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MSSP software are tools or platforms used by a managed security service provider (MSSP) to outsource certain security functions to other organizations. MSSPs serve small businesses up to enterprises and play an essential role in securing increasingly complex IT environments. For current MSSPs and those MSPs considering offering cybersecurity services, read on to learn about the top managed security tools and platforms.
Infrastructure Security Software
Who Should Use It: MSSPs that manage and secure IT infrastructures, including network components, servers, and workstations.
Infrastructure security software is designed to protect the IT infrastructure from various physical and virtual security threats. These tools and software enable MSSPs to secure hardware, software, networks, and data from actions and events that could cause serious loss or damage to their customers. Although most providers don’t list their pricing information publicly, they typically offer free trials.
Core Infrastructure Security Software Features
The typical features of infrastructure security software and tools usually include network security, server security, endpoint security, and threat intelligence:
- Network Security: Protect the network components and traffic of customers from digital threats by deploying solutions like firewalls, IDS, and IPS.
- Server Security: Safeguard the servers of the businesses you work with from threats and ensure they’re running efficiently through methods like patch management.
- Endpoint Security: Secure your clients’ network endpoints from potential threats and ensure they comply with security policies.
- Threat Intelligence: Collect, analyze, and provide information about current threats, their tactics, techniques, and potential attacks that threaten your clients.
Best Infrastructure Security Software Providers
Three of the best infrastructure security providers today include Cisco, Fortinet, and Palo Alto Networks:
- Cisco: Offers a comprehensive suite of infrastructure security solutions, including firewalls and VPNs. (contact for quote)
- Fortinet: Provides security solutions for IT infrastructure, including its FortiGate next-generation firewalls and FortiWeb web application firewalls. (contact for quote)
- Palo Alto Networks: Delivers a broad portfolio of security solutions for IT infrastructure alongside its advanced firewall solutions. (contact for quote)
Network Security Software
Who Should Use It: MSSPs managing large network infrastructures or handling sensitive data.
Network security software and tools help protect the usability and integrity of your networks. They are essential for detecting and preventing threats against network infrastructure. Even though network security forms a part of infrastructure security, network security is a cornerstone of any robust cybersecurity strategy. Network security software providers usually offer free trials and demos, though most providers haven’t publicly listed pricing information.
Core Network Security Features
Network security software typically includes firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, data loss prevention, and secure VPNs:
- Firewalls: Analyze and control outgoing and incoming traffic to give customers a barrier between untrusted external networks and trusted internal networks.
- Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Monitor user network traffic for suspicious activity, issue alerts, and prevent potential threats when detected.
- Data Loss Prevention: Control data movement on your customers’ networks to prevent unauthorized data transfer and protect their privacy.
- Secure VPN: Deliver a secure and encrypted connection over a less secure network like the internet, especially for businesses that have remote employees.
Best Network Security Software Providers
Check Point, Fortinet and Sophos are top network security software providers.
- Check Point: Provides network security solutions like next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and secure VPNs. (contact for quote)
- Fortinet: Delivers high-performance solutions like secure SD-WAN and web application firewalls to protect networks from continually evolving threats. (contact for quote)
- Sophos: Offers a comprehensive suite of network security services, including firewall, IPS, VPN, web filtering, and application control. (contact for quote)
For more on network security software and tools, check out our Top Network Security Service Providers.
Cloud Security Software
Who Should Use It: MSPs that provide cloud-based services to their clients and need to ensure the security of their clients’ data and applications in the cloud.
Cloud security software is crucial for any MSP that offers cloud-based services as it helps identify and respond to threats, control access to cloud resources, ensure compliance with regulatory standards, and protect sensitive data from unauthorized access. With the right cloud security software, you can ensure your clients leverage the benefits of the cloud while minimizing security risks. The pricing of most of these tools isn’t public, but they offer free trials.
Core Cloud Security Software Features
Cloud security software is defined by features like data protection, threat detection, compliance management, and secure access:
- Data Protection: Safeguard sensitive customer data stored in the cloud from unauthorized access using encryption, tokenization, and key management.
- Threat Detection: Continuously monitor cloud environments to identify and respond to potential threats in your clients’ systems in real-time.
- Compliance Management: Ensure the cloud environments of the businesses you work with fulfill various regulatory standards.
- Secure Access: Control who can access your users’ cloud resources and services by using techniques like multi-factor authentication.
Best Cloud Security Software Providers
The top cloud security providers today include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Trend Micro.
- Microsoft Azure: Provides unified security management and advanced threat protection across hybrid cloud workloads. (contact for quote)
- Amazon Web Services: Offers a broad set of products and services you can use to build and run secure applications in the cloud. (contact for quote)
- Trend Micro: Delivers continuous security, compliance, and governance for your cloud infrastructure. (contact for quote)
Data Security Software
Who Should Use It: MSSPs that manage large volumes of sensitive data for their clients.
Data security software ensures that your data is safe, secure, and accessible only to authorized users. It involves solutions that protect data from being deliberately or unintentionally destroyed, modified, or disclosed. Data security can be applied using a range of techniques, including encryption, data masking, and data erasure. You can expect a free trial from these software tools.
Core Data Security Features
The core data security software features are data encryption, data backup, data masking, and data loss prevention:
- Data Encryption: Convert data like financial data and customer details into another form, or code, so that only users with access to a secret key can read it.
- Data Backup: Create a copy of data for your customers that can be recovered in the event of data corruption, ransomware, or hardware failure.
- Data Masking: Hide your customers’ personally identifiable information by replacing it with random characters or values and ensure it remains confidential.
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Monitor, detect, block, and protect your clients’ data from potential data breaches or data exfiltration transmissions.
