Better together: Cybersecurity and BCDR

In the IT industry, we know that it’s not a matter of if a cybersecurity incident will occur—it’s when. Cyberthreats are growing, and it’s no longer enough for managed service providers (MSPs) to offer cybersecurity without backup or recovery solutions. Small and midsized businesses (SMBs) understand that the evolving threat landscape puts them at risk, and they’re looking to partner with MSPs that can do it all—protect their assets upfront and help them recover should they fall victim to a cyberattack.  

The cybersecurity landscape: What’s at stake? 

It’s already fairly common for SMBs to partner with MSPs to efficiently and securely conduct business, and this trend is only continuing to rise. However, many SMBs are unsatisfied with the service they receive from their MSPs and are considering changing providers. In fact, according to the State of SMB Cybersecurity in 2022 study conducted by Vanson Bourne, 94% of respondents would consider using or moving to a new MSP if that MSP offered the “right” cybersecurity solutions. And not only this, but SMBs also suggested that they would be willing to pay a new MSP, on average, 39% extra each year if they could provide the “right” solutions. So, what are the “right” solutions?

The specific right solutions will vary based on the business, but generally speaking, the right solutions or MSPs include both proactive and reactive approaches to cybersecurity. SMBs are the target of more cyberattacks than ever, and MSPs that can’t offer both cybersecurity and business continuity and recovery solutions are quickly losing out to those that can meet the growing demand for this full-circle approach. Best-in-class MSPs know that it’s not enough to offer one or the other. Comprehensive protection—and the right solution for SMBs—includes both a proactive and reactive cybersecurity strategy.

Proactive vs. reactive cybersecurity: Why you need both 

It’s clear that SMBs want a cybersecurity approach that protects them from all angles. That’s why it’s so important to offer solutions that provide the 360 protection your clients are looking for. You can break this down into two categories: proactive cybersecurity and reactive cybersecurity.  

Proactive cybersecurity solutions are the measures you put in place to keep the “bad guys” out. These are the software and services that you offer as an MSP that are meant to keep hackers and other threats from successfully carrying out a cyberattack on your client. An example of this would be managed detection and response (MDR). MDR solutions, powered by security experts, threat intelligence, and advanced tools in security operations centers (SOC), monitor the behavior of endpoints on the network round-the-clock to detect suspicious activity that could signal an attack is occurring. By offering MDR solutions, your MSP provides proactive cybersecurity—which can detect and remediate suspicious activity before the malware, virus, or other threat has a chance to do damage. 

Reactive cybersecurity solutions are the measures you have in place to recover and continue business operations in the midst or aftermath of a cyberattack. In a perfect world, SMBs wouldn’t need a reactive cybersecurity strategy because the proactive solutions they implemented would catch any threat before it does damage. But in reality, technology, and the associated cyberthreat landscape, are constantly evolving and adapting to evade proactive cybersecurity measures. This is why a reactive cybersecurity plan featuring backup and disaster recovery (BCDR) solutions is vital to SMBs. 

Like their name implies, BCDR solutions securely store client data backups to enable access to mission-critical information in the wake of an attack. Because essential data is protected and accessible, and you’re able to restore network devices to their pre-incident state, you can avoid costly delays in business operations and damaging your or your client’s reputations—and that’s not to mention the potentially hefty ransom hackers would demand to regain access. 

As an MSP, providing both proactive and reactive cybersecurity solutions for your clients can do more for your business than simply expanding your offerings. Offering both helps you adhere to the national guidelines for cybersecurity best practices from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CF). Adherence to this framework is voluntary for private sector businesses, but in choosing to adopt this full-circle approach to cybersecurity, you and your clients can rest assured that you’re offering top-of-the-line cybersecurity based on the five pillars of an effective cybersecurity program:    

• Identify. Pinpoint the organization’s critical functions and the cybersecurity risks that could disrupt them. 
• Protect. Determine the potential impact of a cybersecurity breach and develop a plan to minimize the damage done. 
• Detect. Enable timely discovery of cybersecurity incidents and how to determine that a breach has occurred. 
• Respond. Prepare for rapid response to any cybersecurity incidents to keep them from spreading. 
• Recover. Restore any data or capabilities that were affected by a cybersecurity incident so that the organization can return to business as usual. 

Reference Figure 3 to see which pillars MDR and BCDR solutions support in the NIST CF. 

Having the right cybersecurity solutions makes a difference to SMBs looking for an MSP partner. But what’s just as important is ensuring you have the right tools in your cybersecurity tech stack to efficiently and securely offer those solutions. Rather than trying to piece together a tech stack on your own, why not partner with a company that helps you do it all? 

ConnectWise makes it easy to have all the tools you need at your disposal. From proactive solutions such as MDR, which detects and neutralizes potential threats, to reactive solutions such as incident response and BCDR, which help you get back to business after a cybersecurity event, ConnectWise offers the software and services your customers are looking for—and more. Learn more about how ConnectWise can help you build a successful cybersecurity strategy and tech stack when you watch the webinar >>