It’s no secret that security is a top priority for virtually all organizations. To delve deeper into the threat landscape and how MSPs and MSSPs can enhance their security, we spoke with Michael Crean. Now the EVP of managed security services at SonicWall, Crean himself founded and led an MSSP that SonicWall acquired in 2023.
Why Crean feels the fundamentals of security are still missing in too many businesses
To Crean, the most prevalent threat still facing organizations isn’t in the emerging security risks or new techniques just being deployed; it’s in the ‘fundamentals,’ as he says, including MFA and common identity access management, as well as traditional firewalls and other security risks.
“Attacks are getting faster, and in some instances, they’re getting a little more sophisticated. But the vast majority of the attacks that we’re seeing and investigating are basic fundamentals that are still being missed,” said Crean.
“It’s like we’ve gotten so quote-un-quote smart with AI that we’re allowing it or pretending to allow it to overcompensate for the things that are still probably the most important to do,” he continued.
That lack of foundational efforts applies to channel partners as much as it does to their customers.
“I mean, I talk to MSPs and MSSPs every day, every week, every month, and I find very few that are really doing it all. Some of them are for sure, but even some of the ones that you think are the most mature can miss things,” Crean said.
How MSPs and MSSPs can serve clients in the modern threat landscape
Crean founded and led MSSP Solutions Granted Inc. for two decades before joining SonicWall following its acquisition.
Although many partners have weighed the pros and cons of shifting from an MSP to an MSSP, Crean argues that there remains an opportunity for both models to coexist and work together to best support the needs of businesses worldwide.
“There’s room for both. There’s a need for both, and it has to be the better team that comes together,” Crean said. “If you have a true purpose in life and you feel very passionate about what you’re doing, and that passion is to be the best MSP that you can be, well, then partner with somebody who’s the best MSSP.”
Crean likens the relationship to that of a doctor. Not every doctor, Crean says, needs to be a surgeon, but all doctors should work within a team of specialists depending on the specific needs of their patients.
Beyond the needs of their customers, Crean says partners should also consider the customers’ willingness to heed advice and meet the standard security requirements set by the provider.
“I was a CEO and founder of a company for 22 years, and I was acquired by SonicWall in November of 2023. And one of the more empowering moments of my life was realizing it was OK to fire my customer,” Crean said.
“I wasn’t firing them because I didn’t like their money or I didn’t want their business, but they were no longer good business for me, and they were causing me to lose money because I was having to do all these extra things because they weren’t adhering to the fundamentals,” he continued.
Leveraging AI in the SOC, shoring up best practices, and more: using emerging technologies wisely
Even with a focus on fundamentals, Crean sees vast opportunities in utilizing AI to approach security. Of course, that also means threat actors can access more efficient workflows as well.
“You know, this is a cat-and-mouse thing. We build a better mousetrap, and then the mouse gets smarter,” Crean said.
From AI-enabled SOCs that can facilitate faster alert triage, to next-generation approaches to EDR solutions, Crean says automation will transform the way MSPs, MSSPs, and their customers manage security.
“I think this is a really good one because everybody’s talking about it, but most people don’t even understand what to do with it yet. But can you use AI to perform some sort of automation so it can automate the thing you hate the most?”
Crean also says one of the most impactful ways AI-enabled automation fuels stronger security is in oversight of (the still very necessary) actions performed by humans.
“Maybe the future for me is having more automation that is able to tell when the human being makes an error and doesn’t provision, install, implement something correctly, or turn something off and forgets to turn it back on. That’s still happening,” said Crean.