Partner Strategies for Addressing Cybersecurity Trends

It is of no surprise that since I started my position as Cybercrime Director at INTERPOL, I get asked every week what law enforcement needs to combat cybercrime more effectively. While money and access to tools are accurate answers, I would argue that having the right tag team partners to fight alongside us is critical, too. My Cyber Strategy and Capabilities Development team diligently works to onboard new private sector partners to provide INTERPOL and its 196 member countries the ability to leverage specialized expertise that exists outside of typical law enforcement channels. What makes these partnerships essential? ▪️ They bridge jurisdictional gaps that criminals exploit ▪️ They combine technical and legal expertise ▪️ They enable rapid, coordinated responses to emerging cyber threats These collaborations take many forms: information sharing agreements, expert secondments, intelligence analysis support, and specialized training. Each partnership strengthens our global response capability. Operations Serengeti and Grandoreiro were successful, in large part, because of our private sector partners. My team and I recently had the opportunity to discuss these successes and much more. To read further, check out: ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eR6WGPCn ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e9eapWKq #INTERPOL #Cybercrime #PublicPrivatePartnership #Teamwork

AI is reshaping the threat landscape as fast as it is creating new opportunities for channel partners. Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 highlights this shift in its latest Global Incident Response Report, showing how AI is compressing attack timelines. In the fastest cases, attackers moved from initial access to data exfiltration in just 72 minutes, four times faster than last year. Partners will need to use AI to fight AI to keep pace and protect their customers. History is repeating itself. Seven years ago, when we asked partners about their customers’ readiness to build cybersecurity programs as workloads moved to the cloud, more than half said customers were unaware, unprepared, or not taking threats seriously. Fast forward to today and the pattern is the same with AI related security risks. Over 50 percent of customers are unaware of the risks or assume tools are secure by default, and only 10 percent are proactively managing them. This gap is also creating opportunity. The biggest upside for partners is helping customers adopt AI safely. Omdia has forecasted a $267 billion partner-led services opportunity around AI by 2030. Advisory and compliance services lead demand initially, followed by managed security. Partners who help customers navigate AI risk with clarity and consistency will lead the next phase of security expansion. The winners will be those who build clear, outcome‑driven offers that guide customers from assessment to governance to continuous protection, and who embed AI security into every stage of the customer lifecycle. This is where the channel shapes the next era of security services and builds growth that compounds over time.

Cybersecurity is having its AI moment. Every security leader is now building, acquiring, and partnering to execute a dual strategy: 1) AI for Security: Using AI to detect threats 2) Security for AI: Protecting AI workloads While a flurry of acquisitions grabs headlines (Palo Alto Networks <> CyberArk, F5 <> CalypsoAI, Check Point <> Lakera, CrowdStrike <> Pangea), our CB Insights analysis reveals the massive scale of partnerships as the real accelerator, with security leaders racing to build AI partnerships at unprecedented scale, including 300+ in the last 5 years. Why? Partnerships deliver what building and buying can't: ✓ Speed to market when AI threats evolve daily ✓ Access to specialized AI expertise at the frontier ✓ Scale to match a $230B market opportunity by 2032 Already, partnership performance speaks volumes: ↳CrowdStrike: Record $221M net new ARR through AI partnerships ↳Zscaler: AI partnership-driven growth surpassed $1B ARR ↳Palo Alto Networks: Sold 3M+ browser licenses in Q4 for AI agent security ↳SentinelOne: Purple AI grew triple digits with 30%+ attach rates ↳Cloudflare: AI inference requests exploded 4,000% YoY via partnerships ↳F5: Hardware revenue up 39% YoY, driven by AI-ready infrastructure partners The cybersecurity leaders who thrive in the AI era will be the ones who are closest to the emerging frontiers of AI, driven by more partnerships and more acquisitions.

🔐 All-in-One platform vs. Best-of-Breed tools: which #cybersecurity strategy truly defends your business in today’s fast-evolving cyber landscape? According to the latest insights from the CrowdStrike Global Threat Report (GTR), the rise in #ransomware and targeted attacks highlights the urgent need for predictive, AI-driven security systems. Much like the futuristic tech in "Minority Report", today’s cybersecurity solutions aim to anticipate and neutralize threats before they escalate. 🔵 Integrated Platforms consolidate multiple security functions into one system for ease of use but may lead to trade-offs in specific areas. 🔵 Best-of-Breed Solutions allow organizations to hand-pick the best tools for each security function, but may come with integration challenges. 🚀 Many forward-thinking companies like Veeam Software, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Commvault, Google, and Rubrik are leading the way with integrated security systems that predict, prevent, and protect in real-time: 🟧 CrowdStrike + Palo Alto Networks: AI-driven threat detection + next-gen firewall = unified defence. 🟧 Rubrik + CrowdStrike: Enhance cyber resilience with AI-powered insights and immutable backups. 🟧 Google + Wiz: Cloud-native security with deep visibility, continuous monitoring, and AI-powered threat detection. 🟧 Veeam Software + Microsoft Security: Cloud-native security with AI-driven backup and disaster recovery. These partnerships underscore the need for hybrid security models that leverage the best of both integrated and specialized solutions to combat increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. 🌐 Why does this matter? As cybercriminals become more advanced, proactive threat detection and #AI response are no longer optional. Organizations are turning to solutions that can detect threats early, protect their assets across hybrid environments, and ensure data resilience—without the complexity. The future of cybersecurity? It's not just about reacting to threats. It's about anticipating and neutralizing them before they occur. 🔍 Read more about the evolution of cybersecurity and why integrated platforms might or might not be the key to the future 👇 #PredictiveSecurity #CyberResilience #DataProtection

Choose partners, not products. Or, to borrow from Finding Nemo: “Fish are friends, not food!” 🤣 The same applies in cybersecurity. Vendors that collaborate are the ones who truly understand the battlefield. I’ve seen this firsthand. A global financial services firm was drowning in duplicate alerts and slow incident response because their SIEM, SOAR, and EDR vendors weren’t aligned. Each promised “open APIs,” but in practice, integrations were clunky and costly. When those vendors finally sat down at the same table and co-developed an integration, everything changed: ⚡ False positives dropped ⚡ Incident triage time shrank ⚡ The security team finally had a single, consistent timeline of events That wasn’t about a single “best-of-breed” product. It was about partnerships—vendors willing to work together to solve problems for the customer, not just sell licenses. So next time you evaluate a security tool, don’t just ask about features. Ask: 👉 “Who are your partners, and what have you built together?” Because attackers are already collaborating. If your tools don’t, you’re left fighting alone. Now it's your turn. Tell me your collaboration stories in the comments. #cybersecurity #collaboration #riskmanagement

The evolving threat landscape underscores the urgent need for organizations to rigorously evaluate their cybersecurity strategies and ensure accountability by their MSPs. In February 2023, the Sacramento law firm Mastagni Holstedt, A.P.C., faced a major ransomware attack by Black Basta, leading to a complete loss of network access. The firm has since filed a lawsuit against its Managed Service Provider (MSP), LanTech LLC, seeking over $1 million in damages. The lawsuit claims LanTech failed to deliver adequate cybersecurity measures, resulting in data encryption and the deletion of cloud-based backups. This case underscores the severe legal and financial repercussions when service providers do not fulfill their cybersecurity responsibilities. While you can outsource IT support, you can't outsource risk. The case is still pending, but here are some things organizations can look into to ensure service providers are accountable. To mitigate cybersecurity risks, organizations should focus on these critical elements when drafting contracts: -Detailed Security Responsibilities: Clearly define the provider's cybersecurity duties, like regular updates, patch management, and network monitoring, to ensure mutual understanding and accountability. -Performance Standards and SLAs: Set specific performance metrics and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to outline acceptable service levels and response times for security incidents, providing a basis for performance evaluation. -Incident Response and Reporting Protocols: Establish detailed incident response protocols, including timelines for breach notifications, to enable swift action and regulatory compliance. -Regular Security Audits and Assessments: Mandate regular security audits and assessments, with reports to the organization, to proactively identify vulnerabilities and enhance security measures. -Indemnification and Liability Clauses: Clearly outline indemnification and liability terms to protect against financial losses due to negligence, specifying liability circumstances and caps. -Data Protection and Backup Responsibilities: Define responsibilities for data protection and backups, including encryption and regular backup testing, to ensure data recovery in case of ransomware attacks. -Termination and Exit Strategy: Specify conditions for contract termination due to unmet security obligations and include an exit strategy for a smooth transition to another provider if needed. Need assistance? The Cybersecurity team at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC is here to help. Check us out here: https://lnkd.in/e3B2HsB5 #cyber #cybersecurity #cyberlaw #ransomware Bowhead Specialty AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. AIG Coalition, Inc. Crum & Forster Cowbell Beazley NetDiligence® AXA XL Arch Insurance Group Inc. Travelers Chubb MSPs for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure

🎯 𝐈𝐁𝐌 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 🤝 Once fierce competitors, IBM and Palo Alto Networks are coming together to transform organizations through security platformization and integrating advanced #AI capabilities. To expand on this, I sat down with Tim Van den Heede, VP of Global Security Services Sales at IBM, and Kevin Kin, Global VP of GTM and SOC Transformation at Palo Alto Networks. Here are the highlights from the conversation: 📌 The partnership is focused on helping clients achieve security platformization by combining technology, service capabilities, and trusted AI. 📌 They're training 1,000+ experts across both companies on the joint value proposition for clients. 📌 Platformization is crucial to address the complexity and alert fatigue plaguing security operations (the average organization uses 83 different security solutions), 📌 The partnership delivers integrated solutions that simplify security, improve response times, and reduce risk. 📌 AI and #agenticAI are incorporated throughout the offerings to automate threat detection and triage alerts and enhance security decision-making. Watch the full interview to see how industry collaboration can transform #cybersecurity to be proactive. #𝐈𝐁𝐌 #𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 ✅ 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝐢𝐧 #𝐀𝐈, #𝐌𝐋, #𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐀𝐈 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 - https://lnkd.in/eESnAbFm Link to the full discussion in the comments 👇

Key way for cybersecurity companies to expand their reach and accelerate sales cycles – Leverage Value-Added Resellers (VARs). Here's how to effectively choose and work with VARs: 1. Choosing the Right VARs: Choose VARs that specialize in cybersecurity and have a robust understanding of the specific solutions you offer. For instance, if you're selling advanced threat protection solutions, partner with VARs who have a track record in that niche. 2. Nurture Relationships: Build strong relationships with a small number of key VARs. Treat these VARs as partners by providing them with leads and supporting them with the necessary resources to succeed. This helps in making your solution a preferred option for them to sell. 3. Understand the Value Chain: VARs have established relationships and trust with their customers. They understand customer needs and procurement processes, which can significantly shorten the sales cycle for your solutions. Leverage their expertise to tailor your offerings to meet the specific needs of end customers. 4. Strategic Alignment: Ensure that your strategic goals align with those of your VARs. This alignment includes agreement on target markets, sales strategies, and growth goals. Regular meetings and updates can help maintain alignment and foster a collaborative working relationship. 5. Mutual Benefits: Create mutually beneficial arrangements. Offer VARS incentives to prioritize your products, such as higher margins or exclusive selling rights in certain areas. Ensure the VARs have all the necessary marketing materials, product training, and sales tools to effectively sell and support your products. 6. Monitor and Support: Continuously monitor VARs’ performance and provide support where needed. Regular feedback helps to adjust strategies, resolve issues, and improve product offerings based on real market needs and challenges faced by the VARs. By understanding and integrating these aspects into your partnership strategy with VARs, you can enhance your market reach, improve sales effectiveness, and build lasting business relationships that drive mutual growth. Which strategies have you found effective when working with VARs? Share your insights in the comments below!

In The Insight Age, where data-driven decisions are paramount, how are cybersecurity companies adapting their strategies? Darktrace offers a compelling answer: by doubling down on partnerships. I’m sharing one final conversation from the Darktrace SKO last week, this time with Dan Monahan, SVP of Global Partnerships. Dan, whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with since our VMware days, shared how Darktrace is leveraging partnerships to thrive in this new era. Why is this partner-first approach crucial in the Insight Age? As we move from universal access to information to universal access to insights, companies need to tap into diverse ecosystems to stay ahead. Partners bring unique perspectives, data, and customer relationships that can significantly enhance a company’s ability to generate and act on insights. Key takeaways from Darktrace’s strategy: 1. “Partnership is our strategy, not a department.” This mindset shift is crucial for scalability in the cybersecurity market. 2. The vast majority of cybersecurity spending flows through partner ecosystems. Companies need to go where customers are choosing to spend. 3. Darktrace’s focus: Create net new opportunities through partners and reach customers who haven’t heard of their solutions yet. 4. Internal alignment is key. They’re shifting the operating model to make partnering simple internally, which in turn scales customer value. 5. Bold move: Darktrace is introducing a commission accelerator for partner-led deals, offering extra quota retirement for sales through partners. This strategy isn’t just about expanding reach. It’s about creating a network of insights that can drive innovation and better serve customers in an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape. As we navigate the Insight Age, this partner-centric strategy could be a powerful accelerator for growth and innovation in cybersecurity. What’s your take on this partner-first approach? How is your organization leveraging partnerships to drive growth and insights in your industry? #Partnerships #Cybersecurity #TheInsightAge