Untangle Updates Voice of the Channel Report and Releases NG Firewall 15.0

We have been telling MSPs for many years the huge opportunity they have in cybersecurity. We hosted a major session on the topic at the last ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW and the turnout was really tremendous… It was encouraging to see how many cybersecurity oriented MSPs and MSSPs are trying to stay on the leading-edge.

This area is where Untangle focuses – they provide cybersecurity solutions for the channel and MSPs. They recently released a channel report. 23% of Channel Partners surveyed identify lack of customer knowledge as the top barrier in cybersecurity, followed by customer budget constraints (22%), and limited time to research and understand new threats (13%). Channel Partners showcase that they can be the first, and sometimes the only line of defense against a cyberattack, but without customers understanding that they are at risk, they are often called upon after an attack has already occurred.

As cybersecurity has become a cornerstone of any business or organization’s yearly planning, service providers have increased their service portfolio. A majority of Channel Partners already have foundational cybersecurity products in their portfolios, like firewall/UTM (87%), web filtering (77%), endpoint security (76%), intrusion detection and prevention (73%), remote monitoring and management (71%), and data loss prevention (50%), that provide them with a variety of solutions to fit the needs of their clients.

In 2018, 77% of respondents stated that cybersecurity was less than 30% of their overall business, in 2019, this increased to over 50%, which indicates a growing awareness of the need to put preventative measures in place.

Other important information – the vast majority of small businesses are getting hammered with phishing, ransomware and malware. The numbers are staggering really, Even companies with some cybersecurity protection are getting breached. Our interpretation of the survey is that budgets in many businesses aren’t sufficient to prevent treats because it seems they aren’t looking at the problem holistically. Or from the top down. Organizations seem to slap a solution or two together and hope for the best. In our experience cybersecurity continues to be an afterthought among many small businesses.

The good news is 99% of Channel Partners indicated that cybersecurity, as an overall part of their business, will increase or stay the same in 2020, while 85% believe that their cybersecurity revenue will increase in 2020. Currently, 77% of respondents offer managed services to their clients, with an additional 10% actively considering adding this service in 2020.

In other news, the company also released its NG Firewall 15.0 with a new Threat Prevention App that analyzes web pages, web page associations, apps and files. It acts as a gatekeeper to determine what is or is not allowed, based on the assessed Threat Risk level. The technology also evaluates encrypted Internet traffic that today’s threat actors can use to hide their malicious activities in, and that other types of security tools will not be able to see.

Carly Sherman, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Untangle

Untangle plays in the education market as well as non-profits, healthcare, local and state governments among others, according to Carly Sherman, Sr. Product Marketing Manager who gave us an exclusive interview. As a result, they have released Kidzsearch filtering for common search engines such as Google and Bing. This child-specific filter ensures that only age-appropriate search results are returned to content-sensitive environments including libraries.

There is also flexibility for administrators to customize their NG Firewall email alerts. Administrators can format their alerts so that they can easily filter or flag them into the preferred email client application. They can also customize the Web Filter blocked pages. If a user attempts to access a blocked web page, a customized notice can be displayed with an organization’s logo, the company’s internet access policies or other available custom displays.

Carly said groups can be set up with different policies. teachers, for example, could have access to content which students do not. There is also an ad-blocker in the solution.

She further explained the company relies on channel and technology partners like Webroot to help them keep end-customers protected from growing global hacking threats.

Threats are proliferating and MSPs are generating increasing amounts of revenue keeping their customers protected. We are impressed with the moves Untangle is making to keep these MSPs and the channel profitable while they help their customers.

See the only cybersecurity and BCDR vendors that matter at the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW.