Monday Morning Impact – May 24

Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report Shows Increases in Phishing and Ransomware

With an unprecedented number of people working remotely, phishing and ransomware attacks increased by 11 percent and 6 percent respectively, with instances of Misrepresentation increasing by 15 times compared to last year.

This is according to the newly released Verizon Business 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report (2021 DBIR) which analyzes 29,207 security incidents collected from 83 victims spanning 88 countries, 12 industries, and 3 world regions. The report sheds light on how the most common forms of cyberattacks affected the international security landscape during the global pandemic. This year’s report saw 5,258 breaches across the globe; one-third more breaches than last year.

More than 60% of the breaches involved credential data (95 percent of organizations suffering credential stuffing attacks had between 637 and 3.3 billion malicious login attempts through the year). The report also highlighted the challenges facing businesses as they move more of their business functions to the cloud – with attacks on web applications representing 39% of all breaches.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on many of the security challenges organizations are currently facing,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “As the number of companies switching business-critical functions to the cloud increases, the potential threat to their operations may become more pronounced, as malicious actors look to exploit human vulnerabilities and leverage an increased dependency on digital infrastructures”.

Analysis of 12 industries shows that, while security remains a challenge across the board, there are significant differences across verticals. For example, in Financial and Insurance industries, 83 percent of data compromised in breaches was personal data, while in Professional, Scientific and Technical services only 49 percent was personal.

Among other highlights, the Financial sector frequently faces credential and Ransomware attacks from External actors. Basic human error continues to beset the healthcare industry as it has for the past several years. The biggest threat impacting Public Administration is the social engineer. Actors who can craft a credible phishing email are absconding with credentials data at an alarming rate in this sector.

The Retail industry continues to be a target for financially motivated criminals looking to cash in on the combination of payment cards and personal information this sector is known for. Social tactics include Pretexting and Phishing, with the former commonly resulting in fraudulent money transfers.

Channel Impact^®
The report outlines a wide variety of threats impacting businesses all over the world. The data underscores the need for solid IT security that is constantly updated and refreshed.

NetApp Updates Unified Partner Program to Reflect Digital Transformation

In advance of a new tiering structure expected to be announced next year, NetApp has announced changes to its partner program as part of an effort to provide partners with a more streamlined experience that includes new financial incentives and Services specializations.

The program will now include specialist partners who sell, consume or influence the NetApp portfolio – increasing relevance to more partner types; incentives that map to key initiatives and focus areas; new rewards for actions that drive deal closure; and new solution specializations for Cloud Preferred, FlexPod, SAP, AI/ML, Data Protection, Data Security, Hosting Service Provider, Infrastructure, and Spot by NetApp Preferred.

In the area of services specializations, the list now includes Integration Services, Lifecycle Services, and NetApp Keystone Services.

Meanwhile, the NetApp partner locator is being redesigned for a better user experience to help customers find the most specialized partners.

“We are transforming our Unified Partner Program and evolving its structure to make doing business with NetApp simpler and more profitable for our partners than ever before,” said Chris Lamborn, Head of Global Partner GTM & Programs at NetApp. “The latest updates are just the start of a multi-phase strategy to incentivize and reward our partners for their solution expertise, while delivering greater value to their customers.”

NetApp provides systems, software and cloud services that enable customers to run their applications from data center to cloud, whether they are developing in the cloud, moving to the cloud, or creating their own cloudlike experiences on premises.

Channel Impact^®
The latest updates are part of a multi-phase strategy to incentivize and reward partners for solution expertise and delivering greater value to their customers.

Cato Networks Expands Global Partner Program to Help MSPs Adapt to SASE

Cato Networks, an Israeli-based secure access service edge (SASE) vendor, has announced the expansion of its MSP partner program to include more flexible licensing and billing, assured margins on competitive deals, and a revamped partner portal.

“Disruptive technologies are changing the IT industry,” said Anthony D’Angelo, vice president of worldwide channel and business development. “Appliances are giving way to cloud services, and with that change, channel partners need a flexible partner program that adapts to their business. Our new program updates meet partners where they’re at, empowering them to lead the SASE market and future-proof their business.”

The company has evolved its partner program across four dimensions — business flexibility, increased profitability, market penetration, and channel differentiation. The updated program is intended to provide better support for any business model with new margin structures, billing cycles, and ordering plans. The Cato Assured Margins Program (AMP) is designed to address margin pressure through an enhanced deal registration framework. Cato has also rebuilt its partner portal to include online and on-demand educational materials. An extensive set of lead generation materials, including self-cobranding assets, a sales playbook, and partner-ready marketing campaigns has also been added.

Cato further helps MSPs differentiate themselves with its Cato Distinguished Support Provider (CDSP) accreditation. CDSP partners are trained to provide tier-1 support to their Cato customers and must meet stringent KPIs around support effectiveness, staff training, technical expertise, and availability.

Channel Impact^®
Additions to the partner program are intended to meet MSPs requirements for greater profitability, increased flexibility, and improved marketing assistance in the competitive managed networking and security services markets.