CISA Designates MSPs as Essential Coronavirus Personnel

Many states and municipalities are enacting regulations that temporarily shutter non-essential businesses as we grapple with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. The broad pronouncements of elected officials are creating some uncertainty about which businesses and industries are considered “essential.” A new federal publication helps clear up some of that confusion.

CISA’s new publication Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response” lists the jobs and industries that CISA considers essential to the country, and Information Technology is a major category. Here in Maryland, our governor’s designation of what constitutes an essential business is in line with these guidelines and it’s likely that most other administrators will do the same.

It comes as no surprise that MSPs and other information security professionals are considered essential workers by CISA. One staffer opening a map of Coronavirus cases from a phishing email or a healthcare worker’s cracked password could give cybercriminals the ability to deploy ransomware to shut down critical systems right when we need them the most.

A successful cyberattack against any part of our country’s already overburdened critical infrastructure can cripple our response to this pandemic. Cybercriminals are always ready to capitalize on any chance they get to execute phishing attacks, steal data, or deploy ransomware. The chaos of a crisis like this creates a wealth of opportunity for them to strike.

Our comprehensive suite of cybersecurity tools allows MSPs to provide the responsive, innovative defenses that their clients need to reliably safeguard their operations in a rapidly evolving threat landscape. We’re proud to partner with MSPs and companies of every size to defend their vital systems and data from cyberattacks, enabling people to keep doing the critical work that saves lives and keeps our country going in this time of crisis.

All of us at ID Agent hope you and your families are safe and healthy. We’re still hard at work to support our partners during this difficult time so don’t hesitate to call on us if we can be of assistance.