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Cyber Security

Outsourcing Cybersecurity Management: How to Maximise your Security Posture and ROI

Outsourcing Cybersecurity Management: How to Maximise your Security Posture and ROI
Written by

Ellie Owen

Published on

30 Oct 2020

Outsourcing Cybersecurity Management: How to Maximise your Security Posture and ROI

 
Unable to recruit full-time internal security teams?

Do you lack the budget? Or are you focusing on other operational priorities?

How do you protect your business without investing in full-time staff?
 

The answers to your cybersecurity budgeting concerns lie in outsourcing your risk and compliance management! Discover the benefits here.

Rise in cyber threats

It’s an understatement to say that recent years have been challenging for businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic not only caused a seismic shift in the way that businesses operate but also had a significant impact on the management and capacity for staffing and resources. 

 

In December 2020, official figures showed that unemployment had risen above 5% in October – representing more than 1.5 million people. By 2022, this figure had decreased to 3.8%; however, this rise in employment simply goes to demonstrate how drastically businesses have had to adapt to a new order.

 

Businesses have had to make difficult sacrifices regarding their workforce, their premises, and how they organise their teams; as a result, the opportunity for cyberattacks has increased, with estimates that 93% of businesses should now be considered vulnerable. 

 

In the first quarter of 2020, just as the pandemic began to take hold, the UN security council reported a 350% increase in phishing scams, particularly targeting the healthcare sector. In 2021, the number of attacks per week went up by 50%, particularly in the government and education sectors.

 

The question we have all been asking is: what can we do about it?

Shortage of cyber skills and budget

The good news is that most businesses recognise the threat and understand the need to improve their organisational risk posture. As many as 82% of CIOs know they need to improve their security. They’re feeling increased pressure on the cyber arm of their business. Finding a solution internally would mean investing more in training, resources and security technology as the threat landscape continues to grow. That’s a problem for businesses, because their investment in internal cybersecurity is effectively never ‘complete’, making CFOs and those in charge of the budgets less willing to invest money into it continuously. This is compounded by the fact that ROI can be quite hard to measure in cybersecurity, particularly if reporting and analytics aren’t up to scratch.

 

Despite being aware of the threat, the vulnerability stats are still eye-wateringly high. This is partly because businesses lack the cybersecurity skills needed to prepare internally and partly because seeking those missing skills externally can be overwhelming. 

 

There is an ever-widening skills gap in cybersecurity makes it more challenging than ever for businesses to find the in-house resources they need to defend themselves.

 

However, there is one way in which businesses can beat the ‘resource crunch’ presented by the skills gap while also remedying their concerns around endless in-house investment. The answer lies in forming trusted risk management partnerships.

 

However, there is one way in which businesses can beat the ‘resource crunch’ presented by the skills gap while also remedying their concerns around endless in-house investment. The answer lies in forming trusted partnerships.

What are the benefits and risks of outsourcing the cybersecurity function?

There are numerous perks to developing trusted partnerships with security companies compared to maintaining this capability in-house. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Access to a bank of skilled, experienced, and specialist security professionals who would be otherwise hard to recruit, given the cybersecurity skills shortage.
  • Efficiency in mobilisation and a reduction in lengthy processes such as recruitment and on-boarding.
  • Access to security resources around the clock (dependent on the service), removing blockers on security experts only available during core business hours.
  • Independent validation of your cybersecurity posture from skilled professionals who are removed from the build, deployment, and operational management of your systems.
  • Access to advanced capabilities in threat detection, defensive technology suites, and practical knowledge that may otherwise require multiple internal resources.
  • A reduction in FTE overheads, compared to a team of full-time, permanent in-house resources whose skillset may not be required on a daily basis, e.g. cyber incident response.

Outsourcing cybersecurity: the key considerations

Though there are many benefits, securing the right cybersecurity risk management team is not straightforward. There are a number of considerations when considering outsourcing to assist with their security function efforts. Your values and understanding of these considerations must align. These may include:

  • Business objectives
  • Security requirements
  • Size and complexity of the business
  • Risk appetite
  • Resource availability
  • Exact business skills shortage
  • Volume and sensitivity of data held
  • Legal/regulatory requirements – security and compliance go hand-in-hand

 

You must also weigh up the increased risk to the supply chain created by giving a third-party access to highly privileged accounts and information. If compromised, this data would present a significant risk to the business. Conducting relevant due diligence and understanding the security posture of the outsourced company is, therefore, critical when considering outsourcing any security function.

 

Businesses also need to ensure that their security budgets are being stretched to their full capacity, something that’s very difficult to measure and balance internally. According to Gartner, global spending on cybersecurity products is increasing. In 2022, spending was $172.5 billion and is likely to continue growing at a CAGR of 11%. 

 

But what are the metrics to success when it comes to utilising these products? 

 

The good news is that there are many service providers with the flexibility, skills, experience, and specialist capability to offer organisations a significant and clear return on their investment by improving their security posture. 

 

Outsourcing cybersecurity to external professionals provides the risk and compliance management that businesses need, without the massive internal restructuring, re-budgeting, and investment that in-house cybersecurity teams require. At SureCloud, our Managed Programs can offer you exactly that.

Jake Bernardes, Head of Information Security at SingleStore and a SureCloud user, has commented on SureCloud’s Managed Programs, stating: “This is a brilliant product/service & represents real value to those of us running complex programs with small teams!”