Deep Instinct's Stratosphere program is indirectly aimed at small and medium-size businesses, which are increasingly turning toward MSSPs (managed security service providers). Cybersecurity firm Deep Instinct has rolled out a new partner program to provide its endpoint and application protection software to managed security service providers (MSSPs), the company announced Wednesday.The Stratosphere program was initially announced in April, and designed as a simplified channel program that focuses on expected partner margins, instead of set discounts on the product. Volume-based recognition and “medallion tiers” for sales are out. Instead, the company is offering “loyalty points” for achieving a range of different sales-related goals—like creating leads, getting customers certified, or completing business plans.According to Deep Instinct, the idea is to provide a strong option for MSSPs to help address their customers’ biggest current security concern—ransomware. The increasing prevalence of remote work means more personal devices, which tend to be less secure, being used to access company resources and creating a potential attack vector for ransomware. The complex nature of the threat makes it difficult for overstretched in-house security teams to defend against. It’s a particular challenge for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), which typically have few resources available to combat advanced threats, according to Brian Feeney, Deep Instinct’s vice president for global channels and alliances. “SMBs cannot keep up with the speed, volume, and sophistication of today’s threats while balancing the needs of the business,” he said in a press release. “Relying on humans as a line of defense will never provide the required protection nor peace of mind that organizations require in their battle against unknown and zero-day threats.”Deep Instinct says that using its endpoint protection helps save MSSPs money through reduced alerts and a low false positive rate, offers simple management through a single-pane-of-glass control center, and as part of the Stratosphere program, provides support from technical experts at the company. In addition, Deep Instinct offers sales leads to MSSP partners, as well as rebates “to drive additional demand generation activities,” the company said. Endpoint protection is a crucially important piece of the puzzle for ransomware mitigation, according to Forrester senior analyst Allie Mellen.“Endpoint protection uses prevention technologies to stop ransomware before it can execute,” she said. “This, in conjunction with IT and security technologies like secure backups, endpoint detection and response (EDR), SIEM, NAV (network access and visiblity), and others (as well as a broader zero trust strategy) help to defend against ransomware attacks.”MSSPs like Capgemini and Accenture are part of an ongoing trend for security responsibilities to be farmed out to third parties—a practice that’s growing especially fast among SMBs, according to Mellen.“Outsourcing is a more effective way to get a baseline of security without adding headcount,” she said. “This shift has been happening more with SMBs as we see more high-profile breaches making headlines.” Related content feature Backlogs at National Vulnerability Database prompt action from NIST and CISA A crisis at the key US service for ranking vulnerabilities has been fueled by short resources and an explosion of security flaws as the volume of software production increases. By John Mello Jr. May 15, 2024 10 mins Threat and Vulnerability Management Security Practices Vulnerabilities news FBI warns Black Basta ransomware impacted over 500 organizations worldwide CISA advisory includes indicators of compromise and TTPs that can be used for threat hunting. By Lucian Constantin May 14, 2024 6 mins Ransomware Phishing Healthcare Industry news Australian federal budget outlines investment in cybersecurity The Australian government announced its 2024-25 federal budget and CSO has selected highlights that indicate how much will go towards cybersecurity and in what areas. By Samira Sarraf May 14, 2024 5 mins Fraud Protection and Detection Software Data and Information Security brandpost Sponsored by Microsoft Security New threat trends emerge out of East Asia With total vigilance concerning the latest East Asian developments in the threat landscape, security leaders can enhance their readiness to safeguard against the most imminent dangers. By Microsoft Security May 14, 2024 5 mins Security PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe