Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the Level 1 MSSP Competency for AWS Partners that provide security and monitoring as a fully managed service. Multiple Top 250 MSSPs and Top 40 MDR (managed detection and response) service providers have earned the competency.

The MSSP competency was unveiled at the AWS re:Inforce 2021 cloud security conference, which was held virtually.

The competency surfaces one day before the CEOs of the three major cloud providers -- Amazon, Microsoft and Google -- are set to meet with President Biden to discuss cloud and infrastructure security amid continued ransomware attacks, according to CNBC and other reports.

AWS and MSSP Partners: Key Managed Security Focus Areas

The Level 1 competency helps AWS customers identify AWS Partners -- in this case, MSSPs and MDR service providers -- with cloud security expertise and experience, the hyper-scale cloud provider said. The competency spans the following managed security service domains:

  • Application security
  • Cloud security best practices and compliance
  • Host and endpoint security
  • Network security
  • Threat detection and response
  • Vulnerability management

Furthermore, Level 1 MSSP Competency Partners have worked with AWS security experts to develop offerings that operationalize security tools, skill sets and processes, the company stated. In doing so, they can use AWS Security Hub and other AWS services to secure their customers' AWS environments.

What Does the Level 1 MSSP Competency Cover?

The competency covers managed security services designed to protect, monitor and respond to security events across AWS resources, the company noted. It is available to AWS Partners that deliver any of the following managed security services:

  • AWS compliance monitoring
  • AWS infrastructure vulnerability scanning
  • AWS resource inventory visibility
  • AWS security best practices monitoring
  • Distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation
  • Managed detection and response (MDR) for AWS endpoints
  • Managed intrusion prevention system (IPS)
  • Managed web application firewall (WAF)
  • Incident alerting and response
  • Security event monitoring

Multiple Top 250 MSSPs have received the AWS Level 1 Competency. The list so far includes:

  • Accenture
  • Alert Logic
  • Arctic Wolf
  • Deepwatch
  • Deloitte
  • eSentire
  • IBM Security
  • Proficio
  • PwC
  • Sophos
  • Secureworks

AWS Partners can earn the Level 1 MSSP Competency following a validation process and evaluation of multiple customer references specific to AWS managed security services, the company indicated. In addition, AWS Partner Solution Architects validate AWS Partners' technical proficiency and architecture for customer use cases and thought leadership in managed security services.

Microsoft MISA Organization Builds MSSP Partnerships

The AWS focus on MSSP partners surfaces a few weeks after rival Microsoft announced MSSP partner milestones of its own. Indeed, the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) has grown to include 67 MSSP members that support 165 managed security services offers, MISA Lead Maria Thomson disclosed in a July 2021 blog.