What every MSP should pack for peace of mind in summer holidays 2024

Hat, SPF20 and expert managed cyber services

Everyone needs down time and most of us are more than ready for a break in the summer but when there’s a project to keep an eye on, or a badly timed pitch you have to attend remotely, it can take the edge off any relaxing down time and have a negative impact on your mental health. However, if you can ensure the tech that you have lugged to the hotel from the airport and the cloud services it accesses are protected from cyber criminals, it would take a lot off your plate. And the same applies to your customers.

Data suggests that cyber attacks are around 40% more common through the summer months. Phishing attacks definitely follow that trend, and according to various sources (including the FBI!) are also much more likely to be successful during the holiday months. Human error - which accounts for about 95% of all data breaches - also surges between June and August. Any MSP with this in the back of their minds might find themselves feeling far more stressed than they need to during their own holiday.

When you’re officially working, you’re likely vigilant about your laptop and who has access to it, no matter where you are. When you’re on holiday however the last thing you want to do is log on to read emails, and it would be nice to be able to let the kids log on to watch Netflix sometimes to give you some peace and quiet.

And those are just a couple of threads in a complicated web of reasons that explain why the summer is an easier time for cyber criminals. Some suggest that cybercrime’s talent pool is boosted by bored students over the holidays. Back at base, part time workers are contracted into some less skilled roles to shore up summer absences. And as for the really expert cyber roles - skills shortages being a year round challenge - your resources can be stretched thin as staff take annual leave.?

So it doesn’t take an AI to figure out that an OOO email matched with any date in June, July or August could mean your - and your customers’ - vigilance is less keen, defences just that little bit softer, your response times a crucial bit slower.?

Your summer cyber challenge may be complicated, but you can simplify it with Barracuda’s Managed XDR service.

Managed XDR is our advanced threat monitoring and incident response platform designed specifically for MSPs. Armed with deep AI analysis and backed by our expert SOC team, it overlays seamlessly on your existing multi vendor security stack to detect incidents and take appropriate action, keeping your customers safer.?

Obviously it’s never OOO, never distracted, with its SIEM capability offering total observability and vigilance across email, endpoints, cloud services, networks and servers. And our specialist SOC team boosts the effectiveness of your services and the protection your customers receive. They provide an additional level of expert oversight and remediation action, all day, everyday. Weather, surf and season notwithstanding. They don’t take holidays, so you can. Life can be stressful enough, so one less thing to worry about when you are meant to be taking time off can only be a good thing.