Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) News: 03 February 2021

Each business day, MSSP Alert broadcasts a quick lineup of news, analysis and chatter from across the managed security services provider ecosystem.

A. Today’s MSSP and Cybersecurity News Alerts

1. Talent - Endpoint Protection: CrowdStrike has hired CyberArk veteran Marianne Budnik as chief marketing officer (CMO).

2. Talent - Zero Trust Network Access: Axis Security, a provider of Zero Trust Network Access, announced has hired Elastica, Fortinet, Juniper Networks and Symantec veteran Deena Thomchick as VP of product marketing.

3. Network Security Monitoring & Breach Insurance: HacWatch is adding breach insurance to its portfolio of product and service offerings.

4. Research - Agent Tesla Malware: Sophos has unveiled new research findings titled, "Agent Tesla Amps Up Information Stealing Attacks.” The research documents "evasive techniques attackers are using to disable endpoint protection before they deliver the malware and install and run the payload," Sophos says.

6. XDR Startup: ContraForce, an XDR Security Operations Platform and SaaS startup, is relocating its headquarters to McKinney, Texas. The move surfaces after ContraForce won a grant from the McKinney Economic Development Corporation's (MEDC) Innovation Fund.  ContraForce plans to create 20 new high-tech jobs over the next three years, bringing their total number of employees to 23, with an average yearly salary of $100,000, the company says.

5. Identity and Access Management (IAM): Ping Identity has launched PingOne Verify, a cloud service that "helps enterprises make it easy for customers to verify their identity for rapid account onboarding, authentication and fraud prevention," the company says.

6. Check Point Quarterly Results: Check Point Software Technologies' Q4 2020 financial results included:

Gil Shwed, founder and CEO of Check Point, pointed to subscription revenue growth of 10 percent during the quarter.

7. FireEye Quarterly Earnings: FireEye's Q4 2020 financial results included:

FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia pointed to growing momentum across the security company's platform, cloud subscription, managed services and professional services categories.

B. Cybersecurity Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances

1. Momentum - Endpoint Security and RMM: Action1, which blends cloud-based endpoint security and RMM (remote monitoring and management) grew revenue more than 2,750 percent in 2020 vs. 2019 -- though actual dollar figures were not disclosed. Action1 supports both enterprises and MSPs.

2. Partnership - VPN:  The Comcast Business Teleworker VPN solution leverages Cisco Meraki to give customers secure remote access.

3. SMB Security Gateways: Check Point Software Technologies has launched and delivered its complete Quantum Spark series of security gateways for small and medium size businesses (SMBs). Check Point Channel Chief Frank Rauch is emphasizing partner, MSP and MSSP opportunities in channel briefings.

4. Integration - AWS Cloud Security: Threat Stack has introduced new capabilities that "help security teams quickly detect and remediate threats in cloud infrastructure," the company says. Details are here.

C. MSSP and Cybersecurity Virtual Events and Conference Calendar