Inside BlackBerry's Managed Security Partner Program

BlackBerry Limited today announced a number of enhancements to the BlackBerry Partner Program to help managed security service providers (MSSPs) capture the demand among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) for 24x7x365 managed extended detection and response (XDR) services, a market which industry experts expect will grow from $22.45 billion in 2020 to $77.01 billion by 2030.

BlackBerry's 2022 Threat Report found SMBs experience 11-13 attacks every day. Amidst this growing threat landscape, the company has significantly increased its MSSP focus, launching new marketing incentives, a global hiring campaign to boost partner support, and a revamped curriculum of training, tools, and enablement resources to aid overall go-to-market efforts.

Enhancements include:

Greater cybersecurity protection for customers to sell – New products and services now available to MSSPs include CylanceGUARD, CylancePERSONA, and CylanceGATEWAY. This will enable new service opportunities and help MSSPs secure their client environments.

Increased support and field seller alignment – Commitment to significantly increase the size of BlackBerry's channel team, doubling employee headcount in roles such as partner management, customer success, and channel enablement to ensure partners have the technical and sales support to compete and win in the crowded EDR/XDR market. BlackBerry has also introduced seller compensation on MSSP deals to encourage field alignment and to embrace MSSPs as a critical route to market.

More comprehensive training – New BlackBerry Cyber Security Administrator (BCSA) technical training – aimed at MSSPs who will be configuring, managing, and troubleshooting BlackBerry UES products. Representing the next-generation evolution of the popular Cylance Security Professional Certification, the new program includes a blend of videos, instructor-led training, and online assessments on BlackBerry's AI-based, prevention-first solutions focused on preventing breaches before they happen.

Marketing incentives – Expanded the generous Protect and Earn partner incentive program that rewards MSSPs for uncovering and closing net-new BlackBerry logos. Partners earn cash-based rewards which are determined by the qualifying closed deal's total contract value, with no limits.

New pricing – New flexible licensing and pricing options built to match the way MSSPs do business with customers.

New MSSP-focused aid in partner business development – Including demand generation and sales support via proposal-based marketing funds, case studies, strategic go-to-market engagement and access to inside sales resources.

The expanded investment and support for MSSPs comes following last month's joint warning from the Five Eyes Alliance of security authorities from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, highlighting an increase in malicious cyber activity targeting managed service providers (MSPs) and urging them to protect the IT supply chain with a fresh set of cybersecurity measures.

"With headline-grabbing hacks and a cybersecurity talent gap showing no signs of letting up, SMBs have never been more under-staffed or ill-prepared to meet the challenges posed by the continuously evolving threat landscape," said VP, Global Channel Sales Colleen McMillan. "Our top 20 MSSPs have grown more than 50 percent year over year, and demand for human threat experts is through the roof. To that end, BlackBerry is doubling down and increasing our focus on our MSSP partners to ensure they're set up for success."

For more information on the BlackBerry Partner Program visit blackberry.com/partners or drop by the booth at the North Expo at RSA Conference 2022.

10 steps SMBs can take to reduce their risk of cyberattacks

1. Learn about the most commonly exploited threat vectors.
   Cyber criminals often use active attack vectors to access a network by disrupting its operations. Phishing, malware, ransomware, brute-force attacks, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and unpatched vulnerabilities are the most common active attack vectors.
   
   
2. Perform a comprehensive cybersecurity assessment.
   Understand the risk of an attack and what areas can be addressed that will result in the biggest improvements. Not sure where to start? Take advantage of any IT health check services provided by your vendor.
   
   
3. Conduct an extensive vulnerability assessment of the business environment and ensure partners do the same.
   The MITRE ATT&CK framework, CVE database, and OWASP Top Ten list provide timely information on known cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Pay attention to business areas that are using older software or technology as they often contain extensively documented and easily exploited vulnerabilities.
   
   
4. Review existing security policies and procedures.
   Reevaluate existing security policies in light of remote and hybrid workforces. These new work arrangements can result in an expanded network and a larger attack surface for threat actors.
   
   
5. Ensure all company data is encrypted, including assets in the cloud.
   Encrypting data helps protect sensitive company information and can enhance the security between client applications and servers. Encrypted data is also difficult for attackers to decrypt and read.
   
   
6. Implement multifactor authentication.
   Multifactor authentication requires users to provide additional verification such as a PIN or fingerprint. This can make it more difficult for cyber criminals to access your network.
   
   
7. Have a disaster recovery plan in place.
   When building a disaster recovery plan, determine the recovery time objective (RTO) – the amount of downtime your business can absorb before being impacted by data loss. Also, determine your recovery point objective (RPO) – the amount of data (updated or created) that will be lost or need to be re-entered after an outage.
   
   
8. Implement the principle of least privilege to control access across the environment.
   By adopting the principle of least privilege, users are given the minimum levels of access to networks, devices, and applications needed to perform their jobs.
   
   
9. Adopt a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) security posture.
   ZTNA requires users to continuously build and maintain trust with their host environment to keep their access privileges. Adopting ZTNA also empowers IT to know who is on the network and what applications they are currently using.
   
   
10. Add artificial-intelligence-based cybersecurity tools to your security stack.
    AI-based cybersecurity tools can perform multiple security tasks, including predicting zero-day threats, preventing malware execution, and detecting suspicious behavior patterns.

Download a PDF version of these 10 steps to strengthen the organization's cybersecurity posture and avoid being compromised.