BlackBerry offers Kaspersky replacement cybersecurity for the channel
The Russian invasion in Ukraine has demonstrated that while wars in the past were mainly confined to geographical locations, today's battles are also being fought digitally, and globally. The challenge of 'borderless' cyber warfare is further underlined by this week's joint warning from Five Eyes Alliance security authorities, including the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and New Zealand's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), urging Managed Service Providers to protect the IT supply chain with a fresh set of cybersecurity measures.
The Biden Administration also just revealed the USA will ramp up a security probe into Kaspersky, following earlier statements by Germany and Italy about potential cyber risks associated with the company's software.
BlackBerry previously reported that MSPs are a viable target, particularly for ransomware attacks, due to their level of access to multiple customer networks and sensitive data. BlackBerry's 2022 Threat Report also revealed that malicious hacking attempts occur every 39 seconds, with SMEs facing upward of 11 cyberthreats per device per day.
"The message from cyber security experts is clear: the cyber threat must be taken seriously, and caution is advised when dealing with companies based in a country whose government may be hostile," BlackBerry says.
Proactive, not reactive
According to BlackBerry, many customers and companies in the Australian and New Zealand channel ecosystem are now asking themselves whether their antivirus solutions are keeping them safe in the long term.
Regardless of the AV vendor, one thing should be clear: signature-based, reactive cybersecurity solutions and antivirus programs are no longer sufficient for comprehensive system protection. Today's threat environment requires a proactive approach and innovative solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to detect and prevent cyberattacks.
"BlackBerry commends the new Five Eyes cybersecurity measures to help MSPs proactively defend the IT supply chain," says
Graeme Pyper, director of APAC channels at BlackBerry.
"With widespread IT security skills gaps, and the looming threat to privileged access systems by state actors, no organisation can manually combat today's attack methods with reactive security approaches and legacy antivirus software," he says.
"That's why BlackBerry and its partners are committed to intelligent, AI-driven cybersecurity and managed services to help prevent, manage, detect and remediate threats before they cause harm."
Coexistence of systems for better overall protection
The shift from reactive to proactive is easier than first assumed. Many companies are hesitant because the switch seems cumbersome or there is concern about not being protected in the meantime. Others simply want to continue using their existing software until the licences expire. But modern solutions can be implemented quickly and efficiently and, above all, are coexistent with other programs - they can be used while old AV systems are still in operation, for example. One advantage is that the overall protection is expanded extensively because the new system intercepts what signature-based solutions might otherwise.
Existing Kaspersky customers whose licences expire in the next 24 months will receive CylancePROTECT free of charge for the remaining contract period. Other companies that want to switch to BlackBerry solutions such as CylancePROTECT can now benefit from a discount of up to 70 per cent. BlackBerry's endpoint protection solution works with AI and ML to prevent malware from running on Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux systems, among other applications. All protection is automatically applied at the endpoint without relying on cloud scanning or a network connection.
BlackBerry advises that users of Kaspersky software in Australia and New Zealand undertake a rigorous risk analysis of their current security posture and talk to a BlackBerry channel partner about intelligent, AI-enabled cybersecurity solutions and services that can deliver continuous monitoring and support.
