Sophos, a global leader in innovative security solutions to stop cyber attacks, today released its inaugural “MSP Perspectives 2024” research report, which reveals that the biggest day-to-day challenge facing managed service providers (MSPs) is keeping up with the latest cybersecurity solutions and technologies, cited by 39% of MSPs surveyed. In addition to this, MSPs said that hiring new cybersecurity analysts to keep up with growing customer base and keep up with the latest cyberthreats is also a top challenge.
The survey also revealed that MSPs identify a lack of in-house cybersecurity skills as the biggest cybersecurity risk for both their own organizations and their client organizations. MSPs also identify stolen access data and credentials, and unpatched vulnerabilities as the biggest security risks for their customers. The latest State of Ransomware 2024 report found that nearly one-third (29%) of ransomware attacks start with compromised credentials, indicating this entry vector is widespread.
“The speed of innovation on the cybersecurity battlefield means it's harder than ever for MSPs to keep up with threats and the cyber controls to stop them. When you add to this a global skills shortage that makes it extremely difficult for many MSPs to attract and retain cybersecurity analyst talent, it's no wonder MSPs feel like they can't keep up with the changing threat landscape,” said Scott Barlow, vice president of MSP at Sophos. “All of this is further complicated by the need for 24/7 response, as outlined in our 2023 Active Adversary report for Tech Leaders, which found that 91% of ransomware attacks now occur outside of business hours.”
This complex threat landscape is driving demand for managed detection and response (MDR) services that provide constant response. Currently, 81% of MSPs offer MDR services, and nearly all (97%) MSPs that don't currently offer MDR plan to add it to their portfolio in the next few years.
Reflecting the shortage of in-house cybersecurity skills, 66% of MSPs use a third-party vendor to deliver MDR services, and an additional 15% use a third-party vendor in conjunction with their own SOC. High on the list of must-have features for a third-party MDR provider is the ability to offer 24/7 incident response services.
MSPs are also streamlining their cybersecurity partnerships by working with fewer vendors. The survey found that more than half of MSPs (53%) work with only one or two cybersecurity vendors, while 83% work with one to five. Given the effort and overhead of running multiple platforms, MSPs estimate they could reduce day-to-day management time by 48% if they could manage all their cybersecurity tools from a single platform.
Other interesting findings from the report include:
- 99% of MSPs report an increase in demand for cyber insurance-related support, with the most common requests including clients wanting to implement MDR services to improve insurability (47%) or receive assistance with completing insurance claims (45%).
- MSPs want flexibility from their MDR providers, with 71% saying it is “essential or very important” that their vendor can use telemetry from existing security tools to detect and respond to threats.
- US MSPs lead the way in offering MDR services, with nearly all (94%) already offering MDR, compared to 70% in Germany, 62% in the UK, and 58% in Australia.
“MSPs have a big role to play in protecting their customers from rapidly changing adversaries, but if they can find the right security setup, they have a huge opportunity to grow their business and profitability. Data shows that MSPs are strengthening their propositions and reducing expenses by consolidating the platforms they use and partnering with third-party MDR vendors to expand their service offerings. As they consider building their security offerings of the future, they should prioritize vendors that can deliver a complete portfolio of best-in-class, fully managed security services and solutions,” continues Barlow.
Data for the MSP Perspectives 2024 report comes from a vendor-neutral survey of 350 MSPs across the US (200), UK (50), Germany (50) and Australia (50). The survey was commissioned by Sophos and conducted by research firm Vanson Bourne in March 2024.
For global findings and sector-specific data, read the MSP Perspectives 2024 report on Sophos.com.
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About Sophos
Sophos is a global leader and innovator of advanced security solutions that stop cyberattacks, including managed detection and response (MDR) and incident response services, and a broad portfolio of endpoint, network, email, and cloud security technologies. As one of the largest pure-play cybersecurity providers, Sophos protects more than 600,000 organizations and over 100 million users worldwide from active adversaries, ransomware, phishing, malware, and more. Sophos services and products are connected through the Sophos Central management console and run by the company's cross-domain threat intelligence unit, Sophos X-Ops. Sophos X-Ops intelligence optimizes the entire Sophos Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, including a centralized data lake that leverages a rich set of open APIs available to customers, partners, developers, and other cybersecurity and information technology vendors. Sophos offers cybersecurity as a service to organizations that require a fully managed security solution. Customers can manage their cybersecurity directly with Sophos' Security Operations Platform, or use a hybrid approach that complements in-house teams with Sophos services, such as threat hunting and remediation. Sophos sells through reseller partners and managed service providers (MSPs) worldwide. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, UK. For more information, visit www.sophos.com.
