In today’s world, 24/7 IT monitoring and technical support are no longer a business differentiator; they’re essential for protecting your network in real-time so it’s always there when you need it most. Cybercriminals don’t sleep, and neither should your network defenses. If your IT team or managed service provider (MSP) hasn’t yet implemented some form of 24/7 monitoring and support for network activity, now’s the time. Although the term suggests a singular service, a 24/7 monitoring and support platform can vary substantially from one company to another.
In this post, we’ll explore a variety of forms of around-the-clock monitoring and support solutions so you’re better equipped to evade the next cyber threat.
24/7 Phone and Live Support
When something goes wrong with your network, what’s your first course of action? If you don’t know exactly who to call when a network issue arises, spending time figuring out the next step can quickly result in lost revenue, missed opportunities, and unhappy customers. If you’re truly prepared for the next cybersecurity incident, you already know exactly who to call with the confidence that a human voice will answer the phone to resolve the issue quickly. Even better, with the right MSP, your IT provider will call you when they detect a network abnormality before you may even realize anything has gone wrong.
When trying to decide between managed IT service providers, an excellent place to begin is by clarifying the level of phone and live support they offer. Is the 24/7 support they claim to provide truly around the clock, or are you likely to be greeted by a robot when your email platform goes down at 3 in the morning before a client deadline?
Cyber Attack Monitoring
Cyber attack monitoring can take a variety of forms, but this is most frequently what MSPs are referring to when they promote their 24/7 monitoring services. While these monitoring tools rarely involve a live human sitting behind a computer continually keeping an eye on your network, they do require a human element. Instead of a human manually scanning network traffic, an automated software or hardware platform continually analyzes traffic patterns while measuring them against real attack data to pinpoint any potentially malicious activity.
When these automated systems detect malicious abnormalities, they then alert network administrators and your MSP team of the potential attack. From there, a group of cybersecurity experts can determine if the anomaly is indeed a threat and take corrective action as needed. In the event of a false flag, network operations continue as usual. In the event of a malicious attack, however, your network security team can stay one step ahead of cybercriminals throughout the cyberattack lifecycle.
Threat Intelligence
In order to ensure the effectiveness and reliability of your cybersecurity platform, your defense strategies are rarely a set-it-and-forget-it solution. As we come up with new ways to protect networks from malicious actors, they come up with new ways to circumvent those defenses. Therefore, a stagnant network security platform is dangerous to your organization’s privacy and operations.
Threat intelligence begins with an understanding that in order to prevent or mitigate the risk of a cyberattack, your organization needs to take proactive measures that respond to the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape. Threat intelligence doesn’t merely involve a specific software program, piece of hardware, or network security policy; rather, it’s a broader approach to understanding your system’s strengths and weaknesses.
As a result, a threat intelligence platform involves weighing the context, threats, industry risks, hardware advances, software platforms, and your internal culture to develop cybersecurity policies that continually solidify network security.
Intrusion Prevention Systems
As part of a comprehensive 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring solution, an IPS protects your internal network from external threats. Acting as an additional layer of defense behind your firewall, an IPS connects with a global threat database to continually monitor network traffic before it gains entry into your system. An IPS acts as a proactive network monitoring tool that turns away potential network threats before they have an opportunity to do any damage.
Intrusion Detection Systems
Unlike an IPS, an IDS works retroactively. If a network threat makes it past an IPS, an IDS then works to identify and contain the threat before it can do more serious damage. While an IPS works to avert threats altogether, an IDS usually comes into play to mitigate how much damage a network breach can do.
Although you can deploy an IPS without an IDS and vice versa, they operate best when working in conjunction. When your IPS successfully denies a malicious attack, your IDS doesn’t have to do anything. When your IPS misses an attack, your IDS then kicks in to clean up the mess. Figuring out which option is best for your needs begins with clarifying a budget, calculating the likelihood of an attack, and determining the specific threats most likely to target your network.
Whether your objective is proactively preventing the next cyber threat before it infiltrates your network or you want to know that a live human will always answer your call, contact the experts at Computer Medic On Call.
