Managed Security Services

Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) Market News: 13 October 2023

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

  • The Content: Written for MSSPs and MSPs; threat hunters; security operations center as a service (SOCaaS); managed detection and response (MDR) and eXtended detection and response (XDR) providers; and those who partner with such companies.
  • Frequency and Format: Every business morning. Typically, one or two sentences for each item below.
  • Reaching Our Inbox: Send news, tips and rumors to Managing Editor Jim Masters: [email protected].

Today’s MSSP, MSP, MDR, XDR and Cybersecurity Market News

1. Ransomware Alert: The LockBit ransomware operation on October 11 threatened global IT products and services reseller CDW with having its stolen data exposed after the company refused to meet the demanded ransom, according to The Register. CDW has provided no statements regarding the breach, which was first posted on LockBit's blog on September 3, while the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office also said that there has not been any report from the IT reseller.

2. Cybersecurity Exercise: Nacha's Payments Innovation Alliance has released a new tabletop exercise to help small- to medium-sized businesses prepare for a cyberattack. The resource can be downloaded from nacha.org/cybersecurity-response-project-team. The first scenario addresses ransomware, additional scenarios and workbooks will be released in the coming months.

3. BlackBerry Expands in Canada: BlackBerry has expanded its relationship with the government of Canada through a multi-year agreement that will serve federal employees. The expanded partnership with BlackBerry now gives the Government of Canada a bespoke BlackBerry Cloud, and extends and expands its use of BlackBerry UEM, BlackBerry UEM Dark Site and BlackBerry SecuSUITE to enable the daily operations of departments and agencies across the government.

4. Leadership Move: Procure IT, an IT procurement company, announced that it has named managing partner Dylan Bouterse to lead the company's cybersecurity consulting practice. Bouterse and his team will consult with organizations on ways to improve their cybersecurity risk posture by understanding evolving threats and available solutions.

5: Passwords Are Here to Stay: Keeper Security, a provider of cybersecurity software protecting passwords and passkeys, privileged access, secrets and connections, has released a market intelligence report that demonstrates username-password combinations are still the most widely deployed form of authentication deployed in organizations (58%).

6. Security Partnership: Druva, a SaaS platform provider for data resilience, has announced a strategic partnership with NEXTGEN Group, an IT distribution and services company. The collaboration aims to expand Druva's footprint in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines, delivering data protection solutions to an even broader range of businesses across the Asia-Pacific region.

7. Security Training Integration: KnowBe4, a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform provider, has formed a new integration with its Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training (KMSAT) platform and Duo Security’s Single Sign-On offering.

8. Crypto Security Partnership: AnChain.AI, a company delivering generative AI, LLM and GPT-powered solutions for investigating Smart Contract Web3 Digital Assets, and BlockTrace, a digital assets, cyber intelligence and integrations firm, have announced a new partnership to deliver cutting-edge solutions to national security sector partners engaged in the fight against crypto-related crime to address national security challenges.

9. Leadership Move: Cytracom, a provider of products and services for managed service providers (MSPs), has named Nikhil Harsh as the senior vice president of Sales and Revenue Operations.

10. Malware Alert: Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new sophisticated strain of malware that masquerades as a WordPress plugin to stealthily create administrator accounts and remotely control a compromised site. "Complete with a professional looking opening comment implying it is a caching plugin, this rogue code contains numerous functions, adds filters to prevent itself from being included in the list of activated plugins, and has pinging functionality that allows a malicious actor to check if the script is still operational, as well as file modification capabilities," Wordfence said. (Source: The Hacker News)

Jim Masters

Jim Masters is Managing Editor of MSSP Alert, and holds a B.A. degree in Journalism from Northern Illinois University. His career has spanned governmental and investigative reporting for daily newspapers in the Northwest Indiana Region and 16 years in a global internal communications role for a Fortune 500 professional services company. Additionally, he is co-owner of the Lake County Corn Dogs minor league baseball franchise, located in Crown Point, Indiana. In his spare time, he enjoys writing and recording his own music, oil painting, biking, volleyball, golf and cheering on the Corn Dogs.