Valter Rodrigues, Head of Cybersecurity at KCS iT, authored the opinion article "Cybersecurity-as-a-Service: specialized teams for what businesses truly need." Originally published in IT Security, it can be read below.

Many organizations are locked into expensive, inefficient systems or licenses that don't address what they actually need. They follow policies, processes, and procedures poorly suited to today's reality, which delivers very little in return for the investment they make and gives them a false sense of security.

It's exactly the opposite of this that Cybersecurity-as-a-Service (CSaaS) offers: it lets every company access the most secure solutions available and security tools tailored to the challenges at hand, it guarantees access to specialized, certified professionals who respond efficiently to the problems that arise, and this translates into a truly effective Return on Security Investment (RoSI) that justifies every investment made.

With increasingly tight budgets and difficulty finding qualified security professionals, more and more organizations are considering the possibility of turning to cybersecurity as a service, an outsourced, pay-as-you-go risk management model. Managed Security Services (MSS) aren't a new concept, but the CSaaS market has undergone a huge transformation in recent years, largely due to major changes in how we share and manage data and also due to the increasing digitalization of our daily lives. Organizations that haven't prioritized security are increasingly turning to specialists and external providers to meet their Cybersecurity needs, not only because they lack that know-how within their own teams, but also because regulatory pressure and the need for certification demand it, given that failing to do so could put their business continuity at risk.

Hiring an entire security team simply isn't an option for many organizations, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). CSaaS gives organizations the option of having a comprehensive security program without struggling to find and hire highly specialized new professionals. While there's always a cost associated with hiring a CSaaS partner, much of the expense is eliminated by outsourcing these functions. Without the need to train and retain staff, CSaaS reduces the financial burden while, at the same time, giving the company the security it needs to manage its risks, greatly increasing its cost-benefit ratio and letting it focus almost 100% on growing its business.

CSaaS provides access to teams of specialists and knowledge that might not be available internally; in this way, the CSaaS partner becomes your organization's security team, and will be able to answer your questions, provide the necessary support, monitor 24/7, work proactively to raise the organization's security maturity, and be present in the event of a breach attempt or attack.

Hiring a qualified CSaaS company allows an organization to choose or define the level of service that best suits it, and to also change those choices over time according to its needs.

This is, therefore, a major advantage, since over time, the level or even the type of service needed can increase or decrease according to necessity, depending on factors such as internal growth, existing security tools, internal skill sets, more critical changes or mitigations, among others. Depending on certain threat scenarios or changes to the organization's strategy, the services provided change, with CSaaS being a starting point for launching a personalized, comprehensive, and effective security program for organizations.

Cybersecurity as a service offers complete protection against the latest cyberattacks, but it should be provided by a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) determined to fully understand each client's needs, a trusted partner that works on exactly what each organization truly needs. A well-designed CSaaS offering is something both large and small organizations can benefit from, including solutions like the ones described in this article. Solutions that should give organizations a response reflecting their individual needs and requirements, with an extreme focus on the best possible protection for their business.