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 interview Strong CIO-CISO relations fuel success at Ally CIO Sathish Muthukrishnan and CISO Donna Hart have forged a partnership steeped in Ally’s culture of radical candor that keeps the financial services firm secure and innovative. By Dan Roberts May 09, 2024 9 mins CIO CSO and CISO IT Leadership news Zscaler shuts down exposed system after rumors of a cyberattack Initially dismissing rumors, Zscaler now says it did have a system exposed but nothing important has been accessed. By Shweta Sharma May 09, 2024 3 mins Data Breach Cyberattacks news Palo Alto launches AI-powered solutions to fight AI-generated cyberthreats The suite is powered by Palo Alto’s proprietary solution, Precision AI, which integrates machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI technologies. By Prasanth Aby Thomas May 09, 2024 3 mins Generative AI Security Software news F5 patches BIG-IP Next Central Manager flaws that could lead to device takeover Two high-risk vulnerabilities could allow attackers to gain full administrative control on devices via leaked password hashes. By Lucian Constantin May 08, 2024 5 mins Threat and Vulnerability Management Cloud Security Vulnerabilities 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