Managed Security Archives

Cyber Threat Intelligence Solutions in 2021: Four Must-Have Features

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Cyber security solutions provide businesses with critical context on network vulnerabilities and the threat actors that are looking to attack them. This helps companies be extremely proactive in identifying and responding to threats. However, not all threat intelligence solutions are created equal. While all such tools offer the core feature of basic data about threats, they vary significantly in the extent and methods they provide situational, operational, and actionable intelligence.

In this post, we are discussing what you need to look for when choosing cyber security solutions within the ever-evolving landscape of threat intelligence in 2021.

Key Features of High-Quality Cyber Security Solutions

1. Investigations Powered by Scalable Artificial Intelligence

As existing threats evolve and new ones appear at an alarming rate – partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic – it has become impossible for security teams to manually tackle the huge amount of data, in order to recognize potential threats.

Considering the vast range of threats facing governments and organizations today, threat identification techniques and tools can no longer be manual – they have to be AI-based. A web-based intelligence tool powered by AI can access all the nooks and crannies of the internet and pinpoint pertinent threats automatically. It can alert security teams to the threats with the highest risk first by generating critical threat feeds.

Your business may face numerous threats at any moment. The more challenging part is that those threats tend to change continuously with new ones emerging all the time. This is why cyber security solutions must deliver threat data and assist teams in utilizing it in an automated manner. They must include malware assessment tools to help spot relevant threats automatically.

To make access to new threat data easier for stakeholders, threat feeds are also crucial. Also, engineers can calculate which threats pose the most risk thanks to the automated patch prioritization recommendations.

2. Real-Time Information And Alerts

Whether you are a national law enforcement agency or a corporation, the cyber threat solutions you choose must be able to respond to threats and vulnerabilities before they become full-blown breakdowns and breaches. To achieve this, the platform must send you alerts in real-time. When a threat to your cybersecurity presents itself, time is of the essence. Receiving detailed, real-time reporting on these threats can help arm you with key information needed to respond appropriately.

Of course, historical threat intelligence is important to help provide insights and recognize patterns, but only real-time alerts can help you accomplish maximum security.

3. Dark Web Monitoring

The Dark Web is a haven for cybercriminals. Your threat intelligence software should be able to monitor the web, dark web, and deep web in order to discover threats before they attempt to cripple your systems. This level of web monitoring includes anything from hackers’ forums to black-market listings (displaying personal information of your customers) and more.

4. Automated Takedown

Some of the most reliable and proven threat intelligence tools today reduce the time it takes to alleviate risk by taking the compromised web page down automatically, without waiting for intervention from human security experts.

24x7x365 Cyber Threat Solutions – Automate Your Response to Threats

VPLS provides the specialized threat intelligence solutions you need to overcome your most complex security challenges today. Our security consultants can help protect your business from costly data breaches and loss via a cohesive strategy of threat mitigation, data protection, and security assessments.

Leave a message here to set up a consultation today.

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What are Managed SOC Service Best Practices

Blog Post / By VPLS Marketing Team

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Security operations centers (SOC), via a managed SOC service, provide managed cybersecurity monitoring and responses for businesses all over the globe. SOCs were created with the goal of monitoring and improving an organization’s security posture. This is done by employing people, processes, and technology to continuously monitor anything that may pose a threat while preventing or countering these threats as they occur.

In addition, SOC teams are tasked with analyzing any incidents that do happen to determine what caused them so they can be stopped before it affects other parts of the company. The managed SOC service is one of the most cost-effective ways for organizations to protect their networks against advanced threats such as phishing attacks or malware infections.

In this blog post, we will discuss managed SOC best practices including what they are and how they can help your business.

What Does a Managed SOC Service Comprise of, And Why Do You Need It?

A managed SOC service is made of subscriptions or software-based solutions that monitor your business’s devices, clouds, logs, and network resources. Think of a SOC service as the digital equivalent of hiring a full-scale security guard team for a brick-and-mortar business. With this service, you can utilize both cutting-edge tools and the extensive experience and expertise of your service provider to get the best results.

A managed SOC service is only effective if your organization has an ongoing commitment, including regular consultations and analysis. Be sure to have this service available on call 24/7 so the provider can work proactively with you when needed, rather than reactively in response. It’s also important for both parties to agree on what constitutes “normal” traffic activities versus malicious or suspicious activity that needs attention.

