Enterprises are increasingly turning to their communications service provides (CSPs) for help in fighting the wave of post-pandemic security breaches, according to a new survey by tech company Allot.

The research collected answers from 1,000 businesses with 50 or less employees across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The results showed that only 22% of those surveyed trust their existing solution will protect them from cyberattacks.

Rather than relying on a security provider or vendor, 73% want security to be a core offering from their ISP or CSP while 69% want to be able to go to their ISP/CSP for cybersecurity insights and solutions. Furthermore, 70% of small businesses agree that “it is the responsibility" of the ISPs and CSPs “to provide secure traffic.”

[caption id="attachment_124130" align="alignnone" width="632"] Source: Shelter Your Small Business Customers from the Cyber Storm, Allot, 2022[/caption]

However, only 27% of respondents purchase security solutions from their CSPs today, but they are willing to pay their provider to protect them from threats. Seventy-seven percent would "definitely" or "probably" switch to a service provider that offered security services.

These results show that CSPs are "uniquely positioned to be the security provider for small businesses worldwide," the survey report noted. "CSPs can take the lead and implement network-based cybersecurity solutions in order to provide the services that small businesses look to them for."

"CSPs own the connectivity infrastructure. Just like the water company is best positioned to ensure we get clean water, CSPs can clean the data and SMBs just need to connect," Michael Schachter, Allot Director of Product Marketing told SDxCentral.

Allot's survey results paralleled a recent Omdia report that looked at the forces behind digital partnership reevaluation, and echoed a survey from NTT that showed cybersecurity and private 5G are the driving forces behind accelerating network modernization in the enterprise.

Indeed, enterprises are sending a “strong message” to CSPs, noted Allot CMO Vered Zur in the press release. “They are clearly stating that they expect secure connectivity services and that they will seek providers who offer those services as they become available.”