Managed security services (MSSs) with advanced threat detection and remediation capabilities are enjoying high adoption rates in Asia-Pacific, keeping the regional market buoyant despite an economic slowdown. 

 

Evolving threats are leveraging connected devices to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS), ransomware and advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks. Enterprises are seeking more proactive security measures while government authorities want focus on protection capabilities for national critical infrastructure. In response, MSS providers (MSSPs) are adopting advanced security analytics platforms that feature functionalities such as forensics, and incident response across the entire system from networks to endpoints in different environments.

 

"In addition to traditional network security services, MSSPs should also look at other advanced security services, such as advanced endpoint detection and response (AEDR), advanced security analytics and threat intelligence, critical infrastructure protection (CIP), and advanced DDoS mitigation to prevent Internet of Things (IoT)-based DDoS attacks," said Digital Transformation Industry Analyst Vu Anh Tien.

 

He added, "In terms of service model, we believe that hosted security services will see an uptake in the next 5 years as many customers are migrating their infrastructure to the cloud, which requires MSSPs to provide relevant services, such as hosted DDoS mitigation, Email & web security, AEDR and APT protection, to facilitate and protect the transformation and infrastructure. This will drive MSSPs to work closely with security vendors and other stakeholders to leverage on their knowledge and expertise to provide these advanced services to its customers in an effective way."

 

Asia-Pacific Managed Security Services Market, Forecast to 2020, a part of Frost & Sullivan's Network Security Growth Partnership Service program, examines the impact of the growing customer preference for managed security services. It also provides insights into the strategic positioning of existing market participants, including Verizon, IBM Security, NTT, Quann and SecureWorks in meeting customer needs.

 

Mature MSS markets such as Japan and Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) regions accounted for an amalgamated share of 58.3% in 2015. Developing markets such as the Greater China Region (GCR), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India also registered double-digit, year-on-year (YoY) growth rates of 20.7%, 30.1% and 18.9%, respectively.

 

To achieve higher growth, MSSPs must address industry challenges such as:

 

Customer concerns about quality and reliability of services

High dependence of enterprises on traditional security products and partnerships with system on chip (SOC) vendors

MSSP non-compliance with industry standards relating to data privacy

While MSSP collaborations with governments will help compliance with the data security standards, their partnerships with industrial control systems and security vendors will upgrade customers' manufacturing facilities to an industrial 4.0 level.

 

Several organizations have implemented 24/7 monitoring capabilities to resist advanced malware attacks. They are further employing secure and scalable cloud-computing security applications and services to prevent hackers from using IoT devices as botnets to launch large-scale DDoS attacks.

 

"MSSPs should work with IoT vendors to integrate advanced security analytics into their platforms to detect the threats from end points," noted Tien. "To maximize mitigation capacity, Telco-based MSSPs may consider launching advanced DDoS mitigation services by working closely with their partners."