For the first time, ConnectWise CISO Patrick Beggs will publicly share what went on inside ConnectWise this year as the company dealt with its own incident – an exploited vulnerability in an older version of its remote control software. Beggs will be joined by ConnectWise VP of Corporate Communications, Amanda Lee, and together they will tell the story of how they leveraged AI for incident response and communications both internally and externally.

Beggs and Lee will cover how the company leveraged established processes, transparent communications and other tools – all part of the incident response plan – to help MSPs and other partners manage through the crisis.

In this session, MSPs and MSSPs will learn:

• Why a well-defined process can be your best weapon in dealing with an unexpected crisis.
• How Beggs and Lee each leveraged generative AI to assist in their incident response efforts.
• How a proactive communication approach fosters trust and stops misinformation before it can start.
• How ConnectWise developed a clearinghouse for partner communications, and how you can develop a similar approach for communicating with customers as part of your own incident management plan.
• What lessons Beggs and Lee learned from their incident response experience earlier this year, and how MSPs and MSSPs can use them to enhance their own incident response and communication strategies.

In an era where cyber threats evolve faster than traditional defenses, proactive identification and remediation of vulnerabilities is critical. Attack Surface Management (ASM) seeks to pinpoint and address exploitable weaknesses in customers’ security postures before adversaries strike. With the average time to develop a zero-day exploit standing at 22 days, the need for rapid and efficient patching is paramount. This presentation delves into the essential tools and processes MSPs and MSSPs must deploy—ranging from asset inventory to retesting—to effectively manage ASM. Moreover, leveraging Machine Learning within the Vulnerability AI layer of Cortex, Chris demonstrates how to streamline this process, enabling partners to stay ahead in the cybersecurity arms race.

Competition up. Margins down. Revenue sideways. If you’re running a managed IT business in 2024, this isn’t an unusual state: to quote an old guy – nasty, brutish and short. But for growth-minded service providers, security and compliance furnish both opportunities for rapid margin, revenue, and retention expansion, as well as essential safeguards against emerging risk. And the kicker: they can be added to your line card and delivered continuously essentially for free. 

In this Apptega session, go-to-market and security experts from leading MSSP, Foresite, share: 

• How to partner with other service providers to maximize revenue opportunities.
• Why the evolving regulatory, security and privacy landscapes demand partnership.
• How to help customers navigate the security and compliance journey, from initial discussion through to renewal.

Effective incident response (IR) is critical for organizations to mitigate the impact of cyber incidents. Traditional tabletop exercises, while valuable, often lack the immersive and interactive elements necessary to fully engage participants and simulate real-world scenarios. This presentation will explore the innovative use of an online multiplayer IR game environment as a powerful tool for enhancing IR preparedness by fostering collaboration and introducing situations novel to these exercises.

In this session you will:

• Understand why IR planning and exercise are so critical.
• Discuss the impact gamification can have on engagement in the IR education process.
• See how multi-player online IR games can closely mimic the pressure and stress of an actual cyber incident.

Cyber criminals have embraced AI just as fast – if not faster – than those of us who use AI for defense or other legitimate purposes. In this presentation, you’ll get a primer on “what is AI” and how it impacts the CIA triad security model (confidentiality, integrity, and availability). This history lesson will include a discussion of problems involving AI policy and new shadow IT threat AI tools. Plus, you’ll learn how to “Think Evil” to improve your cybersecurity.

In this session you will:

• Gain a clearer understanding of AI and its components such as machine learning, plus you’ll gain an understanding of ethical AI and why it is needed.
• Learn why you can benefit from “Thinking Evil” and how to use threat modeling in your cybersecurity defense.
• Find out more about how bad actors use AI, and how you can counter that with your own AI cybersecurity defense.

As cybersecurity becomes integral to daily life, MSSPs face commoditization and profitability pressures. This presentation will explore how to differentiate from others by building an exciting, authentic, and successful MSSP business where people want to work for you and businesses want to buy from you. Discover strategies to build a value-driven culture, align services with client needs, and innovate to maintain a competitive edge.

In this session you will:

• Build a value-driven culture to enhance employee satisfaction.
• Align MSSP services with client needs for exceptional delivery.
• Innovate and simplify technology to stay competitive and foster loyalty.

MSSPs have evolved from traditional firewall management to broader services due to demand. Originally for large enterprises, they now serve smaller businesses, impacting pricing and expectations. This presentation addresses how and why MSSPs can refine their go-to-market strategies.

