Why You Can’t Ignore Managed Network Security in 2024

Ensuring your business network services are fast, efficient and protected from cybercriminals can be a Herculean task. The vast majority of companies soldier through with vulnerabilities that eventually invite cybercriminals to steal valuable digital assets and sensitive information. Even low-level hackers can sometimes bring major corporate systems to a screeching halt.

But doing business in the age of technology doesn’t have to be a matter of living with unnecessary risk. The emergence of comprehensive managed network security provides determined protection that includes real-time alerts and the ability to expel threat actors. If you — like many business leaders — have reservations about the ability of your current cybersecurity measures to identify and repel hackers, this information about managed network security could prove insightful.

What is Managed Network Security?

Managed network security services are typically an outsourced business necessity overseen by a firm that provides both IT and cybersecurity expertise. Often a scalable resource, this service helps fill a void for organizations that may not possess the in-house resources or personnel to create an overarching policy to protect valuable assets and sensitive information.

Outsourcing has emerged as a hot-trending solution in recent years. Globally, managed IT spending exceeded $169 billion in 2023, and that figure is expected to top $185 billion by year’s end. By 2028, the anticipated expenditures on these services will hover around $280 billion. It’s also important to keep in mind that managed IT and cybersecurity services were used by 37 percent of small businesses and 92 percent of G2000 corporations.

A managed IT firm with high-level experience providing cybersecurity can go one step further by hardening the defensive posture of a business network itself. This two-pronged approach to deterring hackers and insider threats is designed to prevent bad actors from seizing control or damaging the company’s fundamental digital infrastructure.

It’s not unusual for business decision-makers and third-party managed IT cybersecurity firms to broker an agreement that covers specific needs. These may include areas such as network management, cybersecurity monitoring, threat detection, IP filtering and crafting a companywide network security policy. Contracts usually fall into the monthly or annual nature, with the client able to increase or decrease services based on need.

What is a Managed Network Security Administrator?

While companies outsource services to a third-party firm at large, it’s not unusual for an individual to take the lead. Often referred to as the “managed network security administrator” or “network admin,” if you prefer brevity, the expert directly handles or oversees the business network, its protective measures and processes that help it function seamlessly.

Your managed network security administrator plays a critical role in designing and implementing cybersecurity policies that impact everyone in the organization. The network admin may first lead a risk assessment to determine inherent security vulnerabilities, infrastructure capabilities and the potential of an internal or external threat actor to breach or damage a company network. A company’s leadership team usually receives a report that includes security and network efficiency recommendations. Once a comprehensive policy has been established, the network admin goes to work implementing and overseeing best practices.

What Does a Managed Network Security Policy Include?

The value of a clear and concise managed network security policy cannot be understated. Designed to protect an operation’s digital infrastructure from internal and external threat actors, it helps keep an enterprise’s employees, supervisors and leadership on the same page. Companies that do not invest in a written policy run the risk of network users deviating from best practices and opening the door to cybercriminals. The document also accounts for business-specific needs, such as the following.

• Steps required to access the network.
• Placing network access limitations on users.
• Legal and regulatory compliance.

A sub-category of a network security policy may also speak to the organization’s methods for protecting specific information. Essentially, it reinforces the appropriate ways of storing and transmitting information.

Emerging Cybersecurity Threats Confronting Companies

Today’s business leaders exist in an environment fraught both with garden-variety hackers and advanced persistent threats, some state-sponsored, who would like nothing more than to breach your organization’s network. The new normal, where hard-working professionals must remain vigilant 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, applies equally to operations of all sizes and sectors.

One telling example involves the successful breach and overthrow of the MGM Resorts Internationals and Caesars’s Casino networks. Losses tallying in the hundreds of millions and stinging reputational damage were reportedly orchestrated by a rag-tag Gen Z group calling themselves Scattered Spiders. Although relatively young, the seemingly low-level hackers managed to pool their modest skills and purchase malware from a major threat actor.

After hoodwinking a helpdesk employee and flooding a legitimate user with access requests, they effectively sent the multi-national corporations back to the age of pens and clipboards. The ransomware attack that shuttered the organizations’ network has become something of a teachable moment. If relatively unskilled miscreants can level that kind of damage, imagine what a sophisticated hacking operation could do to your business. That being said, these rank among the cyber threats facing industry leaders going forward.

• Ransomware: A ransomware attack essentially freezes an entire network and blocks legitimate users from access. Then, cybercriminals typically ask for significant sums of money — usually cryptocurrency — to restore access. It’s not unusual for hackers to copy or steal digital assets and sell them on the dark web, even if they receive payment. In some cases, networks are left badly damaged. Such was the case in Las Vegas when Scattered Spiders crippled MGM and Caesar’s.
• Next-Gen Phishing: Phishing schemes have evolved in recent years. Hackers who target companies tend to conduct significant due diligence called “social engineering.” This term speaks to digital thieves accumulating personal information from professional platforms and social media, among others. The intel is used to craft persuasive emails and other electronic messages to illicit a response or trick an employee into making a mistake. Now comes AI tools such as ChatGPT that can reduce the amount of time and energy hackers would otherwise use to build a profile. Not only does Generative AI make it easier for hackers to put a professional in their sights, but they can also cast a wider net effortlessly.
• IoT Attacks: The seemingly neat devices people use to count steps and measure cardio are often synced with phones, laptops and other devices. These, in turn, are tied to business networks in many cases. You can see where this is going. Vulnerable IoT devices serve as a backdoor for hackers to waltz into a corporate network.
• Supply Chain Attacks: Highly skilled cybercriminals have learned that patience is a virtue, and a supply chain attack can pay dividends. The strategy involves injecting malware into software at a juncture in the supply chain. The idea is that electronic messaging, file sharing and even embedding malicious code in a software update will spread like wildfire. Once hundreds or thousands of networks have been affected, cybercriminals go to work harvesting companies like fields of grain. What’s particularly concerning about these attacks is that the hacker may never have known about your business in the first place. Your network is just costly collateral damage in the big scheme of things.

Despite efforts by companies to curb the threat of cyberattacks, the trend is not moving in a favorable direction. The cost of data breaches, particularly those that give hackers carte blanche to entire networks, has risen every year since 2012. Cybercrime is expected to cost American companies upwards of $452 billion by year’s end. In three years, that figure could exceed $1 trillion.

Sadly, that’s not the greatest fear industry leaders fear. With three out of every four organizations vulnerable to cyber-attacks, reputational damage is the greatest risk. Data from a cybersecurity survey that polled members of various boards of directors indicated that 48 percent were concerned about the brand’s reputation. Approximately 39 percent worried about downtime, followed by loss of customers (38 percent), business valuation (38 percent) and operational disruption (33 percent). The hit to revenue only ranked fifth at 29 percent.

As a decision-maker, it may be prudent to mull over the fact that $452 billion in national losses and close to $10 million per data breach is less concerning than a tarnished reputation and other setbacks. Given the criminal schemes and the number of digital break-ins continue to increase year-over-year, it’s time to take your cybersecurity posture to the next level. Adopting managed network security can make the difference between being another statistic and a thriving, profitable company.

Benefits of Managed Network Security

It’s not difficult to recognize the need for enhanced managed IT and cybersecurity measures in a risk-filled digital landscape. For every singular defense cybersecurity experts craft, hackers think up a workaround. The comprehensive managed network security approach delivers blanket protections in which the parts are greater than the whole. These are the benefits organizations gain by working with a third party managed IT cybersecurity firm to implement and maintain their network security.

• Expertise: One hard truth about the current cybersecurity and business environment is the fact we are experiencing a shortage of trained, experienced security professionals. The people at managed IT firms with cybersecurity expertise focus exclusively on these issues. They stay abreast of emerging schemes and prepare to fight back and protect clients’ systems.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Even if an operation could staff enough skilled people to stand watch over a network 24/7, the cost would be prohibitive. A managed IT security firm brings a staff of certified and field-tested network cybersecurity professionals into the equation at a scalable rate. Therefore, outsourcing delivers tremendous value.
• Vigilance: Organizations of all sizes and types desperately need real-time cybersecurity detection. Once hackers breach a network, they can run roughshod over your valuable and sensitive digital assets. Early warning alerts and in-the-moment threat responses can mean the difference between hackers being expelled or taking control of the entire digital infrastructure.
• Threat Hunting: There’s a familiar image surrounding 24/7 cybersecurity that a digital guardian is standing watch. In the case of managed network security, firms prefer to go on the offensive. Rather than wait for integrated AI or machine learning tools to trigger an alert, experts initiate threat-hunting protocols. In other words, we typically root them out before they even get started.
• Culture: Having a third-party managed network security partner helps organizations improve their cybersecurity awareness culture. Once the leadership team approves its security policy, the network admin can go to work looping staff members and key stakeholders into its best practices. This process organically builds a workforce that understands the importance of defending the network. It also means otherwise vulnerable employees now become the operation’s frontline of defense.
• Compliance: It may come as something of a surprise, but onboarding managed network security services usually covers state, national and international data protection regulations. The network security policy can be tailored to meet or exceed mandates such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that applies to many U.S. companies, and the fast-emerging state laws that apply to businesses throughout the country.

Before comprehensive managed network security services can be integrated, it’s essential to have a thorough risk assessment performed. Security measures such as firewalls, anti-virus software, login protocols, endpoint devices and other things that make up the “attack surface” must be rigorously tested for vulnerabilities. Company leaders receive a detailed risk assessment report highlighting weaknesses and recommending solutions. Then, the yeoman’s work of creating a policy and implementing managed network security strategies that keep an operation productive and secure begins.

Contact Red River for a Managed Network Security Consultation

The managed IT and cybersecurity experts at Red River help growing companies protect their networks from intruders and maximize efficiency. If you are concerned about the monetary losses, downtime and reputational damage that come with being under-protected, call us today or fill out our online contact form. Let’s get the process started!