Is The MSSP Market Set To Disrupt The Cybersecurity Industry?

38% of IT leaders believe the consolidation in the managed security service provider (MSSP) market, leading to cyber security-as-a-service (CSaaS) being commonplace, will be the sector’s biggest disruptor of the next five years, according to new research from Distology.

The new research from the specialist IT cybersecurity distributor explores what IT leaders across the UK believe will be the industry’s biggest disruptors through 2022 and beyond while identifying how those across the sector should be responding to risk to strengthen their cybersecurity strategy. 

The research also reveals more than a third (36%) believe that attracting young people into IT, particularly cybersecurity, will impact the sector. While 35% say the increasing skills shortage in the cybersecurity employment market will disrupt the industry. Many believe that, in turn, this will have a huge impact on whether organizations will be equipped to protect themselves from future attacks.

“With the way organizations operate has evolved considerably over the last two years, it goes without saying that cybersecurity needs have also changed and this is only set to continue. We’re seeing digital transformation continue to accelerate across most sectors, while more SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are digitalizing their product offering and customer experience. This combination is however shining a light on the gaps in pre-existing cybersecurity strategies, meaning it’s more essential than ever before for leaders to take a holistic view of their approach to cybersecurity, and the solutions they’re adopting, to ensure they’re not leaving themselves exposed. 

“The consolidation in the MSSP market may not immediately present itself as a threat. However, as the majority of private sector businesses are SMEs, and cybersecurity solutions have traditionally been aimed predominantly at larger organizations, MSSP’s are vital for protecting smaller businesses that may be reliant on the advice, support, guidance and subscription-style services an MSSP can offer,” comments Lance Williams, Chief Product Officer at Distology.

The new report out today from Distology also reveals more than a third (35%) of IT leaders believe their biggest risk lies in the fact that hackers are becoming more sophisticated.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that 36% think attacks becoming more and more sophisticated in nature and targeting, while networks become more distributed and infrastructure more dispersed as they move their assets from on-premise to cloud-hosted servers, will be another major factor to disrupt the sector.

What’s more, 35% believe zero-day threats which are emerging from software or code flaws from major software and service providers will be another key consideration over the coming years.

The research revealed the biggest factors IT leaders predict will disrupt the cybersecurity sphere over the next five years are:

1.      Consolidation in the managed security service provider market will lead to cyber security-as-a-service being commonplace for organizations across all sectors and sizes (38%)

2.      Talent attraction of young people into the IT sector, particularly cybersecurity (36%)

3.      Attacks will become more and more sophisticated in nature and targeting, while networks become more distributed and infrastructure more dispersed (36%)

4.      Zero-day threats emerging from software/code flaws from major software and service providers, such as Microsoft and AWS (35%)

5.      The increasing skills shortage in the cybersecurity employment market (35%)

6.      Consumer state mentality of indifference to cybersecurity will bleed further into the enterprise IT environment making enterprise IT defenses more difficult to fortify (33%)

7.      Major cybersecurity network and data breaches will become more regular (33%)

“In recent years we’ve seen new levels of sophistication in cyberattacks, outlining the importance of building a robust security foundation which is constantly expanding and evolving. By combining a mixture of cybersecurity talent and technologies, organizations can achieve greater protection for their network and customers. Digital transformation will only deliver return on investment when businesses have the right skills and automation capabilities to enable them to focus on uninterrupted business growth.”

Kev Eley, Vice President of Sales, Europe at LogRhythm

Lance concludes,

“There will never be a one size fits all approach to cybersecurity. However, there are a variety of solutions and approaches IT leaders can implement to help ensure organizations are both protected and operating with minimum risk and maximum visibility,”

Lance Williams, Chief Product Officer at Distology

Download the full ‘Cybersecurity operations: the 2022 cybersecurity disruptors’ report here for further insight.