Cyfyx’s platform provides MSSP-level EDR protection with real-time reaction capability to target fast-acting threats like ransomware. They were in Toronto this week at the ASCII event to take their message to Canadian MSPs.
Nandan Arora, Cyfyx’s CTO
TORONTO – Austin TX-based Cyfyx was among the approximately 30 vendors at the ASCII IT SMB Success Summit in downtown Toronto this week. They were likely one of the less well-known. But the company believes that they have a valuable proposition, by giving smaller MSPs the capability of offering a souped-up EDR solution that will help protect clients against threats like ransomware – and help protect the MSPs themselves.
Cyfyx’s premise – not exactly a controversial one these days – is that a standard defense in depth strategy will fail at some point, and that intruders will get in. The objective thus becomes to stop them from stealing or encrypting data. The EDR [Endpoint Detection and Response] business is based on that same premise. But it has a key limitation of its own, Nandan Arora, Cyfyx’s CTO, told ChannelBuzz at the event.
“EDR is more reactive,” he stated. “EDR is looking for indicators of attack, and it takes time to triage them and figure out if you are under attack, That’s fine if you have been breached and you have some time to detect the intruders and stop them. But ransomware can encrypt a network in 30 seconds. For something like that, you need a defense that can stop it in real time.”
Cyfyx’s journey to provide that defense is a story of interest in itself. It is a component of IdealStor, a storage company that has been in existence almost from the dawn of the century, and which now sells a portfolio of business continuity products.
“Cyfyx is a brand right now, which we launched last year, but which we are still selling as part of IdealStor,” Arora said. IdealStor, like many storage companies of its size and vintage, has found things more difficult in recent years, but they stumbled onto the Cyfyx technology basically by chance.
“My machine got infected,” Arora stated. “I spent a week testing AV products, and that’s when I learned about EDR. But for that, you needed a SOC and expert people. What became the Cyfyx platform is a security platform developed by cybersecurity warfare experts from Israel. They were selling it into the enterprise, where you basically needed 5000 endpoints to get started. But smaller businesses need the same kind of security that larger enterprises do. So having seen the efficacy of the platform, we licensed it, with the idea of bringing it to smaller businesses.”
The goal is to provide the capabilities of EDR with a more proactive approach that will protect smaller companies against dangers like ransomware.
“We are EDR with real-time blocking,” Arora said. “We aren’t just reactive.”
Cyfyx is targeting the MSP market to take this to customers.
“We also have some MSSP partners, who have come to us, but we have been reaching out to MSPs at events like the ASCII shows, Robin Roberts, and Datto.con” Arora noted. “This is a great opportunity for them. Gartner has EDR projected at a 45.3 per cent CAGR, compared to 7 per cent for security as a whole. This is a way for them to take advantage of that.”
Several other factors make Cyfyx attractive to MSPs, Arora said.
“MSPs are a big target themselves because they have unrestricted access to customer networks, so they benefit directly from this protection,” he said. “The numbers who have been attacked are much higher than has been made public. Even large MSPs have been hit. MSPs also have existing solutions in place, but aren’t really sure they can protect customers from advanced attacks. They also don’t typically have deep security expertise themselves. With us they get the platform, and the expertise, and the ability to bring it to customers within their budget, which is often their biggest challenge.”
MSPs are also more readily able to bring in new solutions like this, compared to midmarket customers, who are another logical target market.
“In the midmarket space, security is top of mind to everyone, but the problem there is that many organizations have tied themselves into 3 or 4-year contracts with big brand AV vendors. MSPs, on the other hand, go month to month, so it’s easier to get them to switch.”
Arora said that Cyfyx is ideal for smaller MSPs who want the capability to be more like MSSPs, but without the investment or heavy lifting required.
“We help MSPs grow their business,” he said. “A single person MSP in New Jersey deals with a GM car dealership, where GM wanted them to have EDR in place before the end of the year. We did demos on their behalf to get the deal, and the end customer actually manages the platform. Our partner program has a co-managed option where the MSP takes care of the low hanging fruit, and we step in and assist when required.”
MSPs are required to have a 50-license minimum and make a commitment for a year, although that is billed on a monthly basis. Arora said that they typically spend 4-5 hours training each partner.
This was Cyfyx’s first event in Canada, so it is pretty much a green fields market for them.
“We do have a couple of Canadian MSPs, but we are looking for more,” Arora said.
