Abacus expands incident response as Kocho reveals users are struggling By: Simon Quicke

Managed security service provider (MSSP) Abacus has expanded its incident response team in the UK to provide greater levels of security support for customers.

The expansion means the firm has incident response staff available to support UK customers and global partners operating across EMEA.

Abacus set up its incident response practice six years ago, initially offering a range of rapid recovery services to customers and partners. It is now building on that capability.

“Having an incident response team based in the UK strengthens our ability to collaborate more closely with our partners across EMEA,” said Tom Cole, senior managing director for EMEA at Abacus . “This expansion ensures we can engage earlier, communicate in real time, and work side-by-side with in-region partners to deliver a coordinated, effective recovery.”

The expansion should not only benefit Abacus customers, but also the partners in the MSSP’s broader ecosystem.

“Our incident response team is built to work in lockstep with partners around the world,” said Pamela Diaz, managing director of global partnerships at Abacus. “Over the past several years, we’ve developed an operationally mature, mission-ready practice that is designed to integrate seamlessly into joint response efforts. With teams now established in the UK, we’re even better positioned to support our partners and clients globally, bringing structure, clarity and trusted execution to complex incidents, wherever and whenever they occur.”

The decision by Abacus to expand its incident response so it can “follow the sun” and meet the needs of global customers comes as many users are struggling to get on top of security.

According to research from managed services player Kocho, over a quarter of cyber professionals admitted being encouraged to cover up a data loss incident rather than report it.

The research uncovered a culture of blame among customers, with fingers being pointed if a breach occurs, leading to the development of a preference by some to withhold information.

The survey also identified tensions between those directly responsible for security and their more removed bosses, who often failed to give support when a breach occurred. There were also gaps in levels of confidence around the ability to detect and respond to an incident between those at the coalface and those in the boardroom.

The role for the channel is not only to step in and help with the burden of setting up defences and delivering an effective response to incidents, but also in encouraging customers to change the blame culture around security breaches.

Hannah Birch, CEO of Kocho , said there had to be a shift in attitude towards cyber security incidents. “As an industry, we must move away from viewing every cyber breach as a sign of organisational or reputational failure. Today’s threats target entire sectors, supply chains and ecosystems, not just individual businesses, with similar techniques often used against multiple organisations in quick succession,” she said.

“A breach should not automatically be seen as evidence of negligence, but the result of a coordinated, well-resourced criminal campaign. Therefore, we need a culture of openness, where leaders can insights and experiences,” she added.

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