Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) News: 09 February 2017

Each morning MSSP Alert broadcasts a quick lineup of news, analysis and chatter from across the global managed security services provider, SOC (security operations center) and IT outsourcing ecosystem.

Here’s the lineup for Friday, February 9, 2018:

7. Crypto Crime: Over the next six to 12 months, cyber criminals will shift their preferred digital currency payments from Bitcoin to rivals like Litecoin and Dash, according to a Recorded Future study.

6. Momentum: FireEye on Thursday reported its first-ever quarterly adjusted profit since going public in 2013, highlighting gains from the company’s shift to a subscription model and its cost-cutting efforts, Reuters notes. Total revenue rose 9.5 percent to $202.3 million, easily beating analyst expectations of $193.6 million. Shares jumped about 13 percent on the news.

5. Momentum Part Two: Proofpoint's Q4 revenue was $145.4 million, up 36 percent compared to Q4 2016. It was the 24th straight quarter of better-than-expected revenue and earnings, Barron's says.

4. Momentum Part Three: Presidio, the midmarket IT solutions provider, says its security revenue increased 22.2% to $85.3 million in the three months ended December 31, 2017, compared to $69.8 million in the three months ended December 31, 2016.

3. Partnership: Orange Cyberdefense, the massive service provider's cybersecurity unit, will leverage Check Point Sandblast Mobile technology for mobile threat protection, the two companies say.

2. Partners: Canadian service provider Uniserve has  joined Trustwave’s global channel partner program, giving Uniserve the ability to offer businesses of any size security products and managed security services countrywide. Trustwave was a Top 100 MSSP for 2017.

1. Sophos Earnings: Sophos revenue rose 18 percent for the quarter ended in December. Also, CEO Kris Hagerman offered an upbeat outlook: “As our business continues to post strong growth, the board is confident both in the outlook for the full year and the longer-term prospects of the group.” Still, the company's stock fell 18 percent yesterday when investors noticed slowing growth in new orders -- which rose only 14 percent in Q3 -- compared to more than 20 percent in previous quarters, Financial Times notes. Nevertheless, the company's MSP-centric dashboard remains extremely popular with IT service providers that want to manage their customers' security subscriptions from a single dashboard.