Following these steps will ensure there are no false positives found by the managed SOC services team as it monitors your network resources and devices. If the said team is not providing their services correctly, then the potential benefits may be limited due to missed threats from attacks that would otherwise be mitigated through careful monitoring and high-quality service.

What Are Some Benefits of a Managed SOC Service?

One huge problem with not implementing a managed SOC service is trying to balance how much data there is! A managed SOC team has access to vast amounts of notifications, alerts, and other data that may not be relevant to the customer. A team comprised of experts will understand how to evaluate such data for relevancy and ensure that the data that is most relevant to your customers and business is well protected.

One of the main benefits of SOC services is that they help reduce false positives by identifying malicious or suspicious activity that needs attention versus “normal” traffic activities. This will also ensure there are no missed threats from attacks since SOC services will monitor your network resources and devices. All bases are covered because the risk of missed threats can cripple a business or even shut it down.

A Managed SOC Service Provides Unique Protection Against Cyber Attacks

Another benefit of a managed SOC service team is its ability to protect against cyberattacks. Said team can particularly benefit organizations with protection like spam filtering, intrusion detection systems (IDS), antivirus software, and firewalls. A SOC also works with backup power generators for computer centers and secure authentication protocols such as two-factor authentication (e.g., via text messages).

A managed SOC service team is typically composed of a threat intelligence analyst who researches the latest cyber threats. The team will also have network engineers who implement new defenses and identify weaknesses in existing ones. Incident responders on the team will take appropriate actions when attacks are detected. Forensic analysts specializing in digital evidence gathering from computer systems, as well as skilled reverse-engineers, will be tasked with understanding any malicious code at its core.

Contact VPLS Today for Our Managed SOC Services

The combination of all of these security protocols is what makes managed SOC service from VPLS the best choice for businesses worldwide. VPLS has worked with thousands of global clients over the past 20+ years and stays ahead of the curve when it comes to cybersecurity best practices. We help build customized security solutions and protocols just for you, leveraging extensive experience and some of the best cybersecurity tools on the market.

If your business is in the need of any managed SOC solutions, don’t hesitate to contact us to speak with our sales team.

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Why You Need Managed Security Services

Blog Post / By VPLS Marketing Team

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Managed security services providers are playing a critical role for enterprises of all sizes today. The market for managed IT is growing at a rapid pace and is estimated to continue on an upwards trajectory. When it comes to modern tech solutions for companies, cybersecurity has become one of the most critical.

If you’re wondering why you should embrace third-party managed security services providers (MSSPs), this post is for you. MSSPs provide a wide range of security management services to organizations and institutions across all industries.

Benefits of Working with Managed Security Services Providers

Access to Specialized Staff

If you are a small or mid-sized company, you may not have the money to fund a highly-trained, full-time cyber security professional or team. Thankfully, a reliable and proven managed security service provider will fill this gap.

MSSPs hire their own certified staff and do everything they can to stay on top of the constantly evolving cyber threats. These experts operate out of a security operations facility that runs 24x7x365. They will support your existing departments (instead of replacing them) by utilizing the most up-to-the-minute threat intelligence capabilities and technologies.

Evaluation of Vulnerabilities

When you start working with managed security services providers, they start by performing a thorough audit of your existing security measures. They will evaluate your company through scanning tools and staff interviews, identifying potential vulnerabilities with your public-facing and internal networks.

Once identified, they will make recommendations and create a robust strategy to address those concerns. Depending on the MSSP you’re working with, this strategy may include follow-up scans and checks to protect your network going forward once all the holes have been mended.

Access to the Most Up-To-Date Resources

Since MSSPs specialize in cyber security, they will have the most modern and relevant resources at their fingertips, including the latest incident response techniques, infrastructure, and technologies. Some managed security services providers also deliver constant or frequent vulnerability management, intrusion detection, systems scanning, compliance testing, and advanced monitoring.

The good news is, you don’t have to purchase all these capabilities; outsourcing it all to an MSSP will remove the stress of employing security personnel and researching, obtaining, implementing, and maintaining software and equipment.

Minimize Costs

Hiring cybersecurity experts, especially an entire team, is not cheap. With an average salary of $100,000, cybersecurity experts are some of the highest-paid professionals today. Hiring a whole team can set you back a significant sum of money.

