Have you ever thought about outsourcing cybersecurity? This may seem like a reckless step at first, but let’s look at this concept from various angles.
The Pros and Cons of Cybersecurity Outsourcing
According to a recent survey, a data breach accounted for 37% of small businesses getting into a financial loss, while 10% closed down. This shows there's so much at stake when cybersecurity is not given the attention it deserves. Therefore, most business executives are constantly looking to outsource their enterprise’s cybersecurity.
Outsourcing enterprise cybersecurity needs is slowly becoming the norm. Spending on managed security services is expected to grow by $43.7 billion globally by 2026. Outsourcing cybersecurity services and choosing the companies like Diversido to securely develop your company website allows you to save on training costs, time, and even leverage experience.
Despite the obvious benefits, analyze if your enterprise requires outsourced cybersecurity services. To decide, you need to know the pros and cons of outsourcing cybersecurity.
What Cybersecurity Services Can Be Outsourced
Outsourcing cybersecurity takes a lot of high-level examination to determine what to outsource. This includes the enterprise's risk profile, capacity to fulfill cybersecurity needs, and risk tolerance.
Ultimately, every enterprise determines its own set of functions to outsource. That said, the most common options include the following:
Penetration Testing
Outsourcing penetration testing allows you to deal with external hackers accessing your network.
Unpatched vulnerability greatly impacts enterprise systems, networks, and overall security. Patching checks and related security management functions should be carried out regularly. This may put a lot of stress on your in-house staff. For this reason, outsourcing regular penetration tests and vulnerability assessments, especially if your in-house team is inexperienced, will help weed out any flaws in your system.
Suspicious Activities Monitoring
Cybercriminals always look for a weakness in your computer system and networks. That’s why you'll need 24/7 monitoring of suspicious activities. To stay on alert round the clock, hiring a separate team is more effective. If your in-house staff takes on this task, they won’t be able to do anything else. This means that you lose workforce potential. Thus, outsourcing might be the best solution.
Security Incidents Management
Another aspect of your cybersecurity that can and should be outsourced is the management of security incidents. Since cybercriminals can launch a system attack at any time, outsourcing your entire security services allows you to leverage the expertise and skillset of the managed security service provider (MSSP) for the safety of your enterprise.
Cybersecurity Training for Staff
Whether you'll be outsourcing a section of your cybersecurity functions or keeping everything in-house, it is important that all your staff are aware of cyber threats. Thus, they can avoid unintentional sabotage of your network from within. Outsourcing cybersecurity training sessions will save you money instead of doing it in-house. With cyber security online courses, your staff will be proficient in handling cyber attacks.
Cybersecurity Audit
For a startup competing with established brands, raising your reputation is one of the key things you should target. One of the ways to achieve this is by meeting the company's internal regulations. Meeting general regulations (GDPR, ISO, Cyber Essential) is of even greater importance. This can be achieved through a cybersecurity audit by certified security professionals well-versed in the matter.
Data Backup
To protect your files against breach, you must have secure storage of all your backup data. Having in-house backup storage is not only expensive but also skill-intensive. Luckily, there are plenty of dedicated data backup service providers with the resources, knowledge, and manpower to back up data that hackers cannot infiltrate.
Cybersecurity Outsourcing: Analyzing Two Sides of the Coin
If you're considering whether to outsource your enterprise cybersecurity, read the pros and cons below.
The Pros
Maximizing the potential of cybersecurity capabilities.
Enterprises and startups will enjoy many advantages of using the services of a professional cybersecurity service provider. However, the main one is that you can leverage their experience. They handle more cyber threats and breaches than your in-house experts.
A certified team of experts will have the necessary threat intelligence and a greater understanding of the current cybersecurity threat landscape. With this knowledge at your disposal, you'll have more actionable recommendations and customized cyber protection for your enterprise systems.
Saving time for core business operations.
Giving additional cybersecurity responsibilities will result in staff burnout and reduced production in general. However, outsourcing these functions will enable you to focus more time and resources on the core business activities.
By focusing on your enterprise's core operations, your IT team will thrive and improve efficiency. Better IT support and skilled third-party professionals help to relocate resources, whether human or otherwise, to where they're most needed.
Better threat detection and incident response.
Managed security service providers have better insights into the current and emerging cybersecurity threats. Therefore, they're better equipped to detect and protect your data against potential threats. Most importantly, outsourced cybersecurity professionals are dedicated to protecting your networks, which means they're always monitoring your systems for any attempted breaches.
This around-the-clock presence by MSSPs enables early threat detection and quicker response time.
Timely implementation of security standards and official regulatory requirements.
A good majority of MSSPs have partnered with the leading software vendors, putting them in a position to know whenever new threats or zero days emerge. As a result, outsourcing cybersecurity eliminates any delays in the deployment of new software updates.
Because of this established cooperation, they can provide you with timely security standards and any other official regulatory requirements.
Cons
Little knowledge of your business, culture, and values.
The priority of a cybersecurity service provider is to keep your networks secure against any cyber threats. They are rarely interested in your company’s culture or values. This lack of knowledge concerning your business and enterprise culture or values might result in a lack of harmony between your cybersecurity functions and general day-to-day operations.
It is important to have an in-depth understanding of your business. Otherwise, you won’t get a wholesome cybersecurity solution that considers the required internal regulations.
Sharing sensitive data.
When you outsource cybersecurity, you must also be willing to give a third party access to your network systems and any other sensitive data. This poses a security vulnerability, with the risk of losing critical and sensitive data being more inevitable.
You must ensure you're dealing with a trustworthy and highly professional MSSP.
Miscommunication (communication problems).
Communication problems are always rampant when it comes to outsourcing any service. You'll mostly be dealing with the technicians rather than the top management of that service provider. Communication barriers may include bureaucracies, language barriers, and lack of protocol.
Do Your Company Really Need to Outsource Cybersecurity?
Сybersecurity entails protecting your enterprise from various cyber threats. It goes far beyond just implementing a single practice or procedure. It requires a dedicated team of experts, hence the need to outsource your enterprise’s cybersecurity needs.
Outsourcing cybersecurity guarantees better threat detection and helps you follow security standards. Having a stretched in-house cybersecurity team may be cheaper. Still, it only increases the risk of failure to protect your enterprise, especially now that cyber threats are on the rise.
