A SOC (Security Operations Center) is no longer optional for today’s businesses, since cybersecurity threats are on the rise and can wipe out companies who are not prepared to deal with them. Larger businesses like Acer, CNA Financial and JBS USA have survived major attacks, mainly because they have the financial resources to recover. What about small and medium-sized businesses, though?
Cybersecurity for Smaller Businesses
According to PRWeb, a high number of smaller businesses in the US and UK are not ready for possible cyberattacks and breaches. Twenty-five percent of companies with 50 or fewer employers reported paying a minimum of $10,000 to resolve attacks; for those with fewer than 500, incidents cost about $7.68 million on average. Why are there so many successful cyberattacks on small companies?
Like their larger counterparts, small companies are not impervious to data breaches and cyberattacks. The problem largely occurs when they don’t prioritize cybersecurity. Many use free, consumer-grade cybersecurity products, and a good number of these do not even have endpoint security.
Even worse, it is estimated that 43 percent of small business owners do not have cybersecurity defense plans at all. This puts their highly sensitive business, customer and financial data in extremely vulnerable positions; one attack can ruin a company.
Benefits of a SOC
There are many benefits to having a SOC. A SOC acts like a hub or central command post and takes in data from across the organization’s IT infrastructure like its networks, devices, appliances and information stores. Ideally, the SOC would be the center point for every piece of data logged within the monitored organization. Generally, an SOC will be led by a SOC manager who has a team under them to manage. These teams are responsible for the monitoring and protection of many assets such as intellectual property, business systems, personnel data, and brand integrity.
Having a SOC can be a major change for most organizations. They no longer have to employ their own IT team, and can leave the protection of their most sensitive assets to professionals.
Outsourcing a Managed Services Provider
While larger companies have in-house SOCs, this can be out of reach for small- and mid-sized companies. An outsourced Managed Services Provider (MSP) can be the best solution, as long as their focus is holistic.
Some might specialize in various niches like identity access management, multi-factor authentication or encryption. It is also important to find one that leverages your current IT investments without wasting any of your resources – the solution needs to be customized for your needs.
An Albany, NY MSP must be able to provide proactive, 24/7 cybersecurity protocols and swift response times when threats rear their ugly heads. The danger must be neutralized as quickly as possible by a highly-trained team of experts; investigation, remediation and an assurance that the threat was eliminated must also be offered. A truly effective MSP will be your partner for optimizing your network, unifying your communications and preventing and neutralizing cyber threats that compromise your company’s operations and security.
Pros of Having an MSP
While business owners might balk at the idea of hiring an MSP for an outsourced SOC, the money saved from preventing just one data breach can be more than worth the investment. Instead of having one “computer person” on staff, you have access to an entire team with different experts in areas like software, hardware and handling data breaches.
Speaking of breaches, if you had to restore all of your systems and data, wouldn’t you want to have a company that you can rely on 100 percent?
An experienced MSP can analyze your system, determine its vulnerabilities and prevent technical issues from occurring. They constantly monitor all of your IT infrastructure, including hardware, software, internet, users and security, and set up alerts for abnormalities and other issues.
Your upstate New York MSP provider will be prepared for new, high-tech threats and will also be familiar with data privacy laws and how to remain in compliance with them.
Choose Tag Solutions as Your MSP
TAG Solutions’ team of Albany, NY IT experts can update and improve your IT infrastructure, making it more reliable and safer. While we stay in frequent contact with our clients, they are freed up to spend more time on building up their businesses without needing to panic about technical problems.
You can contact us for a free cybersecurity assessment. Call us at 800-724-0023 or complete our online form today. We can’t wait to speak with you and figure out how we can best serve your needs!