In this session you will:

• Understand evolving customer expectations as the total addressable market grows.
• Learn the importance of “best of breed” technology and building a flexible ecosystem (being locked into technology stacks is debilitating).
• Gain insight into how this may impact the cost to deliver and overall price to the market (there are many out there looking for a Ferrari but can only afford a Ford).

MSSPs are experts at providing outsourced cybersecurity services to end customers. Yet many MSSPs miss the opportunity to fully leverage their incident response practices and operations maturity as a competitive sales advantage in the market. Join this presentation to discuss practical cases from the field on how to take advantage of industry standards to help your cybersecurity services business be more successful in sales, negotiations, service delivery and objections management. 

In this session you will:

• Gain a better understanding of incident response industry standards (X.1060, ISO 27035, NIST 800-61, ENISA, ETSI, FIRST and maturity models SOC-CMM and SIM3).
• Learn how incident response industry standards are typically deployed at MSSPs for better business results.
• Think though and decide what your MSSP should take from incident response standards and maturity models, and approximately how much effort that would require.
• Learn how to leverage these standards in your sales, negotiations service delivery and objections management.

Discover best practices in integrating TIPs into your SOC. See why TIPs are essential for maintaining a competitive edge, as we cover key adoption indicators and practical integration steps. Learn how to monetize TIPs through enhanced services and new revenue streams, with real-world case studies offering a clear path to success.

In this session you will:

• Identify key indicators for TIP adoption and learn how to assess SOC operations and recognize the critical signs that indicate when it’s time to adopt a Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP).
• Be able to implement TIP integration seamlessly by exploring practical strategies to integrate a TIP into existing SOC infrastructure, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal disruption to ongoing security operations.
• Monetize TIP investments effectively through acquiring actionable knowledge on how to monetize TIP investment by enhancing service offerings, creating new revenue streams, and improving client retention through advanced threat intelligence capabilities.

Are we losing our cybersecurity war? The answer is "Yes!" Every year the number of cybersecurity breaches continues to increase and the cost of those breaches grows exponentially. This is not a sign of a winning strategy.

In this session you will:

• Learn how we have created an adversarial environment that is hindering our ability to protect our clients and increase engagement.
• See how increased user engagement helps to protect and recover from cyber attacks.
• Discover why AI and “users are the weakest link” are hurting you and your customers. 

Ransomware news has become like white noise to buyers. There’s so much of it now, your buyers may very well be numb and be tuning it out. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still use news reports about cybersecurity to your advantage. In this presentation you will learn how to take advantage of cyber news without becoming Chicken Little so that you can better protect customers, shorten sales cycles and prove InfoSec value.

In this session you will:

• Identify which types of cyber news to share (and which types NOT to share) with prospects and clients.
• Gain understanding of how to translate newsworthy cyber events into valuable information for your buyer.
• Learn how to shorten sales cycles through storytelling.

Join this panel of pioneering MSPs who are blazing the trail to sell AI and related services into end-customer businesses.

In this session you will:

• Learn how these service providers are using AI to benefit their own businesses.
• Discover how they are establishing practices to sell.
• Explore specific use cases including project work and the way AI can turn into recurring revenues for MSPs and MSSPs.

On July 26, 2023, the SEC adopted rules requiring registrants to disclose their cybersecurity risk management strategy and governance, as well as the material impact of cybersecurity incidents. This reflects a larger trend globally of regulators requiring more accountability for incident readiness and response, IRR. As security leaders are increasingly under scrutiny, what proactive measures should they be considering for risk mitigation and incident preparedness?  Moreover, how can MSSPs help enterprises to plan for incident response to ensure they are containing and eradicating the threat, recovering affected systems, and learning from the incident to improve future security posture? Join this session for new data from a survey of 500 security leaders that sheds light on what they are prioritizing for IRR today and how MSSPs can capitalize on this information.

Helping customers make decisions on the right cybersecurity tools to deploy or the right projects to complete can be a challenging task. See what options are available to help customers make informed decisions by using compliance requirements and true risk quantification.

In this session you will:

• Discuss ways to evaluate and prioritize cybersecurity spend.
• Gain a better understanding of risk quantification.
• Learn how to use risk quantification to determine the impact a security tool/project can have on a breach reduction.

Don't miss this opportunity to delve into the critical challenge of fostering a cybersecurity culture beyond the IT department and the experts. Today's cybersecurity professionals need effective strategies to encourage everyone to recognize and embrace their own role in maintaining cyber safety. This session is more than just a discussion; it's a call to action for cybersecurity leaders to drive change and create a resilient, aware, and proactive digital environment for all.

