Stephen Kreusch, Performanta.

Are you considering engaging a managed security service provider (MSSP) to improve the security posture of your business? If so, you're not alone. Transparency Market Research predicts that the global MSSP market will generate revenue of $53.2 billion by the end of 2031 and, according to Gartner, MSSPs can help organisations reduce the risk of a data breach by up to 50%.

“Today’s agile working environment means the traditional security perimeter is no longer a fixed boundary, which means companies may now have critical security gaps in their infrastructure,” says Bertrandt Delport, BT South Africa’s country manager. “Most organisations are focused on commodity-type security solutions, things like antivirus and firewalls, but these days, increasingly, we see organisations going out and requesting services on the managed detection and response side,” says Stephen Kreusch, a cybersecurity director at Performanta. Performanta recently ranked 28 globally in MSSP Alert’s Top 250 MSSPs for 2023 list. “We’ve seen a steady increase in ransomware incident response engagements, catching many organisations unprepared. However, those that have implemented more advanced endpoint detection and response technology like Microsoft Defender for Endpoint or CrowdStrike Falcon, along with utilising MSSPs for 24/7 incident monitoring and response, are better equipped to contain and mitigate the damage caused by ransomware.” Kreusch says that many of the attacks today require an advanced skill level that goes beyond normal security product administration “because you need people who can understand attacks and know what to look for and can drill into what actually happened”.