Monday Morning Impact – December 7

Study: Ransomware is #1 Malware Threat; Cost of Downtime Nearly Doubles Since 2019

Datto, a Connecticut-based cloud solutions company supporting MSPs, has unveiled its fifth annual Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report. More than 1,000 MSPs weighed in on the impact that COVID-19 has had on the security posture of SMBs, along with other notable trends driving ransomware breaches.

The survey found that ransomware still remains the most common cyber threat to SMBs, with 60% of MSPs reporting that their SMB clients have been hit as of Q3 2020. The impact of such attacks keeps growing: the average cost of downtime is now 94% greater than in 2019, and nearly six times higher than it was in 2018 increasing from $46,800 to $274,200 over the past two years, according to Datto’s research. Phishing, poor user practices, and lack of end user security training continue to be the main causes of successful ransomware attacks.

The survey also found that 95% of MSPs consider their businesses to be more at risk, likely due to increasing sophistication and complexity of ransomware attacks. Almost half (46%) of MSPs now partner with specialized Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) for IT security assistance – to protect both their clients and their own businesses.

Half of MSP respondents said their clients had increased their budgets for IT security in 2020, perhaps indicating awareness of the ransomware threat is growing. Downtime costs related to ransomware are now nearly 50X greater than the ransom requested.

Business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) remains the number one solution for combating ransomware, with 91% of MSPs reporting that clients with BCDR solutions in place are less likely to experience significant downtime during an attack. Employee training and endpoint detection and response platforms ranked second and third in tackling ransomware.

More than half (59%) of MSPs said remote work due to COVID-19 resulted in increased ransomware attacks, and 52% of MSPs reported that shifting client workloads to the cloud increased security vulnerabilities. The survey also determined that healthcare was the most vulnerable industry during the pandemic (59%).

Channel Impact^®
The distributed workforce, brought about by Covid-19, is just the latest factor reinforcing the need for companies to be vigilant with cybersecurity.

Orange Business Services Forms New Cloud Alliance with AWS

Orange Business Services has announced a global strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help enterprises accelerate digital transformation. Specifically, the two companies will collaborate on new solutions in the areas of modernization and migration, data analytics, innovation and security, potentially resulting in new products and services. As part of this agreement, a dedicated Cloud Center of Excellence will be built on AWS, coordinating joint development of a new training and certification program for more than 3,000 Orange Business Services personnel.

Orange Business Services is a network-native digital services company providing software-defined networks, multi-cloud services, AI, mobility services, and cybersecurity.

With companies thriving on innovation, Orange Business Services places its customers at the heart of an open collaborative ecosystem. The Paris-based company claims 27,000 employees, a customer list of more than 3,000 multinational enterprises, and revenues of 42 billion euros.

Orange has also become part of the AWS Channel Reseller Program, allowing it to resell AWS services to its customers as part of its value-added services and solutions.

Channel Impact^®
The global strategic collaboration agreement between the two companies is expected to provide enterprises with access to a one-stop-shop for all their Orange and AWS requirements through a single point of contact. The intended net result is to accelerate digital transformation and cloud-native approaches for joint customers.

Tenable Partner Program Expands with Transformed Tools, Training and Certifications

Tenable, Inc., a Columbia, Maryland-based cybersecurity company, has unveiled updates to its partner program, adding a new certification program, expanded service choices and a revamped partner portal.

“The updates to our Tenable Assure program underpin our ongoing commitment to and trust in our partners,” said Mark Thurmond, chief operating officer at Tenable. “We are continuously investing in the channel to equip our partners with the training, certification and collaboration necessary to deliver Tenable’s industry-leading vulnerability management solutions and custom services to customers everywhere.”

The certification program features refreshed, sales and technical training videos of ten minutes or less, helping partners to design and deploy risk-based vulnerability management solutions across IT, OT and cloud environments. The revamped partner portal provides access to company resources for increased collaboration between Tenable sales contacts and partners. In addition, customers will be able to confirm each partner’s authorization status to identify a match for their specific needs.

Tenable says its customer base includes more than 50 percent of the Fortune 500, more than 30 percent of the Global 2000 and large government agencies.

Channel Impact^®
With the global shift to remote working, organizations of all sizes have accelerated their migration to the cloud and their adoption of new technologies, including IoT, mobile and DevOps. As their attack surface expands, security becomes increasingly important.