Best Data Security Software Providers
Varonis, Imperva Data Security, and Micro Focus are three of the top data security providers in the market today.
- Varonis: Provides a data security platform that protects enterprise data, detects insider threats, automates compliance, and reduces risk. (contact for quote)
- Imperva Data Security: Offers visibility and control over data usage, access rights, and vulnerabilities. (contact for quote)
- Micro Focus: Delivers data loss prevention, encryption, data masking, and data discovery and classification. (contact for quote)
Identity Access Management (IAM) Software
Who Should Use It: MSSPs that need to control user access to critical information within their systems.
IAM software facilitates the management of electronic identities. MSSPs can use these tools to automate the initiation, capturing, recording, and management of user identities and their access permissions. With IAM, access privileges are given using policy and all individuals and services are correctly authenticated, authorized, and audited. Free trials and demos are common among these tools.
Core IAM Features
IAM software features include single-sign on, multi-factor authentication, user activity monitoring, and identity lifecycle management:
- Single Sign-On (SSO): Simplify logging in and improve convenience for your users with a single ID and password to any of several related systems.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Require your users to utilize more than one method of authentication from independent credential categories.
- User Activity Monitoring: Track and monitor end-user actions within their systems to detect and prevent suspicious behavior.
- Identity Lifecycle Management: Manage digital identities from creation to deletion, ensuring appropriate access during the user’s “lifecycle.”
Best IAM Software Providers
Three of the top IAM providers are Okta, CyberArk, and Ping Identity.
- Okta: Offers features like universal directory, lifecycle management, adaptive MFA, and API access management. ($2/user/month starting price)
- CyberArk: Provides software tools to protect privileged accounts, credentials, and secrets in the cloud or on-premises. (contact for quote)
- Ping Identity: Delivers a flexible and scalable IAM solution with features such as single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and access security. ($3/user/month starting price)
Risk & Vulnerability Management Software
Who Should Use It: MSSPs that need to assess and manage the security risks in their IT infrastructure.
Risk and vulnerability management software helps identify, classify, remediate, and mitigate vulnerabilities. It provides a systematic approach to managing security risks that arise from exposure to potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts. This type of software will help you identify and prioritize vulnerabilities in a system, and it’ll provide the tools necessary to take corrective action. Trials are commonly available for this type of software.
Core Risk & Vulnerability Management Software Features
Risk and vulnerability management software is typically characterized by risk assessment, remediation, reporting and analytics, and compliance management:
- Risk Assessment: Scan networks, applications, and systems to identify and evaluate potential risks and vulnerabilities in your users’ systems.
- Remediation: Guide your customers on how to address and resolve vulnerabilities, track the process of fixing them, and track the progress of fixes.
- Reporting and Analytics: Provide detailed reports and analytics on risk and vulnerability management to the organizations you work with.
- Compliance Management: Help your clients ensure they are in compliance with industry-specific regulations and maintain correct security controls.
Best Risk & Vulnerability Management Software Providers
Qualys, Rapid7 InsightVM, and Tenable are some of the top risk and vulnerability management software providers.
- Qualys: Gives instant visibility into where your users’ systems might be vulnerable to the latest Internet threats and how to secure them. (contact for quote)
- Rapid7 InsightVM: Allows you to scan your network, discover risks across endpoints and on-prem infrastructure, and eliminate vulnerabilities. ($1.93/month/asset starting price for 512 asset minimum)
- Tenable: Offers vulnerability management software and cyber exposure solutions to identify your biggest risk across the entire attack surface. (contact for quote)
Monitoring, Modeling, & Microsegmentation Software
Who Should Use It: MSSPs managing complex, distributed IT environments like a mix of cloud and on-premises systems.
Monitoring, modeling, and microsegmentation software provides real-time monitoring and predictive modeling to enhance network security. This exhaustive approach to security combines traditional network security practices with additional layers of security at the micro level. Clients with complex, distributed IT environments in particular will benefit from these tools. The providers of these tools typically offer free trials and demos.
Core Monitoring, Modeling, & Microsegmentation Software Features
These tools’ capabilities include real-time monitoring, predictive modeling, microsegmentation, and behavior analytics.
- Real-Time Monitoring: Track network and system resources in real-time for your users to provide them with immediate insights into performance and security.
- Predictive Modeling: Leverage historical data and use statistical techniques and algorithms to predict future behavior for your customers.
- Microsegmentation: Divide your clients’ networks into secure and manageable segments that can be controlled and monitored individually.
- Behavior Analytics: Use machine learning algorithms to detect abnormal behavior or anomalies within your customers’ devices and systems.
Best Monitoring, Modeling, & Microsegmentation Software Providers
Datadog, Illumio, and Darktrace are some of the best monitoring, modeling, and microsegmentation providers.
- Datadog: Offers real-time visibility into IT infrastructure using a platform that’s scalable, full-stack with more than 600 integrations. ($15/host/month starting price)
- Illumio: Provides micro-segmentation services that help your customers prevent the spread of breaches inside data centers and cloud environments. (contact for quote)
- Darktrace: Leverages an AI-driven cyberdefense solution that provides complete visibility across the digital estate. (contact for quote)
Bottom Line: MSSP Software
To choose the right MSSP software, first specify your needs and objectives, then determine which of the featured tools suit you. Further your research using trials and demos and consult the providers for pricing as most tools haven’t publicly published that information. Also consider tools that will scale and evolve with your business. Should you need more general types of MSP software to complement your MSSP use case, check out our top MSP software article.
This article was originally written and published by Sam Ingalls on June 1, 2022, and it was updated by Collins Ayuya on August 11, 2023.
