The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been tremendous. There have been changes to how we work and communicate, the technologies we use, and most especially our cybersecurity plans. Business workflows are now remote and unfortunately, everyone is less secure. For most organizations in Nigeria, remote work is an uncharted terrain and as such a shift to a model that enables organizations to dynamically maintain security is needed. Organizations must put measures in place to ensure adequate security while working from home. Some measures to this include:

• Distributed Risk Management: With the likelihood of long-term remote work, organizations must prepare for the increased risk that comes with the use of more platforms. With humans as the weakest link in managing cybersecurity risks, organizations are charged with properly engaging and training employees to ensure that threats inherent in distributed infrastructure are reduced.

• Vetting Cloud Platforms: With the sudden transition to remote working, Software-as-a-Service tools, Virtual Private Networks, and other cloud services are been utilized more. However, the COVID-19 crises have shortened the time frame for deployment in enterprise environments with the security vetting process being undercut. Current trends indicate that cybercriminals are shifting their focus to cloud infrastructure as the number of users for certain enterprise apps have grown. Organizations must now properly vet and secure their cloud infrastructure.

• Ensuring Security Readiness: Organizations must perform a Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Audit to determine their security posture and mitigate against the risks identified. Organizations must have a Cybersecurity Response Plan ready. The plan must detail actions internal teams are to take once an attack has been determined to be happening to quickly remediate the situation.

Implementing these measures can be resource intensive. It involves considerable time, human resources, and financial commitments. An alternative path to securing your organization is by employing the services of a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) such as Mitiget. MSSPs are third-party vendors who specialize in helping organizations with monitoring security events and related tasks remotely. With services including threat hunting, network threat detection, incident response, security device management, vulnerability and risk management, compliance management, security analysis, and reporting, the risk of outsourcing security services is lower than the threat of facing the rapidly changing cyber-attacks techniques employed by cybercriminals.

Leveraging an MSSP allows your organization to gain access to qualified personnel and advanced tools and technologies many of which might not be at the disposal of your organization. This will enable your business to better protected from cyber risk. Employing the services of an MSSP will also help to reduce the cost of implementing a cybersecurity policy that follows best practices.  Costs associated with maintaining cybersecurity include acquiring security infrastructure and training security professionals to manage the infrastructure and to keep up with the ever-evolving capabilities in the cybersecurity field. MSSPs take this cost away by having the infrastructure and manpower to serve the needs of multiple clients. The cost of capital is spread across clients and eventually, each only pays a fraction of the cost.

When choosing an MSSP you must validate their capabilities and expertise. You must ensure the services offered to you match your needs. You should opt for customized services to address the specific needs of your organization. The MSSP should have experience running remote SOCs. Sign formal Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that will be followed by both parties. The SLAs should define terms and contract termination conditions.

Mitiget offers Managed Security Services and is ready to help you attain the level of cyber protection required to successfully run your business and give the level of trust required by your clients as to how safe their data is with you.