MSSP 250 Company, Hughes Network Systems, Debuts Down Market Cybersecurity Strategy

The “mom-and-pop” type of small businesses that make up so much of the U.S. economy are certainly not immune to ransomware and malware attacks and other types of breaches. However, they might not make cybersecurity a priority or feel they have the financial means to retain the services of an MSSP.

Enter the new small business solution from Hughes Network Systems, a broadband internet provider (“Hughesnet”) that’s popular in rural communities, which also operates as both an MSSP and MSP. Hughes has been featured as a Top 250 MSSP for the last three years.

Hughes says the small business package from Hughes Managed Cybersecurity provides end customers with an affordable, enterprise-grade cybersecurity solution that includes an automatic wireless backup connection. Powered by Fortinet's Next-Generation Firewall, the solution continually protects business networks and data against threats across connected devices, including PCs, laptops, smartphones and various IoT devices like smart cameras and sensors.

Dan Rasmussen, senior vice president of the Hughes Enterprise Division, pointed to research showing that 46% of all cyber breaches impact businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees.

“We’ve come up with a solution based off of a FortiGate firewall that allows us to go into a small business location and effectively give them the full package of the FortiGate suite,” he told MSSP Alert.

Rasmussen explained that the real value proposition is in giving small businesses the resilience to secure their IT networks.

“It’s the resilience that resonates more because they understand the business impact of outages,” he said. “The security upsell is really around the fact that it’s securing the entire premises, not just a POS (point of sale) system or anything else. It wrapping around cameras, appliances, all the IoT sensors that you may not be able to put endpoint protection on.”

Hughes Sells Directly to VISA Business Customers

Hughes is marketing its small business solution to VISA for Business credit card holders through VISA’s affinity site. Eligible Visa small business cardholders can save 25% off on the Hughes Managed Cybersecurity solution available through Visa SavingsEdge.

“They have the ability as a small business owner to log on and get an offering for different business-related services,” Rasmussen said. “One of those is ‘Cybersecurity and VISA’ saying, ‘Hey, go to Hughes for this offering. They’ll give you the firewall and redundancy and everything else you should have as a small business.’”

Hughes Managed Cybersecurity for small businesses can easily be self-installed, or it can optionally be professionally installed, according to the company. Specific offerings include:

Hughes’ Seeks Market Sweet Spot

Rasmussen explained that while many small businesses will argue having security software, such as Norton or McAfee, installed across their IT infrastructure is enough protection, they’re now realizing they need better security. And small businesses are certainly not immune to ransomware attacks, even if the ransom is much less than what a medium or large enterprise would face.

“If a small business owner’s IT resources are locked up, they may not pay that much, maybe a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand, but it’s their entire livelihood that’s at stake and they’re likely to pay it because they don’t have the wherewithal to fight it,” he said.

Hughes’ market push is designed for individual business owners, such as a laundromat or specialty shop owner who may not have any real IT experience but need a cybersecurity program in place.

“So, even basic patch management, everything that’s going on with the IT infrastructure, these are small business owners that are much more focused on their day-to-day cash-in cash-out, concerns of running a business,” Rasmussen said. “We can give them the expertise and advice for a standardized solution. That helps at least put a firewall and a wrapper around their IT infrastructure.”

Rasmussen noted that Hughes’ strength comes via the diversified distributed enterprise space, and that it’s a comfortable place for them to be.

“This is a chance to see if we can go down market a bit further and help those that want our solution,” he said. “They understand it. They don’t view it as a ‘black art’ where ‘they’re taking my money.’ They understand that there is value to security, and we’ll find that sweet spot of the market.”

Rasmussen believes Hughes is a bit ahead of the curve in terms of the quality of its small business offering. Certain competitors are offering less comprehensive solutions, such as DNS filtering, but not to the extent of firewall protection that conducts comprehensive security inspections.

“I’m excited about the ability to expand into this part of the market,” he said. “We think it’s been underserved for a long time. A lot of the security requirements for a single or two-site business are the same as what we used to see for thousand-site networks 20 years ago. All the connectivity challenges and everything else that are in place need to be secured so they can focus on the business. And that’s why we believe we've got a great deal for them.”