Akamai Equips ISPs to Offer Differentiated Cybersecurity Services to Small and Mid-Size Businesses

Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM), the intelligent edge platform for securing and delivering digital experiences, today announced several updates to its Security and Personalization Services (SPS) Secure Business solution, which provides internet service providers (ISPs) with turnkey security solutions for small- and mid-sized business (SMB) customers. Updates include a cloud-based deployment model, customizable service offerings and enhanced threat coverage designed to help ISPs more quickly seize new revenue opportunities with differentiated security services that are easier to deploy and tailored specifically to SMB needs. The new capabilities are designed to help ISPs grow revenues in saturated markets, differentiate their offerings and reduce service costs.

Comcast Business is using Akamai’s SPS Secure Business as part of its new Comcast Business SecurityEdge™ cloud-based internet cybersecurity solution for small businesses. With SPS Secure Business, Comcast Business is able to help businesses protect their devices connected to Comcast Business Internet against certain cyberthreats without the need for additional hardware other than the Comcast Business router. Comcast Business SecurityEdge also takes advantage of Akamai’s threat intelligence capabilities to automatically update internet domain threats for its customers every 10 minutes without manual downloads or software updates.

“Cybersecurity and the dynamic nature of potentially disruptive cyberthreats are among the key challenges that business owners must contend with in today’s hyperconnected world,” said Shena Tharnish, Vice President, Cybersecurity Products, Comcast Business. “Using Akamai’s SPS Small Business solution, Comcast Business developed an affordable cybersecurity solution for our small business customers with Comcast Business SecurityEdge, which helps customers defend against security threats like malware and bots as they focus on running and growing their businesses.”

Advanced, Effortless DNS-Based Cybersecurity Protection for SMBs

Many SMBs are challenged to manage their cybersecurity postures, leading to exposure that can adversely impact their business. In fact, the National Small Business Association reported in a recent study that 47% of small business owners manage cybersecurity themselves, 22% have a staff member manage it, and 6% don’t have anyone responsible for managing security at all. A separate survey conducted by the U.K. government found 42% of small businesses identified a cybersecurity breach in the previous year and 74% say cybersecurity is a high priority for senior management.

With Akamai SPS Secure Business, ISPs are equipped to offer SMBs enterprise-grade security defenses that are easy to deploy and manage. Continuously updated DNS-based threat intelligence provides dynamic defenses against a wide range of cyberattacks – from ransomware and malware to botnet and phishing campaigns. Every device on the SMB premises is covered without the need for software downloads, configuration or in-house security expertise. Optional content filters let SMBs enforce acceptable use policies to align internet use with their business needs.

“We’re thrilled to work with leading ISPs in developing a set of effective, easy-to-use cybersecurity products for a market that is among the most vulnerable to and impacted by cyberattacks,” said Dane Walther, SVP and GM, Media & