Malwarebytes is relatively new in the MSP space, but has deepened its tools and integrations to improve partner management, and has some more significant moves planned for 2021.

Today, endpoint protection provider Malwarebytes is making a pair of announcements that will make it easier for MSPs to manage their customers. First, they have introduced Malwarebytes Endpoint Detection and Response for Servers, a new offering that provides specific server-focused protection that goes beyond treating servers as just another endpoint. Secondly, they have announced an integration with the ConnectWise Manage PSA offering, joining the one for the ConnectWise Automate RMM that Malwarebytes introduced several months back.

“We released our first foray into the MSP market almost two years ago, in May 2019, with our OneView console, and then a year ago, we did a bunch of revisions to make it more MSP friendly,” said Mike LaPeters, vice president of worldwide MSP at Malwarebytes. “We have continued to hyper-invest in it since then.”

Neither MSP server support nor an integration with a major PSA like ConnectWise Manage come close to market leading, but LaPeters emphasized that as Malwarebytes entered the MSP market, they initially concentrated on getting other things right.

“As we moved into the MSP space, there were two things we were focused on – ensuring our technology was first-rate, and ensuring that the management console we have was as robust as it could be,” LaPeters stated. “That took a lot of development. Our goal was to make the product world-class first. In addition, of the majority of our partner community, especially those we onboarded in the last 10 months, about 80% of them don’t use a PSA tool.”

Malwarebyres asked their approximately 1000 MSPs whether they should develop the ConnectWise PSA or RMM tool, and were told the RMM.

“As a result, we released the Automate integration in November,” LaPeters said. “The larger MSPs in particular wanted true RMM functionality.”

As of now, the ConnectWise integrations, plus a Kaseya one for the older version of the product, are the only current Malwarebytes integrations with RMM/PSA vendors. Expect more this year, however. LaPeters said that two more major platform integrations are scheduled for this year.

“Our integration story will embrace not just RMM and PSA but other perimeter security solutions, like Splunk or ServiceNow,” he added.

The other component of the announcement, the new Malwarebytes Endpoint Detection and Response for Servers, brings specific management of server products into the Malwarebytes cloud console. It is available for both Windows and Linux servers.

“We have always had support for servers, but our philosophy was that an endpoint is an endpoint, and so we didn’t have a specific product for server management,” LaPeters indicated, “What we have done with this product is deal with the unique things servers require, to provide the enhanced policies specific to them that require a little extra attention. So while we always supported servers, we now have a specific product designed for servers.”

The new server-specific capabilities include Suspicious Activity Monitoring, Granular Server Isolation, and Ransomware Rollback.

“Servers are now fully grouped separately, and you can set up policies for them,” LaPeters added.