On the other hand, with managed security services providers, you still get a team of pros who are dedicated to their specialized roles. However, you don’t have to pay them a full-time salary. If you want to scale up the capabilities of your security team but don’t have the budget to hire an in-house cybersecurity engineer, MSSPs are an excellent option.

Industry-Leading Managed Security Services

VPLS’s cybersecurity services are designed to protect your customers and fortify your business. Our team of certified engineers provides customized solutions that cover your entire security lifecycle. Whether you are struggling with cyber-attack protection, general infrastructure security, identity, and access management, or you need a brand-new compliance system and risk management, VPLS can help.

Allow us to proactively prevent data breaches and downtime to defend your sensitive data with top expertise and cutting-edge tools. Fill out this contact form to learn more about our managed security services.

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What to Look For in a Managed Enterprise Cloud Service

Blog Post / By VPLS Marketing Team

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Many organizations that have moved to the cloud and managed enterprise cloud services have grown in demand because of it. And when you look at just what a managed enterprise cloud service can do, it’s easy to see why.

Managed enterprise cloud services are designed for businesses that need reliability, scalability, and security. Cloud migration is an important step in a company’s digital transformation journey and, with the right service, it will help your business save money on IT costs over time.

But you shouldn’t just choose any service provider, which is why we have compiled important information below for you to keep in mind when looking for managed enterprise cloud services.

What to Look For When Choosing a Managed Enterprise Cloud Service

When searching for the best service, some questions you should keep in mind include:

Manage Your Data Safely on Your Own Server With Remote Access Capabilities

Employees at any level may need remote access capabilities when they are not working from the office, traveling frequently, or managing multiple offsite locations. A managed enterprise cloud service can provide this ability. Migrating from older legacy systems onto a new or fresh system is easier with the help of an experienced company like VPLS, and it’ll save you money in the long term as well!

The transition should be painless because these experts have extensive experience migrating customers’ entire IT infrastructures over time with minimal delays or interruptions. Your service provider needs to offer the tools you need to access your cloud storage painlessly and ensure your data is secure.

Managed Enterprise Cloud Services Are Customizable

Cloud data and storage can vary widely when it comes to size and server capability needs. This is why customizable service solutions are so important. Managed enterprise cloud services from VPLS offer a range of options for all types of businesses. As a business owner or manager, it’s important to find out how much you’ll be paying before committing to a service provider so that your budget can accommodate the costs.

Custom solutions can be much more cost-effective in scope because there are no service scope gaps due to size. For example, if you are an enterprise business, the demands on your cloud migration and storage will be much greater than a small or mid-sized business. Some service providers operate under a one-size-fits-all service model, which can cause many of these gaps.

Why VPLS is the Go-To Provider For Managed Enterprise Cloud Services

Providers like VPLS, however, ensure that the service you get is the service that’s built best to suit your specific business. The tremendous value in this customization and personalization of services cannot be understated. It is essential in a business’s long-term success with cloud data storage.

VPLS offers diverse services for different industries, including banking and finance, healthcare, retail, and other sectors. Managers in any industry will want to make sure their provider has the necessary specialization and expertise needed for today’s complex business climate.

A VPLS managed enterprise cloud service offers businesses a way to outsource data storage and management. This is often more cost-effective for larger companies, which have the budgets necessary to hire full-time staff dedicated to this task. It’s also highly beneficial for small and mid-sized businesses who may not need a lot of data storage, but don’t have the time or resources to manage the cloud themselves.

The benefits of hiring a service for this are numerous. For one thing, it frees up valuables time and resources that could otherwise be spent on your mission-critical daily operations. Secondly, managed services can make company processes run much smoother than they might on their own without top-level supervision from experienced professionals.

The risks of ignoring the true demand for service and monitoring that cloud storage requires are simply too high to not look into managed enterprise cloud services. Ultimately, a managed enterprise cloud service provider like VPLS will also increase overall productivity, making your business stronger over time when you use them effectively!

Get in Touch With VPLS Today!

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Contact us HERE to learn more. We are happy to provide a quote for our services as well as schedule time for either an informational meeting or discovery call.

