6 (Very Good) Reasons You Should Be Outsourcing Your Cybersecurity Operations

Cyber attacks are now a daily routine for digital businesses without exceptions. Companies could get away with simple security measures years ago, but ever-changing advanced threats today require the latest advanced security measures. Cybersecurity spending in the US has gone from $27.4 billion 8 years ago and skyrocketed to $60 billion in 2017.

Together with the ramp-up in the amount of cyber attacks and their frequency, sophistication of attacks and diversity in TTPs (Tactics, techniques, and procedures) is continuously ramping up.

This poses a global, highly deliberated challenge for companies across industries of skilled security professionals.

With cybersecurity so critical for businesses today, large and medium-size organizations require Information Security skilled teams of analysts and tech-savvy engineers in addition to day to day security Ops. But the combination of security expertise, technology, and intelligence required for in-house cybersecurity teams is not something every enterprise can facilitate or manage.

Who Should Establish In-house Cybersecurity?

Choosing in-house or outsourced cybersecurity solutions depends on factors such as the size of the company, amount of data, and resource availability.

While managing cybersecurity in-house allows a business to maintain full control of operations and also means someone is on-site that can address concerns in-person, it is challenging to get it right and find the right person or team that has the skills required to lead an in-house cybersecurity team. And with increasing varieties of attack surfaces, companies need to be confident that they keep pace as the scale and changing technologies mount.

Outsourcing to Cybersecurity Experts

Businesses that choose to outsource to cybersecurity experts have clear advantages that should not be overlooked; we’ve broken down six key advantages:

#1  – A team of experienced security experts

• Skilled security practitioners are in high demand, and availability is scarce
• Less time and expense is wasted in an onboarding process once you do actually find employees
• Access to security experts for immediate response
• Outsourced experts are up-to-date on the latest threats and security tools

 #2 – Improved threat detection and incident response times

• A team of experts monitoring 24/7 can respond to threats in real-time
• A managed detection and response platform (MDR) provides fast insight for quick response
• MDR eliminates the tedious task of reviewing logs and alarms

 #3 – Advanced technology

• New attack vectors mean new defense tools that require a learning curve to install and use effectively
• Outsourcing eliminates delays in seeing the value of a new software solution deployed with in-house staff
• New software solutions are also expensive to purchase and maintain licensing and support

 #4 Threat intelligence and practical security knowledge

• Using an outsourced threat intelligence platform allows for a deep analysis of an organization’s intelligence profile, resulting in precise, actionable threat intelligence indicators
• The platform can also mitigate threats before they become breach events
• With data from millions of sources, it’s increasingly difficult to develop and maintain those capabilities in-house

#5 Independent validation of cybersecurity posture

• Outsourcing provides an independent analysis of vulnerabilities using tools such as pentesting and other automated complex attack simulations
• Outsourced service providers can orchestrate a multitude of attacks to validate an organization’s resiliency and subsequent response time
• Automated testing tools are supported by expert teams to help clients act on the results
• Historical data can help an organization see how their security posture has improved over time

 #6 Better control of the supply chain

• Protection from vulnerabilities in a vendor or service provider’s security is critical
• Visibility into the full digital ecosystem of these additional attack surfaces is a big challenge for in-house teams
• Outsourcing providers can map out your entire supply chain and digital ecosystem
• The supply chain can then be monitored for indications of compromise, vulnerabilities, and a general maturity assessment of the supply chain processes
• Backed by a security team along with automated abilities for immediate mitigation actions

When deciding to outsource, it’s important to find the right cybersecurity provider that can fulfill your requirements as a long-term partnership, and provide the advanced tools and expert security teams needed for a truly comprehensive cybersecurity solution. The provider’s solution should be dynamic and evolving to stay ahead of emerging cyber criminal tactics.

Or, decide to go for a combination of in-house and outsourcing cybersecurity, depending on where your core team’s strengths and weakness lie. The combination can be highly variable; here’s just one scenario: Security Ops – in-house; threat detection on premises but outsourced and managed by a vendor; incident response in-house (tier 1) and outsourced (tiers 2 and 3).

The possibilities for compiling highly effective mixed teams of outsourced and in-house cybersecurity allows you to define and execute the combination based on your threat map – within your specified context for both business and risk management.

And if you don’t know which approach to go with, start by mapping your threats and evaluate how to address them in figuring out what makes most sense for you right now.

The Dollars and Sense of Outsourcing

For most businesses, cybersecurity is not their primary focus and can end up being overlooked or not managed optimally despite its importance. Businesses can’t afford to overlook cybersecurity when the average cost of a phishing attack (for example) costs a mid-size company $1.6 million. For small businesses it can be a death blow, with 60% going out of business within six months of an attack.

It comes down to being a strategic-type decision of sorts. Businesses should focus on their core business and ensure proper security measures are in place with outsourced services. In the long run, businesses can actually save money just by avoiding a data breach. And in some cases, the annual cost of outsourcing can be lower than the salary of a single security engineer.