In this session you will: 

• Learn the truth about Cybersecurity and Main Street.
• Explore practical methods to promote cybersecurity as a shared responsibility.
• Discuss strategies to transform cybersecurity from a policy to a mindset.
• Gain insights into leveraging organizational behavior for stronger security practices.

Hiring and keeping top notch employees is key for service provider companies. Channel research firm Canalys poled MSPs about the biggest external challenges to their businesses, and talent acquisition and rose to the top of the list, above evolving cybersecurity threats.

In this session you will:

• Hear from an MSSP and MSP who have spent considerable time and effort on optimizing talent acquisition.
• Learn how to improve retention.
• Explore how to get the most out of your workforce.

Don't miss this opportunity to review findings from a qualitative cybersecurity workforce study that shows U.S. organizations are at an increased risk of cybersecurity threat. This workforce deficit impacts regulatory compliance, insurance, and operations. However, thousands of experienced, capable, skilled, and available cybersecurity professionals are being filtered out of the hiring process.

In this session you will:

• Gain a better understanding of what influences the cybersecurity workforce problem.
• Explore the need for cybersecurity workforce standardization.
• Learn more about the roles of cybersecurity ecosystem stakeholders and their responsibility in addressing the workforce problem.

Customers are increasingly asking MSSPs for visibility into the dark web - the area of the internet where cybercriminal gangs plan their attacks, purchase malware and exploits, and leak their victims data. In this session, dark web intelligence expert Andy Scutt will explain how monitoring this hidden part of the internet can help MSSPs to identify security threats earlier in the cyber kill chain, enhance their existing services, and ultimately protect their customers from emerging threats. You will review scenarios showing how MSSP’s SOC, incident response, and threat-hunting teams can use dark web monitoring to support their services.

This panel, led by Jeff Hill, will interview three MSSP thought leaders and drive an engaging conversations on the future of AI and Automation.

In this session you will:

• Hear from thought leaders running market leading MSSPs and MDRs where AI and Automation are actually working.
• Offer your insights and interact with the panel.

Join us for an exclusive celebration of the Top 250 MSSPs in the world for 2024. We are revealing the 2024 list for the first time during our annual event MSSP Alert Live. This special evening party brings together our honorees for drinks, conversation and networking. Special thanks to Stellar Cyber for their sponsorship and support.

All MSPs, MSSPs, and Speakers are welcome to attend!

Are your customers happy with their cybersecurity insurance rates? Does it make sense for them to go with a cyber warranty instead or in addition to their cybersecurity insurance?

In this session you will:

• Learn from a panel of MSP, MSSP, and insurance company experts who will talk through these questions.
• Receive a more comprehensive overview of today’s trends that MSPs and MSSPs need to know about to make informed cybersecurity insurance decisions.
• See what is coming for 2025.

The three scariest words an MSSP can hear from a customer are “we’ve been hacked.” Is the MSSP liable? If so, what might it cost? Does insurance cover it? We all know that it’s not “if” but “when,” so how can we protect ourselves when it happens? The answer is that we must start the process at the inception of the customer relationship. 

In this session you will: 

• Learn how to use contracts to prepare for the eventuality that your customer will not only look to you for help handling a security incident, but maybe seek money damages too. 
• Understand how your MSA and managed services agreements work together to not only set proper expectations with your customers, but also protect you when the customer (or their insurance company) comes looking for money. 
• Gain a better understanding of how your customer contracts and insurance coverages work hand-in-hand to manage risk for your MSSP. 

The SIEM market is facing unprecedented change, creating both challenges and opportunities for MSSPs. Mergers, acquisitions, increasing data volumes, and a complex tool landscape complicate security operations. Coupled with an ongoing skills shortage, it's no surprise that many MSSPs struggle to deliver optimal SOC performance for their customers.

In this evolving landscape, MSSPs need a clear, data-driven approach to selecting and managing the right SIEM solutions for their diverse clientele. This session provides a strategic framework to help MSSPs navigate these changes and optimize their operations.

The landscape of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) has been undergoing rapid consolidation through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for well over a decade, significantly reshaping the players in the channel and in the TSP industry. In this session we’ll explore various actual concepts that buyers use to determine what price to pay, how deals are structured and why, and what you can do now to become an excellent candidate (while also learning how to be an appealing buyer too). Based on our 14+ years focusing exclusively on IT M&A, we’ll share behind-the-scenes experience from both the buyer and seller perspectives. 

