Managed service providers (MSPs) are struggling to contend with rampant cyber security skills shortages, according to a new study by IT security firm Sophos.
Human staff, Sophos said, “remain central” to effective cyber security, with skilled professionals necessary to “configure, deploy, manage, respond to, and update technology solutions”.
The long-standing cyber security skills shortage is hampering MSPs' ability to effectively perform their role supporting clients, the study noted.
“The shortage of skilled professionals is well-known, and organizations are increasingly turning to MSPs to fill the gaps, exacerbating the challenge,” the report stated. “Technology alone cannot automatically stop every cyber threat”.
Reflecting this problematic shortage of in-house cyber security skills, the report stated that 66% of MSPs use a third-party vendor to deliver managed detection and response (MDR) services.
On top of that, a further 15% deliver MDR services as a joint effort, through a combination of their own security operations center (SOC) and a third-party vendor.
MSPs indicated that hiring new cyber security analysts to keep pace with customer growth and the latest cyber threats was a considerable challenge. The survey revealed that 34% of MSPs that provide an MDR service have an in-house SOC which, in turn, necessitates in-house specialist analysts.
The pace of technology is an issue for MSPs
Keeping pace with the latest cyber security solutions and technologies was also a key issue, cited as the single biggest challenge facing MSPs by 39% of respondents involved in the survey.
“Given the speed of innovation in this space, it is unsurprising that many MSPs are struggling to keep up. As threats evolve, so do the cyber controls that stop them,” the report stated.
There are difficulties in the provision of cyber security vendors as well, as the study revealed that over half (53%) of MSPs work with just one or two cyber security vendors, while 83% use between one and five.
According to Sophos, MSPs estimate a reduction of 48% in their day-to-day management time where they are able to manage all their cyber security tools from a single platform.
RELATED WHITEPAPER
Other challenges facing MSPs included providing out-of-house coverage, such as on the weekends or during holidays, and winning over new customers.
“The speed of innovation across the cybersecurity battleground means it’s harder than ever for MSPs to keep up with threats and the cyber controls designed to stop them,” Scott Barlow, vice president of MSP at Sophos, said.
“When you couple this with a global skills shortage, which has made it infinitely more difficult for many MSPs to attract and retain cybersecurity analyst resources, it's unsurprising that MSPs feel unable to keep pace with the changing threat landscape,” he added.
-
Enterprises face delicate balancing act with data center sustainability goalsNews High energy consumption, raw material requirements, and physical space constraints are holding back data center sustainability efforts, according to new research from Seagate.
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolenNews Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
-
96% of SMBs are missing critical cybersecurity skills – here's whyNews The skills shortage hits SMBs worse as they often suffer from a lack of budget and resources
-
Sophos Firewall Virtual review: Affordable network protection for those that like it virtualizedReviews Extreme network security that's cheaper than a hardware appliance and just as easy to deploy
-
Nearly 70 software vendors sign up to CISA’s cyber resilience programNews Major software manufacturers pledge to a voluntary framework aimed at boosting cyber resilience of customers across the US
-
Sophos and Tenable team up to launch new managed risk serviceNews The new fully managed service aims to help organizations manage and protect external attack surfaces
-
Ransomware groups are using media coverage to coerce victims into payingNews Threat actors are starting to see the benefits of a more sophisticated media strategy for extracting ransoms
-
Shrinking cyber attack “dwell times” highlight growing war of attrition with threat actorsNews While teams are becoming more proficient at detecting threats, attackers are augmenting their strategies
-
Cyber security in the retail sectorWhitepapers Retailers need to ensure their business operations and internal data aren't breached
-
Cyber security in manufacturingWhitepaper The increasing cost of cyber crime means manufacturers need to adapt
