Managed Security vs In-house Security: Which of the two is the best?   

So, you are a business owner who has already started to think about transitioning to digital and you may be excited about the immense potential that it is offering you especially when it comes to making operations efficient and unlocking opportunities to create new avenues to boost the value of your brand among your customers.   

However, no matter how promising digital transformation may also pose a significant threat to your organization. Yes, you know what we are talking about. Cyber risks are part and parcel of leveraging the potential of digital to grow your business. As the world continues to accelerate towards the digital avenues discovering more efficient ways to operate, cybercriminals have also stepped their game up and have evolved their techniques using sophisticated techniques making cybersecurity a must-have for everyone. No wonder the cost of cybercrime is projected to be a whopping $10 trillion in 2025! 

Some facts to consider

• 68% of business leaders believe they are facing increased cybersecurity risks 
• 70% of the companies have reported lack of cybersecurity skills on board have a huge impact on business 
• At least 50% of companies outsource their cybersecurity security operations center  
• 70% of organizations receive more than 100 threat alerts every day but only 20% are investigating 20 events per day due to limited teams 

Now that you have thought about cybersecurity there are two ways to approach it. One approach is to take it all on your own and the other is to leave it to experts. We will be delving deeper into the two approaches and comparing them to see which ones are more beneficial for business.

Managed Security: What is Managed Security and What You Should Know about Managed Security?

Managed security is when you let someone else who is better equipped with expertise, resources, and tools look after your organization’s security processes and infrastructure. They usually are a third-party service provider. The reason why businesses prefer this approach and should you is because it takes the stress of cybersecurity off their shoulders.

They can focus better on the team of experts in multiple domains looking after their security. They specialize in helping organizations to engage in proactively keeping their IT infrastructure along with their most sensitive assets secured from the hands of bad guys from the digital world.

This includes coming up with a long-term strategy and implementing the defense mechanisms to secure their systems, networks, information, servers, endpoints, and other aspects of IT infrastructure.  Having a managed service provider working for your business helps you not only secure your business from harmful attacks such as data breaches but also saves you from non-compliance that can cause huge damage to your reputation.

What are the different types of Managed Security? 

The following are some of the types of managed security:

Managed Identity and Access Management (IAM) 

They provide services that prevent unauthorized access by the user to all the sensitive information assets, systems, etc., and help identify and implement all the best practices for identity and access management.   

Managed Security Operations Center (SOC) 

It’s a dedicated hub for everything and anything related to cybersecurity. It comprises of security experts who work round the clock to monitor & respond to incidents and address security events. They have some of the most advanced technological tools for cybersecurity. 

Managed Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)  

Managed SIEM service involves analysis of multi-sourced security event data, detection of threats, and response to suspicious activities before they get out of hand.  Experts engage in the optimization of rules of the SIEM, design and provisioning, use case management, and risk and compliance management.    

Managed Endpoint Security 

This service is aimed at securing all the individual points of an IT infrastructure that may consist of computers, smartphones, tablets, or any other devices using endpoint detection and response tools. 

Managed Email Security 

Services that involve implementing best practices for email security include – ensuring that email systems remain secure from phishing attacks that lead to other cyberattacks like data breaches. The service encompasses services such as filtering for threats and incident response.   

Managed Security Compliance and Auditing 

Compliance and auditing services are aimed at identifying and implementing all the measures against the regulations, guidelines, and standards stipulated by regulatory bodies. It involves auditing all the existing measures, policies, and procedures and filling the identified gaps through implementation.   

Managed Security Awareness Training 

These services include all the employee training and training modules that are made to bridge all the gaps in knowledge to mitigate human awareness gaps essential for a strong security posture.    

Managed Threat Hunting  

A team of security analysts hunt for threats in the cybersecurity posture by continuously scanning the environment for potential threats or signs of compromise. They are also responsible for taking measures for proactive threat detection and response.   

Managed Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing 

VAPT services are aimed at assessing the status quo cybersecurity posture for possible weaknesses using real-world techniques that modern-day attackers would use to infiltrate an organization’s defenses. Once the weaknesses are identified, remediation measures are recommended.   

Managed Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity 

To control damage in a cyber incident and to secure the most sensitive and critical assets, measures are taken for disaster recovery and backup. These measures serve as a critical measures for incident response planning preventing the possibility of major operational disruption and loss.   

The business benefits of Managed Security 

The following are some of the immense benefits of Managed Security:   

• It offers a dedicated team for cybersecurity with experts in areas such as threat hunting, incident response, analysis, etc.   
• It helps you save costs significantly. You don’t have to set up your own Security Operations Centre, it comes at a high expense of people, technology, and resources.  
• Reduces stress caused due to cyber-attacks and non-compliance by offering dedicated expertise for cybersecurity and compliance.  
• Ensures round-the-clock monitoring of your IT infrastructure and all your sensitive assets 
• Managed security provides much-needed round-the-clock support for cyber incidents. 
• Allows you to leverage cutting-edge cybersecurity tools meant to defend against sophisticated cyber attackers. 
• Provides you with the much-needed subject matter expertise on multiple aspects of cybersecurity.   
• Gives you the freedom to get your cybersecurity tailored to your business needs. 

What is In-house security?

In-house security is when you take up the job of establishing and maintaining your own setup for cybersecurity. It means investing a great deal of time, effort, resources, and people into building a dedicated team and department for cybersecurity.  

