Barracuda & CyberCert ease SMB1001 compliance for SMEs

Barracuda has partnered with CyberCert and managed service providers to give small and medium-sized businesses in Australia and New Zealand a route to SMB1001 compliance certification through Barracuda's BarracudaONE platform.

The partnership is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of meeting cybersecurity certification requirements for smaller businesses, which often rely on external IT and security providers.

SMB1001 is an international cybersecurity certification standard for small and medium-sized businesses. It uses a multi-tiered model to assess cyber maturity and helps businesses show they meet recognised security standards as threats evolve.

Under the arrangement, managed service providers using BarracudaONE will be able to offer customers certified product packages aligned with SMB1001. The approach is designed to simplify how businesses buy and implement security tools and processes, while shortening the path to certification.

CyberCert is the certification body behind SMB1001. Its platform provides managed service providers with a structured way to guide customers through the certification process.

Coverage areas

The collaboration covers several parts of the SMB1001 standard, including email security, data protection and recovery, network and remote access protection, and managed extended detection and response services for businesses that want additional monitoring and incident response.

Within the programme, email security is intended to address phishing, business email compromise, account takeover and malware. The data protection element focuses on recoverability and business continuity, while network protection includes firewall and secure access service edge options.

The managed XDR component is aimed at firms seeking an additional layer of threat detection and response. BarracudaONE addresses many of the technical foundations required for SMB1001 compliance across email, data, network and applications.

The agreement also includes sponsored certification credits intended to lower the cost of entry for smaller businesses. Managed service providers can claim CyberCert Certification Credits when piloting BarracudaONE and access further sponsored credits for each customer that reaches certification.

Channel focus

The announcement reflects the central role managed service providers play in the Australian and New Zealand small business market, where many firms outsource cybersecurity rather than build in-house teams. By linking certification to a package delivered through service providers, the partnership aims to make compliance part of an existing managed service relationship.

That may also help providers package security and compliance together at a time when small businesses face rising pressure from customers, insurers and larger partners to show evidence of cyber controls. Certification schemes such as SMB1001 are increasingly being used to demonstrate that baseline protections are in place.

Dan McLean, Country Manager, Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Islands at Barracuda, linked the move to the changing threat environment facing smaller organisations.

"AI has lowered the barrier for cybercriminals to develop and automate advanced cyberattacks at scale. SMBs are prime targets of these convincing and evasive threats. With the help of CyberCert we can offer our MSP partners SMB1001-certified product packages that give their customers peace of mind. Not only are their businesses protected, but they also meet official security standards," McLean said.

CyberCert said the partnership is intended to make recognised compliance easier to achieve without adding as much operational burden for small businesses.

"Our aim at CyberCert is to make it easier for SMBs to achieve cybersecurity compliance in an ever-changing threat landscape. Our collaboration with Barracuda does just that. By combining the broad protection of the BarracudaONE platform with globally accredited SMB1001 certification, MSPs will be able to deliver true cyber resilience for their clients in a simple, cost-effective way," said Ryan Ettridge, co-founder and CEO of CyberCert.

The partnership comes as cyber certification and assurance frameworks gain more attention in the region. Smaller businesses have often struggled with the cost, expertise and administrative work needed to meet formal standards, even as they face the same phishing, ransomware and account compromise risks as larger organisations.

For managed service providers, the collaboration offers a way to bundle security technology, operational support and certification into a single customer proposition. For smaller businesses, it offers a shorter path to formal recognition of their cyber controls through a service provider channel many already use.