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Managed IT Infrastructure: 4 Biggest IT Challenges Most Startups Encounter

Blog Post / By VPLS Marketing Team

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Starting a new business venture is both thrilling and challenging. If you are a complete newbie in the business world, starting and running a company can be overwhelming. Startups today face multiple challenges across all business functions including technology, customer service, accounting, HR, sales, and marketing. . If you want to boost your business’ productivity and increase your efficiency, you have to know about the common managed IT infrastructure challenges faced by startups and how to overcome them.

Since people and businesses alike are extremely reliant on technology, it’s one aspect that impacts almost all business functions. After all, technology covers telecommunication, websites, mobile applications, information technology (IT), hardware, and software.

1. Staying on Top of The Latest Technology

Technology is ever-evolving by nature which makes it a huge challenge for startups to stay updated with every innovation regarding their managed IT infrastructure.

Invest in technology solutions that not only serve your long-term and short-term needs, but are also easy to scale and upgrade. This will help a lot when your business starts expanding and you need better tech solutions and the latest tech stack.

2. Choosing The Right Managed IT Infrastructure Software Tools

When you have access to the right set of software tools, it greatly enhances the efficiency of business functions like customer support and marketing. But picking the software that’s best for your unique business needs can be tricky.

There are a variety of software tools available today that can help your startup increase its productivity and efficiency. These include:

Instead of purchasing ready-made software – that assumes all businesses have the same needs, which is obviously not true – consider going for customized software solutions.

3. Choosing The Right Hardware

One of the biggest managed IT infrastructure issues startups face is deciding whether they should lease or purchase hardware. Then there’s the matter of picking the best configuration of hardware and manufacturer to suit your specific needs.

If you’re struggling with the same, think about your budget as well as working conditions. For example, if budget is not an issue and you also want your employees to be able to work remotely, you may want to invest in laptops instead of desktop computers. But if working on-site is important to you, desktops will be the better choice.

As for servers, the majority of startups can’t afford to maintain and run servers on their own premises. This is where managed IT infrastructure and cloud hosting solutions come in handy.

4. Ensuring Data Security

Regardless of which industry you are in, information is one of your most valuable resources in the current business world. As a startup, you should be always prepared to address cyber threats and eliminate data breaches before significant harm occurs.

Hackers today are highly sophisticated which means they can and will take advantage of even the smallest cracks in your organization’s managed IT infrastructure and security system. Be very careful when choosing data protection, backup, and recovery solutions for your business – your company’s reputation and lifespan may depend on it.

Contact us to Know More About Cutting Edge Managed IT Infrastructure Solutions

Why hire an in-house team of IT professionals when you can outsource all your IT needs – including cybersecurity, infrastructure maintenance, and strategic roadmap planning – and save considerable time and resources? VPLS has provided state-of-the-art managed IT infrastructure services for businesses and startups since 1998.

Complete this online form to get in touch with us today.

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How to Optimize Your Enterprise With a Managed Network Service Provider

Blog Post / By VPLS Marketing Team

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The managed network service provider market is booming. Each year, more and more organizations are looking for managed IT services to take the burden off their own team and increase efficiency. With managed IT services, you can be confident that your business will not suffer from downtime or security breaches. But how do you know which is the best managed network service provider to choose for you? In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits of managed networking and outline some factors to consider when choosing a managed network service provider for your enterprise business.

The Benefits of Hiring a Managed Network Service Provider

A managed network service provider can help save your business from costly time loss, network failures, and even hardware failures. From an enterprise business standpoint, this avoiding this risk can save millions of dollars over time. With managed IT services, you don’t have to worry about the intricacies and complexities of managing a large team for support either.

Choosing a managed network service provider can be complicated if you’re unprepared, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some factors that you should consider when choosing a managed network service provider for your enterprise business:

Size of the managed IT services company

Smaller networks often need less support and attention than larger ones. When determining your needs, take into account the size of the managed IT services company and what they offer. Large providers, like VPLS, will offer solutions for companies of all sizes. Some smaller managed network service providers, however, are not equipped to handle enterprise needs or timeframes.

Price

How much are you willing to pay for managed IT service? The value of the service is highly dependent on the cost-effectiveness of what they provide you. Overpaying or cost-cutting can lead to inefficient execution, which is ultimately counter-intuitive to the purpose of the service.

Geographic location and time zone

Does your team work in different parts of the world in varying time zones, or a single office location? A good enterprise managed network service provider can ensure that all employees have access to their data, regardless of where they are located.

IT team size

The managed network service provider should be able to scale their services to your company’s needs, regardless of size.

