Farming out non-essential or non-core activities in a larger company has become standard fare in the world of efficiency. Running large companies and networks tighter have all but required such. Specialization is frequently handled far better by managed service providers versus a singular entity trying to do everything in a 100 percent vertical approach. However, with every managed service provider connected to a company’s network, the risk of unauthorized access or breach becomes greater, driving the need for cloud-based defenses like those provided by Tools4Ever and other identity management options.
Key Benefits Gained From Taking an Aggressive Defense
Managed service providers will frequently state they take care of their own security, which is simply a promise without verification. Instead, when a company utilizes a cloud-based identity management defense, both multi-factor authentication, as well as managed single-sign-on access, can be applied. Together, these provide convenience, monitoring of access activity, and an easy ability to instantly respond and cut off an identified threat.
Outsourcing is going to happen, but that doesn’t mean a company by default has to trust a third party blindly to be secure. As has been seen in many cases, third parties’ security is often the critical weakness allowing entry into the target company. So, rather than leaving the matter to a managed service provider, companies can apply proactive defenses by actively managing third-party access, keeping their operations contained in a cloud “no man’s land” for work production, and avoiding any access to a core network. Even if the cloud environment becomes compromised, the core network stays protected.
Managed service providers themselves oftentimes use other parties to cobble together their lean work productivity, including utilizing staff and resources overseas. That means data shared with providers could end up halfway around the world with unknown third, fourth, and even fifth-level parties. The way to avoid this risk in the first place is to require third-party providers to work in controlled containers. They can’t take data out; they can only work with resources within the container. An access-controlled cloud environment makes this easy for identity management and production. New containers can be spun up as needed, scaled to size, and then removed on completion. The flexibility makes it easy to take advantage of lean skill support while not giving away the farm.
Remembering Key Tech Cautions With Service Providers
Every company ultimately has to protect itself. There is no outsourcing of accountability. When it comes to the following questions for every managed service provider, think about the following:
- Who’s responsible for security? Don’t leave it to the third party; control the field beginning with the cloud. Trust doesn’t save us from leaks. Active security does.
- What assets are to be protected and how? Containers in the cloud make this easy. There’s no need to ship assets out of your system’s control.
- How can a service provider show their security stance? Why is it necessary? Take a position of data protection yourself and require compliance.
- What network-level access should be given? One suggestion might be to not give any at all. Instead, use the cloud as a middle field, never exposing your core network to begin with.
Proactive security management continues to be the best approach, especially with third-party service providers. Consider what sort of security serves in the best interest of your company, and then implement.
