Jan/Feb 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

In fact, according to a recent report by Technavio, the market for MFA, which introduces additional layers of security to authenticate the user iden- tity and secure transactions over the internet, is expected to grow at a com- pound annual rate of nearly 23 per- cent during the next three years. By 2021, Technavio expects MFA global revenues to top $21 billion. As organizations of all sizes, and especially SMBs, look to trusted ad- visers for help, partners need to be prepared to meet these rising security demands. This means not only ensur- ing they can provide essential protec- tion for user identities, but that they can do so without adding complexity and cost to their service portfolio – or creating a difficult user experience. Cloud-based MFA is well-positioned to meet the security needs of the cus- tomer, while also presenting VARs and MSSPs with an opportunity for easy, scalable and profitable sales. By incorporating cloud-based MFA services, solution providers can: Eliminate the #1 Security Vulnerability Leveraged by Hackers – According to the latest Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report , stolen credentials are a top contributing fac- tor to the vast majority of corporate breaches. And this isn’t just an issue for large enterprises. Weak and stolen passwords are a serious concern for the SMB market as well, with 58 per- cent of breach victims being small busi- nesses. What’s usually overlooked is that a vulnerable SMB that is part of a larger enterprise’s business operations can exponentially increase the cost and impact of the breach (consider the Tar- get breach as an example). Most advanced ransomware, and other advanced attacks that are known to put SMBs out of business, originate from stolen credentials. Adding MFA enables partners to address the need for security where it matters the most and have an immediate return on investment, by enabling customer’s adherence to several mandatory com- pliance and regulatory needs (such as PCI-DSS, HIPAA, CJIS, EPCS, etc.). Reduce Administrative Cost and Complexity – Most cloud-based MFA solutions require little to no upfront investment for deployment, manage- ment and reporting infrastructure. This makes them scalable and always avail- able, while also improving the service’s performance. With cloud-based MFA, the manage- ment process can be so streamlined that end users without security staff can ad- minister their own solutions, if they’re not already working with a solution provider to do it for them. Cloud-based MFA can simplify a previously complex service without the use of expensive hardware, allowing VARs and MSSPs to offer MFA without the need to increase their staff Cyber Patrol Layer on the Security Sales T he need to protect employee, partner and customer identities is universal, resulting in a sizeable and growing market opportunity for multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions and services from VARs and MSSPs. Five reasons cloud-based MFA makes perfect sense forVARs and MSSPs By Himanshu Verma 30 Channel Vision | January - February, 2019