ID Agent Provides ROI For MSPs 'Right Away' With Dark Web Monitoring

The company’s solution for monitoring for stolen credentials is also combined with security awareness and training for employees to prevent future compromises.

ID Agent, a provider of solutions for dark web intelligence and security awareness training, is committed to providing a rapid path to monetization for the solutions with managed services partners, an ID Agent executive said Wednesday.

ID Agent's Dark Web ID product combines human and sophisticated dark web intelligence to more effectively identify, analyze and proactively monitor for compromised or stolen employee and customer data. That includes highly sensitive information such as passwords.

[Related: Cybersecurity Startup ID Agent Doubles Down On Partner Sales Support]

Meanwhile, the company’s BullPhish ID solution educates employees with simulated phishing attacks and security awareness training campaigns.

"The reality is that cyber criminals are going after the low-hanging fruit--the path of least resistance," said Amelia Paro, channel development manager at ID Agent. "So while our clients and prospects don't fully grasp the risk to their businesses, they still rely on you as the MSP to protect them."

Paro spoke Wednesday during the NexGen 2019 Conference and Expo in Anaheim, Calif., an event hosted by The Channel Company, which publishes CRN.

While ID Agent stands out with its solution for monitoring the dark web for stolen credentials, pairing it with user awareness seems to be an especially powerful combination, said Ben Schmerler, director of strategic operations at Columbia, Md.-based DP Solutions.

"I think if you're not talking about user awareness and user engagement on security, you can spend all the money in the world on tech tools and encryption and all the rest, and it won't really make much of a difference. Because you'll have users who don't care or who are oblivious to what's going on," he said.

Additionally, “what really intrigued me today is that when you incorporate [dark web monitoring] with the actual phishing testing and security awareness training, it seems like you do it at a lower price point than what I currently use,” Schmerler said.

A subsidiary of Kaseya, ID Agent has also been working with managed service providers to focus in on effective selling strategies for the solutions, Paro said.

One such strategy is for MSPs to deploy ID Agent as an opt-out solution, by sending out a "decline of service" email to customers--notifying the customers that ID Agent has been deemed a necessity due to the landscape of cyberattacks against SMBs. Customers can opt out of the service if they choose, but otherwise will have ID Agent added to their security protections bundle, Paro said.

One partner recently used this approach with a "decline of service" email to 72 customers, and 60 of them immediately came on board, she said. "It's a great way to get ROI right away," Paro said.