How to Optimize Your Enterprise Business at Scale

An enterprise business has a lot of moving pieces and therefore requires a scalable, adaptable managed network service provider. A top managed network service provider can provide managed PCs, server rollouts, network upgrades, or all of the above at volume. The ability to scale up or down with speed, efficiency, and risk mitigation is what adds the most value in the enterprise space.

Enterprise-focused managed network service providers will also monitor your environment to ensure optimal network performance and seamless workflow. The best managed IT service providers have teams of experts with advanced experience in an array of technologies and processes which they can leverage for optimization at nearly any scale.

The best managed IT providers will optimize your network environment with efficiency and cost-effectiveness at top of mind. They’ll work to ensure that you have the right team in place for any size project or need. Whether it’s a full overhaul or a systems upgrade, your managed network service provider will be up to the task with precision.

Why VPLS is the Best in Managed Network Service Provider Solutions

VPLS is a veritable one-stop shop when it comes to optimizing your enterprise with a managed network service provider. VPLS has been a worldwide leader in dedicated managed IT services for nearly 25 years, currently hosting 68,750 servers and well over 5 million websites. In addition to being cloud and managed services experts, VPLS is also a national provider in internet infrastructure in 18 strategic markets worldwide. Additionally, VPLS has built a client base of 7,340 businesses, each with different needs, goals, and project scopes. Whether you’re looking to optimize your enterprise business for the future, or starting from scratch, VPLS has you covered.

To request a quote, schedule a meeting, schedule a discovery call, or speak to our sales team, please contact us at [email protected], or give us a call at (888) 365-2656.

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Top Exploited Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities of 2020 and 2021 (So Far)

Blog Post / By John Headley

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The top cybersecurity vulnerabilities of 2020 and 2021, which are being routinely exploited by malicious actors, have been compiled into a list via a joint effort by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

A majority of the most targeted vulnerabilities in both 2020 and 2021 affect remote work, VPNs, or cloud-based technologies. This includes giants such as Microsoft (Windows, Exchange, SharePoint), Fortinet (FortiGate), and VMware (vCenter Server).

Note as you review the list below that many of the top exploited vulnerabilities were vulnerabilities discovered years before. This is a red flag that a lot of organizations do not have a vulnerability management process, which is something we will discuss later in the post.

The List

Top Routinely Exploited CVEs in 2020

Vendor	Product	CVE	Severity	CVSSv3 Score
Atlassian	Crowd and Crowd Data Center	CVE-2019-11580	Critical	9.8
Citrix	Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway	CVE-2019-19781	Critical	9.8
Drupal	Drupal	CVE-2018-7600	Critical	9.8
F5	BIG-IP	CVE-2020-5902	Critical	9.8
Fortinet	FortiGate	CVE-2018-13379	Critical	9.8
Microsoft	Microsoft Office	CVE-2017-11882	High	7.8
Microsoft	SharePoint	CVE-2019-0604	Critical	9.8
Microsoft	Windows	CVE-2020-0787	High	7.8
Microsoft	Windows Server	CVE-2020-1472	Critical	10
MobileIron	Core & Connector	CVE-2020-15505	Critical	9.8
Pulse Secure	Pulse Connect Secure (PCS)	CVE-2019-11510	Critical	10
Telerik	Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX	CVE-2019-18935	Critical	9.8

Top Routinely Exploited CVEs in 2021

Last Updated on August 20, 2021

Vendor	Product	CVE	Severity	CVSSv3 Score
Accellion	FTA	CVE-2021-27101	Critical	9.8
Accellion	FTA	CVE-2021-27102	High	7.8
Accellion	FTA	CVE-2021-27103	Critical	9.8
Accellion	FTA	CVE-2021-27104	Critical	9.8
Fortinet	FortiGate	CVE-2018-13379	Critical	9.8
Fortinet	FortiGate	CVE-2020-12812	Critical	9.8
Fortinet	FortiGate	CVE-2019-5591	Medium	6.5
Microsoft	Exchange	CVE-2021-26855	Critical	9.8
Microsoft	Exchange	CVE-2021-26857	High	7.8
Microsoft	Exchange	CVE-2021-26858	High	7.8
Microsoft	Exchange	CVE-2021-27065	High	7.8
Pulse Secure	Pulse Connect Secure (PCS)	CVE-2021-22893	Critical	10
Pulse Secure	Pulse Connect Secure (PCS)	CVE-2021-22894	High	8.8
Pulse Secure	Pulse Connect Secure (PCS)	CVE-2021-22899	High	8.8
Pulse Secure	Pulse Connect Secure (PCS)	CVE-2021-22900	High	7.2
VMware	vCenter Server	CVE-2021-21985	Critical	9.8

