x7. Compared with hiring additional in-house staff, it’s less costly, requires no training, doesn’t involve adding expensive real estate or computer systems, and lowers your personnel management.
Increased ability to innovate
Unfortunately, the risk of cyber attacks and breaches isn’t going away. In fact, new threats appear almost daily. Cyber criminals are moving fast, constantly coming up with new ways to compromise your networks and steal valuable data. To keep them at bay, you need monitoring and incident response capabilities that are agile and responsive. MSSPs can help by offering innovative services and approaches.
A good MSSP offering combines advanced technologies that can help you stay ahead of the constantly changing threat landscape, such as machine learning that combines big data and human expertise enabling the system to continuously learn and adapt to threats and have the ability to predict upcoming hacks.
The cloud is another essential component of any MSSP offering. This innovative technology allows MSSPs to offer security services from your cloud environment to your corporate network.
This move to outsourcing some, or all, of an organisations’ IT security functions is already happening - a recent report from Forrester suggests that France will see more than five per cent growth in technology outsourcing.
The powerful option
Managed security services providers offer a powerful, compelling option for IT security executives looking for bolster their security. Working with an MSSP can help lower costs while also benefitting from leading edge technologies and expert staffing.
In an increasingly perilous world, working with an MSSP is a powerful way to stay safe and secure.