Your in-house cybersecurity team will be responsible for attending to everything that concerns cybersecurity for your business. It includes identifying and implementing all the respective measures that secure the most critical assets of your business.  

In-house teams must be capable enough to assist your business in mitigating a range of cybersecurity, physical security, and compliance-specific risks.  The in-house security teams can be of various types serving different purposes altogether. Let us take a look at some of the common types of in-house security teams.   

Some of the common types of In-house security 

Physical Security Team 

As the name suggests, the primary goal for physical security teams is to ensure the security of all the physical assets of an organization including all the buildings, facilities, and equipment. It involves implementing all the measures for physical security including measures for access control, alarm systems, surveillance data, etc.   

Cybersecurity Team 

It’s a team consisting of cybersecurity experts such as analysts, incident responders, threat hunters, etc. who are responsible for carrying out various functions to keep the cybersecurity posture of an organization’s IT infrastructure and its critical data assets secured from all kinds of cyber threats.   

Compliance and risk management team 

It’s a dedicated team that ensures that the business remains secure from non-compliance and cyber risk through periodical assessment and implementation of treatment measures. It is a team that ensures that the organization stays compliant with all the regulations, laws, and regulations that apply to their business.   

Information Security team 

These teams are responsible for the security of all sensitive information assets, implementing measures for privacy, data loss prevention, identity and access management, and maintaining confidentiality. 

Insider threat team 

They assess the organization for risks that may arise from human error, lack of awareness, or any other reason that intentionally or unintentionally causes harm to an organization. They use tools such as behavioral analytics to monitor and detect suspicious activities.   

Fraud prevention team 

These teams are responsible for identifying, detecting, and preventing fraud in an organization. This team usually consists of people with specialized knowledge in fraud detection, analysis, and forensic accounting. 

Incident response team 

It consists of cybersecurity experts who specialize in taking measures for incident response engaging in measures such as investigation and measures for remediation. They help in planning out the steps for recovery and damage control.   

Legal and compliance team 

The legal and compliance team ensures that the organization takes all the measures that are in line with the compliance regulations applicable. It consists of a legal team that attends to legal challenges and queries that are raised after cyber incidents.   

The various business benefits of In-house Security 

The following are some of the business benefits offered by in-house security:  

• In-house teams have complete control over security aspects such as technology deployed, procedures, and policies.  
• It can create its cybersecurity plan based on the organization’s specific requirements. 
• They don’t have to coordinate with multiple parties for cybersecurity. 

What makes In-house Security different from Managed Security? 

Cybersecurity is a tough ballgame, especially with the most immediate challenges that it brings with it such as limited teams due to skill shortage, limited/siloed-off security solutions that are growing expensive each year, and the exponential cost of setting up and managing. 

Cons that come with in-house security 

Taking into account all the immense benefits that in-house security offers to your business, there are some reasons why it is wiser to consider managed security. 

The following are some of the cons of in-house security 

The cost of building and managing an in-house security team is really high.

It includes all the costs of technological solutions, resources, salaries, benefits, and training. For example, building a SOC in-house can cost anywhere around $3 to 12 million annually, including all the people, processes, and technological costs. 

It becomes a financial burden to keep up with and manage the latest cybersecurity technology and tools.  

According to one report, the cost of security solutions is projected to rise by $260b by 2026 

It is highly challenging to create an in-house team  

Since there is a global challenge of cybersecurity skills gap. Small and medium organizations may find it almost impossible to find and manage a team of dedicated cybersecurity experts who can offer them the subject matter expertise they are looking for.

There will be around 3.5 m open positions in cybersecurity in the year 2025 with the cost of cybercrime being $10.5 trillion. 

Challenge setting up round-the-clock security  

In a world where cybercriminals don’t wait for businesses to open at business hours and often attack at odd hours of business. It is a significant challenge for an in-house team to engage in incident response with a proper set of people resources, and technology.  

Deploying a full 24×7 SOC team costs a minimum of $1 million

Why you should consider SharkStriker’s managed security services for your business? 

When we are talking about cybersecurity, we also need to address the elephant in the room – compliance. Many businesses find themselves in a challenge. They might find a vendor who might help them achieve all their cybersecurity goals. However, when they must ensure that all the measures that they have implemented are as per the compliances they are subjected to, they must restart their search for another vendor.  

Add to this the trouble of security solutions being siloed off, increasingly becoming expensive with time, and managing multiple vendors for fulfilling cybersecurity and compliance.  SharkStriker helps you to leverage the expertise of cybersecurity and compliance experts through a unified security solution that is made to make cybersecurity simple for your business in a world that is getting more and more complex.

Our STRIEGO was made to assist businesses in making the most of their existing security investments enabling them to scale up as they grow their business.   

Final thoughts 

The decision is quite simple. However, we suggest that you make that choice after a careful evaluation of your business’ size, budget, scope, nature of operation, and other specific needs.  

You can also go for a hybrid approach that combines both aspects and tailors it as per your scope. If you are still finding it challenging to decide which one is the best for you then don’t worry, we will help you draw a scope based on all of your specific needs.     

Get a call scheduled with our experts who will guide you better based on your budget and other specifications.  In case you want to check our range of managed services for your business you can check them here. Managed Services by SharkStriker