In this session you will:

• Explore key areas of financial modeling and why that matters. 
• Learn about the most important operational KPIs to consider from each side of the table, and which levers are most important to help get a deal done – or not. 
• Understand the drivers and trends behind MSP/MSSP acquisitions. 
• Discuss strategic considerations for MSPs and MSSPs looking to acquire or be acquired in the near future. 
• See how the MSP/MSSP landscape will look like in 2025 and beyond.

Hear insurance myth busting from someone who went from MSP to owning their own policy. Don't miss this opportunity to explore why carriers act the way they do, who the real customers of carriers are (insurance agents!), and what underwriting controls actually matter.

In this session you will:

• Understand how insurance really works, for better or worse.
• Learn how to target their products and solutions towards the underwriting controls that have real world impact.
• Differentiate actual industry trends from the LinkedIn/Reddit echo chamber.

Details coming soon!

In the world of small service businesses, every team member's decisions and actions directly affect your company's performance. However, most employees do not fully grasp the weight of their impact. Join us to explore key strategies that will show how fostering a culture of accountability can transform not just team performance but also your bottom line.

In this session you will:

• Learn how consistent high performance does not happen without accountability.
• See how great culture and accountability can co-exist.
• Discuss why management cadence and tempo is critical to your bottom line.

Details coming soon!

In an era where cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, establishing a world-class Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service is crucial for service providers. This presentation will delve into the core components necessary to build an exceptional MDR service, focusing on advanced technologies, response strategies, and operational excellence. By the end of the session, you will be equipped with actionable knowledge to enhance your own MDR capabilities and achieve superior security outcomes. 

In this session you will:

• Understand how to combine your existing security tools and AI-driven analytics to deliver superior threat detection and response services. 
• Learn best practices for automating incident response and ensuring continuous improvement in MDR operations. 
• Explore strategies for scaling MDR and Extended MDR services and aligning them with operational best practices.
   

Details coming soon!

The final CMMC rule is slated to go into effect the first quarter of 2025. Is the work to gain CMMC certification worth the squeeze for your MSSP business? Over 75,000 government contractors need a CMMC certification and approximately 85% of these firms rely heavily on MSSPs. This session will give you the facts you need to decide how you'll approach CMMC.

In this session you will:

• Determine if the costs associated with CMMC are business justified for your business.
• Gain a better understanding of what a CMMC L2 Certification means versus what's in your SLAs.
• Learn how you can set yourself apart from your competitors by using CMMC as a differentiator.

MSPs, once IT's savior, was invented over twenty years ago. In computer years, it’s an antique. Cybersecurity has emerged, exposing flaws and decimating the model. But the problem isn't technology, it's your business model. Time to adapt or become obsolete.

In this session you will:

• Understand how the right cybersecurity business model can increase profits and build customers for life.
• See why the technology you're using has very little to do with how successful your cybersecurity practice can be.
• Learn how to reduce your liability exposure and provide better cybersecurity outcomes for your customers.

Join industry veteran CISO/vCISO Jesse Miller as he shows you how to enhance client engagement and maximize the value of your services in the client's vision. Jesse will unveil the four vCISO report sections that will equip you to deliver more impactful reports, build stronger client relationships, and ultimately, sell more services.

In this session you will learn how to :

• Effectively communicate your clients’ current security stance and areas of improvement.
• Present a clear and concise summary of program deliverables that highlight your value.
• Showcase cybersecurity program achievements and address gaps to assure regulatory standing.
• Set actionable recommendations that align with business goals to create a "virtuous sales funnel" for your practice.

This session offers a unique perspective on the FedRAMP authorization process, tailored specifically for Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) providers. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the steps and strategies that differentiate successful providers in the federal, SLED (State, Local, and Education), and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) sectors. The discussion will cover the critical role of Third-Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs) in the FedRAMP process and explore how these processes impact Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliance. Additionally, the session will highlight the strategic importance of FedRAMP authorization for Quzara’s MDR service, Cybertorch, and its role in securing government and defense contracts. 

In this session you will:

• Navigate the FedRAMP authorization process with a clear understanding of key steps and compliance requirements from an MSSP/MDR perspective.
• Apply lessons learned from real-world experiences to differentiate their offerings in the federal, SLED, and DIB markets.
• Understand the critical role of 3PAOs in the FedRAMP process and their impact on ensuring compliance.
• Explore the influence of FedRAMP processes and 3PAOs on CMMC compliance for MSSPs and MDR providers.