Sending out spam and malware may not be the oldest profession in the book, but it’s certainly a growing one. In fact, in a December 2010 survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute and Lumesion, 59% of the IT practitioners surveyed said that malware was a significant factor for increasing operating expenses. Whether costs come because of remediation needs or data loss, the reality is that companies cannot afford to have even one unsecure PC.
Add to this the rise of phishing and malware attacks that are coming through social media – like the April Facebook scam that spread via Facebook Chat messages at a rate of 88,000 clicks per hour – and you can see how one bad security breach could cost your customers their business.
But you know that getting customers to install patches – especially if they require a reboot – can be a hassle at best. You could wait until the evening to push out patches, only to find PCs turned off. In the morning when users come in, they have to wait for the patches to execute. Then you’ve got a crabby customer on your hands who feels like you and your little worries about security are impacting his productivity.
Intel Assists MSPs
One of the ways that Intel is helping is with Intel vPro technology. The hardware-based security features of PCs with Intel vPro technology allow constant monitoring of PCs to ensure that critical security software is in place and up-to-date, without bothering the PC user. Regular security patches and updates can be done automatically after hours, even to PCs that are turned off, which means critical business data is better protected.
David Goodwin, the President of Mid-America Computer Corp., put it this way: “vPro decreases the time it takes to reach 95 percent patch saturation at a typical customer site from three days to one day. We reduce the risk for the customer – which is critical when a major virus or security hole appears – and we spend much less time and money chasing machines that didn’t get patched.”
With Intel vPro technology, Mid-America and other MSPs can improve their bottom lines and their customers can save money, too. Especially when you consider that in 2010, Ponemon reported that a typical data breach cost companies an average of $214 per compromised record. But with intelligent, hardware-assisted security management features that help you quickly deploy security patches across PCs up to 56% faster and assist in preventing others from disabling installed security software, you and your customers are better protected than most.
Of course, no system can provide security under all circumstances, but Intel vPro technology can help you in a world full of spammers, scammers, and customers who are trying to navigate the waters of the Internet. Like Mark Vliet, vice president of outsourceIT says, “vPro [offers] an increased level of security that our customers can understand.”
Eric Townsend is Director of MSP and SMB Marketing for Intel Corporation. You can contact Eric at activation@intelmsp.com. Monthly guest blog posts like this one are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship. Read all of Townsend’s guest blogs here.
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Tags: Anti-Malware | Anti-Virus | David Goodwin | Eric Townsend | Intel vPro | Mark Vliet | Mid-America Computer Corp. | outsourceIT | SMB security
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As mentioned in the post, one of the key points for vPro is the ability to manage the device even when it is turned off. This is a key advantage, since it removes the user from a factor in compliance for things like patches and virus definition updates. It is also a key enabler of policy enforcement. No other widely available solution can provide this today. Add to this, the availability of the Intel Hybrid cloud and Intel makes a the MSP’s job easier and increases the value MSP delivers their customer.
Mitchell Cipriano
http://www.demandbydesign.com
I would like to take advantage of vPro but can’t. It’s just not possible when being an MSP involves inheriting client PCs that don’t have vPro. I can’t take a global problem (Malware in this case) and architect solution using technology that will never be in 100% of my environments. Implementation of vPro support is just as challenging when we are talking about hundreds/thousands of small 10-250 system networks.
I also question the assumption that ensuring install/update of security software alone will make an impact on malware infections. Sure an unprotected system is going to get infected but there are many tools, applications, etc that are readily available to assist in this. My experience has been that the major security software out right now just doesn’t do as good of a job as the Malware is doing. Whether Symantec, Trend, McAfee, AVG, Kaspersky, (…you can keep adding to the list) is installed, Malware is relentlessly successful.
Don’t get me wrong, I like vPro. It think its really cool. I just can’t see it at all being implemented by MSPs.
Scott Kaufmann
All Covered
Mitch, Scott: Thanks for jumping into the conversation. Some points…
Mitchell@1: We’re keeping a close eye on Intel Hybrid Cloud as well. For readers who aren’t familiar with the effort, it involves an on-premise SMB server linked to a range of cloud services.
Scott@2: I’ll defer to Intel to respond to some of your points. But I did have one quick item to share… Why not get your customers on a 3-year refresh cycle, where 1/3 of PCs are swapped out each year? I realize it’s difficult to “rip and replace” an entire PC fleet in one year. But the cycle approach would get your customers on the path to a modern infrastructure.
-jp
Scott K.: thanks for your feedback. You are right—virtually no customer is going to do a forklift upgrade of all their PCs at once to install vPro-based PCs. But MSPs we’ve worked with have found that they (the MSP) start saving money with the first vPro system installed. To build on your example of malware: any vPro PC at a customer—even if it’s the only one—will be much less likely to miss an AV update, and therefore less likely to be infected and to cost the MSP money. On that same PC, just one repair done remotely due to vPro’s added remote capabilities (like a hung OS) can save cost.
You’re also right that malware is (and will ever be) an arms race. We think vPro’s capabilities are a great step forward in proactive defense. Joe P.’s point about gradually upgrading a customer’s fleet through the normal PC refresh process is a solid way to get to an optimally defended infrastructure.