Cybersecurity: What You Need to Ask Your Managed Service Provider
Since the pandemic started, there has been a rise in the number of cyber-attacks. Recent announcements from various governmental and law enforcement agencies in North America warn of the prevalence and increase in cybercrime.
The following are critical questions to ask your Managed Service Provider (MSP) to ensure that your company’s network, computers, and workforce are appropriately secured.
How Are Your Network Passwords Stored?
Your MSP has the keys to your digital kingdom, making managed IT providers a prime target for hackers and fraudsters. What system do they use to secure and control access to your critical passwords? Find out what safeguards prevent a former employee or hacker from stealing your passwords.
Who Validates Your Security?
Any MSP should work extremely hard to keep on top of rapidly evolving cybersecurity measures. Your MSP likely has many suggestions to improve your security.
But who is validating their security?
Find out if your MSP is externally audited (SOC2), satisfies Canada’s minimum standards (Cybersecure Certification), and whether they employ third-party security services, penetration testing, and vulnerability scanning.
Where Does Your Cloud Infrastructure Reside?
You should know if your MSP uses their cloud or do they use a third party for their cloud? It’s a vital distinction since a third-party vendor won’t necessarily share the same security standards as your IT support. Conversely, depending on the size and internal expertise, a managed IT support team that hosts its cloud has more control over security and can incorporate more rigorous standards.
Have You Implemented a Network Monitoring System?
A lack of a network monitoring system comes with many pitfalls, starting with disastrous security threats. Alternatively, businesses gain a much-needed layer of protection with network monitoring services and software. To further elaborate, these features pinpoint tiny discrepancies before they evolve into more significant issues.
As a result, your company will avoid detrimental amounts of downtime and disruption, offsetting service/repair costs.
What Is The Plan for Protecting My Business?
A MSP should instill the utmost confidence that they’ll keep your organization well-protected from cybersecurity threats.
You need to be part of this process, so you have a relatively firm grasp of what’s going on. The service provider should have a well-developed plan that they can break down for you upon request. Beyond that, it should be uniquely tailored to your company’s needs, focusing on how to protect your specific network from cyber threats.
What is the Method for Data Backup & Recovery, Is There a Detailed Plan for Backup and Recovery?
As an employer, you should be ready for the following mishaps that can lead to data loss:
Employee mistakes
IT mistakes
Hardware failure
Cyberattacks
· Acts of God or natural disasters
Expect the unexpected and be prepared no matter what.
While lying in wait for some data-related disaster sounds unrealistic, it’s much more straightforward when you hire a MSP. Regardless of what happens, a service provider should have measures in place to help your organization obtain backed up and recovered data in case of a data-specific blunder.
Your ideal managed IT solution should provide data recovery via offsite storage. Furthermore, a MSP should have a thorough plan to handle any form of data-related disaster or catastrophe successfully.
Can My Employees Immediately Access Live Help Desk Support?
When there’s an IT problem, your employees shouldn’t struggle to access help.
The MSP you hire should offer live help desk support that provides immediate assistance in the face of any technical problem; this would offset any wasted downtime since they would handle the situation quickly. And during a cyber-attack, you shouldn’t wait on hold while your data is breached or your network is compromised.
What Proactive Security Measures are You Providing?
A proactive approach from your MSP means they’ll continually be looking for optimized solutions against cyber threats and various malfunctions. They’ll be concerned with providing you with the best outcome that saves you money in the long run versus waiting for a disaster to happen before springing into action.