ChannelVision Magazine

es or to ensure they’re abiding by the laws. On the other hand, not every MSP is equipped to satisfy all those needs. But they can extend their reach by partnering and integrating their platforms with companies that offer additional or complementary technologies. Steve Fredricksen, a network engi- neer at Stacey & Dennis IT Solutions, a Klamath Falls, Ore-based MSP, recalls the case of a client that was experiencing sudden spikes in internet usage. This customer was a medical firm with fairly predictable online activ- ity by employees. “We picked up that anomaly through a big jump in traffic—and we used user activity monitoring soft- ware to verify and pinpoint the par- ticular machine and its activity. Then we started to go over the course of a 14-hour shift. We watched for a week, compiled the information, and found that a certain person had had Facebook auto-playing all day long on the machine.” And how did the culprit respond when confronted? “Originally, the person claimed Face- book was on in the background. We presented the activity information and said, ‘Unfortunately, that’s not true.’” Stacey & Dennis merely reported the findings to the client but declined to make a recommendation about how to discipline the employee. A Roland client had its suspicions about employees in a certain department that didn’t seem to be working very hard. According to Nix, “They were constantly going to management and complaining, ‘We can’t get all our work done; we’re so busy we need more people to help!’” A bit of user activity monitoring suggested strongly that the request for extra hands was a coverup for low productivity. “You had four people in the department, and two of them spent a lot of time on so- cial media and visiting websites,” Nix explained. The most productive work seemed to be filling online shopping carts. The issue of compliance comes up for a lot of MSP clients. Although HIPAA requirements have been around more than two decades, some compa- nies still aren’t equipped to deal with all the complexities involved with pro- tecting patient privacy. By discrete monitoring of employee activity, we make it possible to verify employees are doing what they should be doing, along with ensuring that the right protocols are being implemented as they should,” said Stacey & Dennis’ Fredricksen. “That lets companies ap- ply corrective action early so they can leverage the dollars they’re spending to maximize output.” NIST certification for contractors with the Pentagon started just this year. Lack of compliance carries stiff penalties. “When you apply for a DoD con- tract, you have to answer very specific questions and have your logbook set up to show you’re certified,” Nix ex- plained. User behavior analytic and user activity monitoring software offer proof of compliance without which, said Nix, “your contract with the government can be canceled.” Intentional bad behavior by employ- ees isn’t the only thing that can get companies into trouble. Cybersecurity experts say the most common variety of insider threat is inadvertent, and two out of three such episodes occur when employees fall victim to a phishing at- tempt and mistakenly reveal sensitive data or expose the company to some kind of malware. According to Fredricksen, Stacey & Dennis had a law firm client that made frequent use of FedEx, particularly through emails. “The front desk peo- ple started opening them. One came in that had the colors, the format, and the font just right. An employee opened it up thinking, ‘It’s FedEx, nothing bad here.’ But there was an encryption program embedded in the email, set to do a lot of damage.” Us- ing user behavior analytics software, “we did a targeted recovery – finding the user and what files were affected – and were able to help restore the system a lot faster.” Partnering with complementary technology providers not only help MSPs round out vital security ser- vices, it becomes instrumental in expanding their businesses. “As out- sourced IT, we have a responsibility to provide the best solution to our cus- tomers so they can maintain usability and productivity for their systems,” Fredricksen said. “Having a full package enhances our ability to sell our products,” added Nix. “Prospective clients think, ‘Why go somewhere else?’” o Larry Thompson is president of Veriato, which provides employee ac- tivity monitoring and behavior analytics software for business, government and education. Source: Crowd Research Partners; CA Technologies channel management July - August, 2018 | Channel Vision 47