Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly becoming targets of devastating cyberattacks because they often lack the budget, resources, and security knowledge to put an effective defense in place.

Not too long ago, cybercriminals took a highly targeted approach, setting their sights on enterprise data because they perceived it as having higher value. But in recent years, they realized that SMBs have the same type of data—customer contacts, health data, credit card data, or valuable intellectual property—just less of it.

Now cybercriminals are taking an automated “spray and pray” approach, which is easier and much more lucrative for them. In fact, 54% of all American SMBs experienced a data breach between July 2016 and June 2017. This evolving threat landscape and the ensuing financial consequences are a great cause of concern for many SMBs. More than half of all SMBs believe cyberattacks are growing more sophisticated, more targeted, and more severe.

SMBs need help designing and implementing security programs that ensure ongoing protection. For IT service providers, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge.  The opportunity is managed security services.  Managed security services are a great way for managed services providers (MSPs) to provide the peace of mind their customers are looking for while also growing their own business. Done right, managed security services can help SMBs mitigate the threat of downtime, lost revenue, and damage to their reputation. It can also help MSPs grow and differentiate their business and build loyalty.

However, the challenge for MSPs is knowing what security services their customers need and then determining how to effectively deliver these services for a small business budget. The first step in defining a security services portfolio is to look at your clients’ attack surface. Once potential entry points have been identified, the next step is to apply the most appropriate tools and level of protection to stop these threats. Too much protection and the price tag quickly becomes too high or existing business processes break. Too little and their vulnerability increases.

Download our white paper on the three essential components of managed security for SMBs, and learn how to deliver exactly what your customers need.