The issue is that a dedicated security person could cost an organization $60-$100+k a year, plus the hardware needed to do the job right. MSP's are a fraction of that. Finding a good one is a hard job. It comes down to evaluation an organization over time. Unfortunately because of the relative newness, that's tough. There might be a few changes in your MSP before you find a good one. I do think, that like people who call themselves Information Security Specialists, it is a weeding process. Get someone you trust, security wise, involved if you really need to go down that road and don't feel comfortable evaluating them your self. For all that's worth... Hank Wethington ================================================ Information Logistics www.GoInfoLogistics.com mailto:info.at.GoInfoLogistics.com ================================================ -----Original Message----- From: firewalls-admin@lists.gnac.net [mailto:firewalls-admin@lists.gnac.net]On Behalf Of Zachary Uram Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 2:59 PM To: mht@clark.net Cc: Ron DuFresne; firewalls@pluto.gnac.com Subject: Re: Managed Service Providers i don't understand what someone would rely on an outsider to manage their security structure? it seems this is best handled on the inside (with firewalls, IDS, etc..). and if you are just one of many customers won't you get less intense/frequent scrutiny than if you had your own dedicated security staff person whose job is to manage your network security? Wed, 27 Jun 2001 mht@clark.net wrote: > Smoke and mirrors has been an issue with Managed Security Service since the > early 90's. also Buyer beware. How do you the person sitting back > watching the screens is actually a bonafide security type person and not > some person who got hired because they should up at DefCon and impressed > someone with their Pez collection (true story).. :) A lot of the debunking > is not the actual alert but really happens behind the scenes to determine > if one or many alerts are actually valid or not. Each environment can > generate their own typical noise or discard that normally traverses the > network on a daily basis. It is the MSP's job to sort through the noice or > discard and actually call the customer to tell them that their is an actual > intrusion or possible intrusion. Now this whole process seems a bit tedius > and the folks at ADT can probably provide better statistics on false > positives than an a MSP can, but back to the point, what value does an MSP > like DigitalMojo provide when if you read between the lines, they actually > outsource to other MSPs.. > > /m > > At 04:27 PM 6/27/2001 -0500, Ron DuFresne wrote: > > >smoke and mirrors has been one of the issues with managed service > >providers and especially managed security providers for sometime. Just > >becuase they may sell you a service for IDS does not mean alot if the IDS > >is setup on the exterior of the network and they are constantly alerting > >you and your staff of 'intrusion detections' 30-500 times a day. In fact, > >it tends to devalue such 'warnings' to the point folks tend to just start > >routing those reports to the trash bin. Thourough reading of contracts in > >such outsourcing aggreements is a must, as well as *understanding* what > >those contracts are really saying. > > > >Thanks, > > > >Ron DuFresne > > _______________________________________________ > Firewalls mailing list > Firewalls@lists.gnac.net > http://lists.gnac.net/mailman/listinfo/firewalls > uram@cmu.edu "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have faith." - John 20:29 _______________________________________________ Firewalls mailing list Firewalls@lists.gnac.net http://lists.gnac.net/mailman/listinfo/firewalls _______________________________________________ Firewalls mailing list Firewalls@lists.gnac.net http://lists.gnac.net/mailman/listinfo/firewalls