The majority (93%) of managed service providers (MSPs) across the META region are currently planning to add new services to their cybersecurity portfolio, where threat intelligence is among their top choices, along with managed detection and response and targeted attack discovery. These are the findings of a new Kaspersky report ‘MSP market focus: IT security challenges and opportunities in the new normal’. As perceived competition in the market has risen since 2019, pricing, quality of protection, and ability to offer additional services become key factors for choosing a cybersecurity vendor.

Cybersecurity is one of the most prominent areas of growth for MSPs, according to various industry experts. It presented the biggest opportunities for growth in 2021, together with remote workforce setup – with 65% of MSPs reporting security service revenue growth as a result. As for threat intelligence, which was among the top interests of MSPs as revealed by the Kaspersky survey, “it is a key aspect of security architecture that helps security and risk management technical professionals detect, triage, and investigate threats,” according to Gartner.

Among various threat intelligence services, the most interesting for MSPs across the META region according to the research is APT reporting (18%), which allows them to keep up to date with the most recent investigations, threat campaigns, and techniques of APT actors. This is followed by threat data feeds (16%) and threat lookup (13%) that help to improve incident response. Other services that providers look for include malware analysis (31%), security assessment (40%), and targeted attack discovery (47%).

Expanding their portfolio with cybersecurity services can help MSPs strengthen their position in the market which has become quite competitive. In 2021, the majority (87%) of providers reported an increase of their client base since 2019, and over a third (38%) see the competition from other MSPs as the most serious business challenge in comparison with only 19% in 2019.

This competitive environment also determines the requirements for cybersecurity vendors. When it comes to choosing a vendor for the service, the top criteria for MSPs include competitive pricing (53%), vendor reputation (49%), followed by and the ability to offer additional services (40%) and quality of protection in tests (31%). These should allow MSPs to build the best threat intelligence offering for their customers.

“Managed service providers understand the business need to combat security risks in an increasingly complex environment. Today, when a reactive approach to cybersecurity is not enough, MSPs have to seriously address the choice of threat intelligence (TI) service providers. High-quality TI implies a range of characteristics, such as possession of a rich context that creates intelligence from data and provides additional value. It also implies support from a recognised team of experts with proven experience in uncovering complex threats, and the smooth integration of services into a company’s existing security operations,” says Mikhail Kolchin, Head of MSP Business at Kaspersky.

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