How Managed IT Support Detects and Responds to Security Threats Faster

An online threat refers to cyber scams or malicious attempts that can emerge as a phishing attack, ransomware, malware, social engineering, denial of service (DoS), man-in-the-middle (MitM), identity theft, password attacks, data breaches, insider threats, SQL injection, exploits, spoofing, advanced persistent threats (APTs), and botnets.  Handling these threats is not a piece of cake. And businesses, which are typically targeted, must be aware of them in this hyper-connected world. The key role in managing these cyber spams can be played by experts in managed IT support.

That’s why corporate entities delegate this responsibility to these tech professionals who detect and respond to security threats faster for business continuity. 

Here comes the challenges that digital businesses often face.

The Cybersecurity Challenge for Modern Businesses

Are you still following a traditional approach to cybersecurity? Reliance on the internal IT department is no longer sufficient to fight phishing, zero-day exploits, or virus attacks. Here is why.

• Skill Shortage: The in-house team might lack an efficient and upskilled cybersecurity professional because of budget or inadequate talent.

• 24/7 Monitoring Requirements: Internal teams are constrained to work in working hours only. Maintaining round-the-clock monitoring is impractical and costly in-house.

• Tool Sprawl and Complexity: Insufficient budget and a lack of specialised knowledge of advanced tools (SIEM, EDR, firewalls, etc.) can hamper implementing, configuring, and managing effective cybersecurity internally.

• Alert Fatigue:  A high volume of security alerts can cause “alert fatigue”, which leads to compromising legitimate threat alerts.

• Budget Constraints: Cutting-edge security technology and an advanced security operations center (SOC) become out of reach because of limited budget.

These are some foremost challenges that increase “dwell time,” or the period when a cyberattack remains undetected within a network.  It can be a reason for slower “mean time to respond” (MTTR). These risks often cause vulnerabilities. 

How Managed IT Support Enhances Threat Detection

You will be surprised to know that global businesses are embracing MSPs like never before. This industry is likely to soar from nearly $179 billion in 2022 to over $500 billion by 2030, as per a source. Managed IT support can set up a proactive and vigilant defence system to protect the network and sensitive digital products. This is simply achievable because of these key aspects:

1. 24/7 Proactive Monitoring: Managed Service Providers or MSPs provide continuous tracking of your IT infrastructure. This vigilance leaves no stone unturned to detect unusual activities, suspicious login attempts, or anomalous network traffic 24/7. This kind of monitoring significantly narrows down the scope for vulnerabilities or break-ins. 

2. Advanced Tools and Technologies: MSPs are equipped with enterprise-grade security tools, which are too expensive to afford for startups or small businesses to afford. For example,

• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems:  These are centralised systems that assess all security logs from various points across the network, so any unusual patterns or anomalies can be detected to indicate a threat.

• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Solutions: These tools also monitor endpoint activities in laptops, servers, and mobile devices, whether there is any trace of malicious behaviour to counter immediately.

• Network Detection and Response (NDR): This IT support service scans internal network traffic, lateral movement, and network-based cyberattacks, which often bypass endpoint protections.  

• Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM): This managed service protects cloud environments by detecting malicious attempts and discovering misconfigurations.

3. Specialized Expertise and Threat Intelligence: Outsourcing to expert MSPs introduces you to cybersecurity professionals who are upskilled with the latest threat trends, methods, and vulnerabilities. This deep knowledge guides them to quickly collect and assess global threat intelligence, covering emerging malware attacks, phishing techniques, and hackers’ tactics. Overall, this intelligence provides the following support:

• Proactive Threat Hunting: Hidden threats within your IT network can be instantly detected, without waiting for alerts.

• Reduce False Positives: This intelligence can easily differentiate genuine threats from misguiding benign activities, preventing alert fatigue for your internal team.

• Predictive Analytics and AI/ML: With this advanced version, MSPs use artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to analyse massive volumes of data and predict potential threats.

4. Layered Security Approach: This is related to executing a comprehensive managed security service to make it hard for cyber attackers. It includes setting up a robust firewall, intrusion detection/ prevention system, multi-factor authentication (MFA), secure email gateways, regular vulnerability scanning, and patch management. 

How Managed IT Support Accelerates Threat Response

The aforesaid hacks detect maximum malicious activities. Now comes how to counter them. Managed IT support service experts excel here, who offer the following solutions:

1. Pre-Defined Incident Response Plans and Playbooks: Specialised IT managed services and cybersecurity have proven and tested incident response (IR) strategies. So, the service providers guide IT specialists to carry out every step of a security incident, from initiation to recovery and post-recovery analysis. This guided support eliminates the possibility of any guesswork and swiftly protects and counterattacks.

2. Dedicated Incident Response Teams: MSPs deploy a dedicated team of incident analysts and incident responders who provide 24/7 monitoring. It immediately triggers and initiates responses to threats, which takes barely minutes or hours. This process is significantly faster than manual in-house monitoring.

3. Faster Remediation and Recovery: Technology experts recall their experience that helps in quickly discovering the root cause of an attack, and hence, remediation steps can be initiated faster. These steps include removing malware, patching vulnerabilities, restoring data from secure backups, and isolating compromised systems. These recovery strategies increase uptime and restore business operations in a short span.

4. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Integration: This integration is a key component of specialised IT managed services, which ensure swift data re-storage in the event of a breach from backup systems, so minimal disruption can be there interfere with business operations.

5. Forensic Analysis and Continuous Improvement: Once an incident strikes, managed service providers immediately conduct a thorough forensic analysis to discover the root cause, the exact attack or incident, and precautions to take in the future. This learning helps in refining security protocols, updating the defence system, and setting up robust security to protect against similar attacks in the future.

Conclusion

This is the era of digital advancement, where cyberattacks are increasingly advancing with new technologies. To protect a business from malicious attempts, a managed IT service provider is necessary to be there, protecting and guiding how to protect digital networks and protecting from scammers. Their round-the-clock monitoring, data backup strategies, patches, and recovery management can minimise risk exposure while protecting sensitive data and continuing business processes.