Actionable Security Data Key to Successful Partner-Customer Relationships

Channel partners have long played a vital role in connecting organizations with the right cybersecurity services and products. However, this has traditionally been a somewhat disjointed process, with enterprises buying a variety of solutions from multiple vendors via different partners.

Over time this can result in organizations accumulating systems that don't work together. Attempting to deal with disconnected streams of threat data means businesses can find themselves lacking a big-picture view of the risks they face.

As the cyber-threat landscape grows in complexity, businesses need a more unified approach with integrated tools that provide clear and actionable intelligence. Partners can play a pivotal role with strategic guidance and providing tools that offer this complete visibility across their attack surface.

The Need for a Unified Approach to Security

Managing disparate security tools that operate in silos is exposing companies to elevated risk. This fragmentation can lead to inefficient processes and slow response times. From a budgetary perspective, it also increases the chances of redundant solutions or tools not being used to their full potential.

But perhaps more importantly, it also makes it harder to gain a comprehensive overview of cyber risk. With multiple siloed tools, teams struggle to find patterns in their threat data or identify how different issues interconnect.

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This means it’s difficult for teams to predict and prevent attacks effectively. Without a broader view, they're more likely to react to incoming threats as they happen, rather than taking the more proactive stance that a hostile threat landscape demands.

These issues have become pressing in the face of increased diversification and professionalization from criminal groups. Their attacks are now coming in greater numbers, hitting harder and costing more. For example, our recent report showed that the cyber-threat landscape in 2023 and 2024 has been dominated by mass exploitation.

Businesses with mature security strategies are aware of this challenge and looking to move toward a unified view of their security landscape. The aim is an integrated security stack that will enable them to blend data from various sources and better understand potential vulnerabilities.

This holistic approach not only improves the ability of security teams to respond to incidents but also helps prioritize resources and efforts where they're most needed. This helps deliver both a higher level of security assurance and better ROI on investments.

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How Channel Partners Can Provide Actionable Security Data

Channel partners are uniquely positioned to help organizations navigate the complex cybersecurity landscape by providing tools and the expertise needed to interpret and act on security data.

Insightful activity logs and actionable data enable businesses to identify and respond to threats more efficiently. However, the sheer volume of data can be overwhelming, particularly for small and medium businesses that may lack experienced security personnel.

The channel can add significant value by ensuring that data is not only comprehensive but also accessible and understandable. This includes optimizing existing solutions – for example, ensuring that data feeds from endpoint detection and response (EDR), endpoint protection platforms (EPP) and security information and event management (SIEM) tools are easily accessible together. It can also mean moving toward a platform approach that provides several solutions from one hub. Both cases create additional value add for partners, creating the opportunity for upselling and packaging multiple provisions.

Channel partners also play a crucial role in educating customers. This includes guiding them on best practices for data interpretation, prioritization of threats and overall cybersecurity strategy. By focusing on the most relevant insights, channel partners can help businesses make informed decisions that strengthen their security posture.

Bringing Threat Data Together with Exposure Management

One approach which can help organizations to have a more holistic and comprehensive view of their cyber risk is exposure management (XM). This approach goes beyond traditional security measures by integrating tools and processes across the security stack.

XM differs from other approaches with its scope, encompassing risk management processes such as attack surface management and covering everything from software vulnerabilities to access controls to supply chain security.

The aim is to fully integrate all threat data into a single point of control that enables a clearer understanding of where vulnerabilities exist. By adopting XM, businesses can identify potential weaknesses and, importantly, the context of the risk this poses to their business.

This is particularly important as no security team can deal with every threat. What they need, instead, is a way to know how to prioritize threats and make decisions on remediation actions based on the possible impact to their business.

Channel partners can leverage XM to offer more tailored solutions that align with the specific needs of their clients, ensuring that security efforts are focused on the most critical areas.

Serving as trusted advisors in this way will only become more crucial as the complexity of the threat landscape grows. By offering integrated, tailored solutions that align with an exposure management approach, partners can provide essential guidance for companies desperate for support on dealing with a wide scope of threats.