VPLS’s Advice & Recommended Next Steps

As an urgent, one-time exercise, VPLS recommends reviewing the two lists above and determining if your organization is running affected products/software. If you are, the next steps would be to patch the software to a version that is not vulnerable to the listed CVEs. In addition to patching, other mitigation steps may be necessary to protect against the vulnerability being exploited, such as a configuration change, and those will be documented in the vendor’s related security advisory.

Going forward, organizations should implement a continuous vulnerability management practice if one is not already in place. A mature cybersecurity program includes vulnerability management, which is the ongoing practice of identifying, classifying, prioritizing, remediating, and mitigating software vulnerabilities.

For organizations that require guidance on vulnerability management, or simply don’t have the time to dedicate to this critical task, VPLS can perform vulnerability management for your IT department with convenient monthly or one-time services. For example, many of our customers leverage the vulnerability management practices included with our SOC as a Service, which includes scanning (identifying, classifying, and prioritizing) for vulnerabilities across all assets that belong to the organization.

Extending VPLS’s SOC-as-a-Service with our Managed Firewall and Managed Network services, or Managed Servers and Managed Desktops services, will ensure that VPLS is proactively remediating and mitigating the vulnerabilities related to these products for your organization so you are always one step ahead of threat actors and their malicious intentions.

Need some help reviewing your current security infrastructure or just want to see if there are better options out there? VPLS has the right solution for you! VPLS consistently ranks as a top Service Provider and Managed Service Provider among competitors. From Help Desk to managed SOC and security services, VPLS has an array of manages services catered to organizations big and small. Contact VPLS for a free custom quote today.

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VPLS Offers Comprehensive SOC-as-a-Service as Part of Expanded Managed Security Services

News / By VPLS Marketing Team

For teams with limited cybersecurity resources, VPLS offers a flexible solution that can be scaled and customized for any enterprise.

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With cybersecurity threats evolving at an exponential speed and cloud infrastructure and SaaS applications growing, the need for complex security expertise is at an all-time high. To combat these threats, VPLS has dedicated a division of its Managed Security Services team to specialize in providing Security Operations Center as a service (SOC-as-a-Service). The SOC team provides customers with 24x7x365 real-time monitoring, cyber incident notification, and proactive prevention activities.

When a national trucking logistics company lost their Chief Compliance Officer, the company was at risk of being left vulnerable to costly cybersecurity threats. The organization knew they lacked the expertise required to navigate through securing their complex IT environment on their own and needed an outside expert’s services. By partnering with VPLS and implementing SOC-as-a Service, the company is now able to outsource much of their security responsibilities to VPLS, ultimately increasing their overall security posture to one with enhanced capabilities and 24×7 coverage.

VPLS’s SOC-as-a-Service is powered by security information and event management (SIEM) and eXtended Detection & Response (XDR) technology; hard-wired, wireless, and host-based intrusion detection (IDS); and continuous vulnerability monitoring so that organizations can have complete visibility to detect and respond to issues as soon as they arise.

“VPLS’s SOC-as-a-Service will appeal to security and operations teams at organizations of all sizes and stages of cloud adoption,” says John Headley, Senior Security Engineer at VPLS. “This service is especially valuable for those that are dealing with cyber skill shortages, a remote workforce, alert fatigue, and hiring and resource constraints.”

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11 Basic Steps to Protect Your Network & Company from Ransomware

Blog Post / By John Headley

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Cybercrime: A Modern Plague

News articles bearing bad news that another high-profile organization is at the mercy of ransomware have proliferated since the start of the pandemic. So much so that ransomware is now considered its own “pandemic.”

However, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack was the tipping point for the US government to act. Since that attack, several critical pieces of literature were published to help government entities and commercial organizations alike:

Basic Preventative Steps

Referencing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NISTIR 8374) that we linked above, let us review NIST’s “basic preventative steps” for improving your ransomware resistance and protecting against the constant threat of compromise. Keen readers will notice a considerable overlap from our recent Ransomware Checklist blog and the preventive steps discussed in NISTIR 8374.

1. Use Antivirus Software at All Times

2. Keep Computers Fully Patched

3. Block Access to Ransomware Sites

4. Allow Only Authorized Apps

5. Restrict Personally Owned Devices

6. Use Standard User Accounts

7. Avoid Using Personal Apps

8. Beware of Unknown Sources

9. Make an Incident Recovery Plan

10. Backup and Restore

11. Know Your Contacts

Ransomware Protection as a Service

These resources from the government, especially the basic preventative guidance from NISTIR 8374 that we walked through above, provide critical information that organizations should adopt as a foundation for their security program if they want to stand a chance against ransomware. However, VPLS knows that not every organization has the time, skill, or workforce to implement these cybersecurity musts.

For these organizations, VPLS can take the burden off your IT department with convenient monthly or one-time services that check all the boxes above. We have a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity service offerings, such as SOC as a Service, Managed Firewalls, Backup & DR, Managed Servers, and vCISO Services. All these services can have your organization remediating any critical cybersecurity gaps while dramatically increasing your security posture in little to no time.

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Are Your “Managed Services” Truly Managed?

Blog Post / By Ricky Zheng

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For many organizations, one of the common challenges when it comes to IT is how much can be managed in-house. Your IT team has priorities, but as your business grows, it’s likely that your IT needs will evolve along with it. Allowing a managed services provider to shoulder some of that responsibility grants you the freedom to focus on what your business does best while letting the experts nurture your office’s everchanging demands.

A Managed Services Provider (MSP) is a third-party IT service provider that manages systems and services for an organization. An outsourced Help Desk is the most common type of MSP, but managed services come in many flavors and forms, providing niche support across almost all industries.

Within the information technology industry, managed services may include help desk support, endpoint/server/storage management, network monitoring, security, and cloud services. Outside of IT, managed services may also involve audiovisual services providers, supply chain and logistics management, marketing, media, and transportation services

The Break/Fix Model

Most providers offer a “break/fix” service model—when something breaks, the customer calls their provider, and the provider fixes the issue. Though this fee structure is simple, the cost for the customer and the revenue for the vendor can be quite unpredictable.

Some providers may offer proactive break/fix plans. These plans have the same structure except the customer pays a reoccurring monthly fee rather than accruing one-time charges. Because work is billed hourly, this structure can cause clients and providers to be short-sighted to ongoing problems, ultimately incentivizing short-term, quick fixes opposed to cost-effective, lasting solutions.

Since the MSP market took off in the mid-2000s, many service providers have been quick to add the word “managed” in front of any service they offer. So how can teams and companies know who is offering a true managed service? If you find yourself in the same situation, here’s what to look for.

Two Key Elements of A Managed Services Provider

Proactive Services

An MSP aims to provide a stable, predictable service by adding proactive management and services meant to eliminate or significantly reduce the number of unexpected issues that might occur. For example, frequent application updates should result in less bugs, routine hardware scans for problems will have a lower chance of equipment failing during production hours, and patched systems should be less vulnerable to security intrusions.

Is everything running well and you haven’t needed to call your MSP in a while? Congratulations! Your MSP is probably doing their job right and everything is running the way it should be – nothing to break-fix here.

Service Level Agreements

Besides being proactive, every successful MSP will offer and adhere to Service Level Agreements, or SLAs, that ensure the service meets expectations. SLAs clearly state the performance metrics and responsibilities of the vendor as agreed upon in the service agreement. SLAs need to be qualitative –they need to be measurable to ensure that expectations are clear between the customer and the service provider.

If your business has critical systems that operate 24/7, does your current service provider include a 24/7 SLA to help you when you need it? Will your business thrive with a 95% system uptime? In other words, can your systems go down once every 20 days?

It is critical for your business that the MSP’s SLAs fit your business needs. If you find yourself with inconsistent or unclear SLAs, it might be time to re-evaluate your service provider.

Need some help reviewing your current service agreement or just want to see if there are better options out there? VPLS might just have the right managed solution for you! VPLS consistently ranks as a top Service Provider and Managed Service Provider among competitors. From Help Desk to managed SOC and security services, VPLS has an array of manages services catered to organizations big and small. Contact VPLS for a free custom quote today.

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