Of all the upheavals and challenges we’ve seen in the past few years; cybersecurity is one of the most important topics emerging in 2021. Newsworthy attacks on SolarWinds and Colonial Pipelines have prompted the White House to release an executive order dictating a new set of collective cybersecurity standards for government agencies and contractors. Following that, private companies associated with the supply chain have also begun to adopt stricter security controls based on their risk profiles and reliance on cloud-based service providers. All of these organizations, from agencies to contractors to utility companies, are turning to cybersecurity as-a-service models to meet these demands. 

It seems like everything is “a service” these days, but it is important to realize that as modern cybersecurity threats evolve, it’s nearly impossible for individual organizations to keep up. Dedicated, expert compliance and security firms are rising to fill the gap and keep our systems safe. 

Security Challenges of Modern Business

We might think of security as best handled in-house. However, the challenges of modern cyber threats have rather firmly put that idea to rest. The rise of state-sponsored hacking, distributed bot networks and complex cloud environments have made cybersecurity challenging in a way that modern compliance standards still race to keep up with. 

That’s not to say that compliance frameworks can’t address security. Rather, it’s the implementation of proper security controls that limit how effective compliance is. Organizations are quickly learning that fielding highly trained, dedicated and single-purpose security teams isn’t as effective a solution as it was even 10-20 years ago. 

There are a few critical reasons why modern security threats are becoming beyond the capabilities of dedicated IT teams:

1. Complexity: As of 2021, most businesses rely on some form of third-party support, and that’s on top of their own on-prem or cloud infrastructure. Across all these systems we find networked connections, authentication and authorization controls, shared data storage and more. The layers of interactivity and integration make work much easier, but they also open potential vulnerabilities that become harder to track over time. While vendor risk management is a rising discipline, it is also understandable to say that modern IT is quickly expanding beyond the capabilities of siloed security teams locked behind organizational walls. 
2. Evolution: Attackers are developing new threats all day, every day. With the rise of modern foreign-funded APTs, attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated and able to undermine existing and emerging IT systems. As above, it isn’t feasible to expect siloed security teams to keep up with these sophisticated threats. 
3. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: The rise of third-party cloud computing and apps has led to even more interconnected systems of which there is little or no direct, centralized oversight. Hackers aren’t just attacking core organizations and agencies–they are attacking cloud and managed service providers (MSPs) supplying everything from analytics and cloud storage to network monitoring and business intelligence. 

IT teams cannot be expected to handle managing systems, stay current with threats and effectively support compliance. The threats are constant and hard to track, and a fractured cybersecurity apparatus splintered across private businesses just cannot keep up. 

The Rise of Cybersecurity SaaS Solutions

Like other services, cybersecurity and compliance have started to move into the managed services space. Firms are providing platforms, consulting and dedicated monitoring services to companies that need high-quality security and continuous compliance management. 

There are several benefits of managed, third-party security services. These include:

1. Concentrated Expertise: A security firm offering services will typically focus only on that. As such, their staff is (ideally) composed of experts in the field who can focus on nothing but security and compliance. Instead of having several disjointed IT teams across businesses, you can have a smaller and more concentrated body of experts attacking real-world problems. 
2. Breadth of Services: Because these firms are so focused on security above all other concerns, they can offer services that in internal IT systems couldn’t. These include services like security engineering, continuous monitoring, automated auditing and consulting, penetration testing and configuration and path management. 
3. External and Specialized Audits: These security partners are third parties, which gives them a unique position to offer specialized auditing and preparation services. For example, a third-party security partner can offer you security consulting services while also serving as a certified auditor for frameworks like SOC 2 or FedRAMP. 
4. Costs: Since these firms are exclusively focused on a narrow set of concerns, they can streamline operations and cut overhead. This, in turn, usually translates to lower costs for clients.
5. Emphasis on Total Security: A security partner may focus on a single aspect of your business, but more often than not they will have the ability to work across security concerns. This can include vulnerability scanning and testing, pen testing, IAM support, administrative and physical security auditing, certification, update management and so on. 

Much like any other service provider, a security-as-a-service provider can offload the effort, cost and time associated with proper cybersecurity without sacrificing any effectiveness over time. 

Continuum GRC Automates Security and Compliance for Government Agencies, Enterprise Companies and Small Businesses

As every business in the U.S., large or small, turns to the cloud and data-driven operations to stay competitive, we increasingly become more vulnerable to coordinated cyberattacks. Security is not an individual effort anymore. We are all responsible for securing our resources, maintaining compliance standards and ensuring that our shared resources are protected. 

This is, in many ways, a seemingly tall order. What we have found is that the application of modern technologies like automation, cloud SaaS tools and concentrated expertise can take ill-prepared companies and make them more than compliant–it can make them secure. Likewise, the continued demands of compliance and security threats are best met with dedicated monitoring and remediation driven by professionals who are focused on the singular task of protecting our systems. 

Continuum GRC helps you stay compliant and secure by eliminating bottlenecks and error-prone processes through automated compliance monitoring and reporting. Our systems are accurate and fast–we ween you off of tools like spreadsheets, emails and messages and firmly place your compliance operations into modern infrastructure. This means better reports, insightful intelligence and a streamlining of audit processes that reduce work times from weeks or even months to as little as days. 

Are You Ready to Partner with Security Experts and Prioritize Compliance and Cybersecurity?

Call Continuum GRC at 1-888-896-6207 or complete the form below.