Cofense Launches Managed Services Program to Combat Phishing

Cofense today launched a managed security service provider (MSSP) program around an anti-phishing platform intended to protect organizations from malicious emails purposely designed to fool end users into downloading malware.

The most prevalent vector for cybersecurity attacks continues to be email. Cybercriminals are becoming increasingly adept at creating emails that trick end users into believing a message has been sent to them from a legitimate source. Known as a phishing attack, those emails typically contain attachments or links to malicious Web sites that when clicked on embed malware on the user’s machine. Before too long, that malware starts to spread laterally across the organization quickly.

The opportunity for managed service providers (MSPs) is first to make available a phishing simulation service that trains end users to recognize phishing attacks by simulating the type of messages that cybercriminals often send, says Robert Iannicello, vice president of global channel sales at Cofense. That capability is then augmented by a platform that identifies phishing attacks and a service provided by Cofense through which cybersecurity professionals specifically trained to combat phishing attacks once detected are made available.

Rather than building that capability from scratch, the Cofense program makes it possible for MSPs to leverage the Cofense platform and expertise at a cost a small-to-medium business (SMBs) can afford, says Iannicello.

“SMBs are ill-equipped to deal with these types of attacks,” says Iannicello.

Cofense claims it is already employed by over 50 percent of the Fortune 500 and currently monitors over 14 million email inboxes using a combination of software and cybersecurity experts trained to identify phishing attacks.

The Cofense MSSP program provides a mechanism to not only make SMB customers more resilient to attacks but also respond to and stop active phishing threats, says Iannicello. Also, Cofense is providing incentives and pricing designed exclusively for MSP partners, adds Iannicello.

Phishing simulation, of course, doesn’t prevent these types of attacks from being made. But end users are now the first time of defense in terms of identifying phishing attacks that are increasingly targeting specific individuals within organizations as part of an effort to, for example, embed ransomware.

While demand for managed security services is escalating, the cost of acquiring that expertise can be prohibitive. Cofense is essentially setting up a program that enables solution providers to add a managed security service in a way that reduces both risk and cost to the channel to the channel partner.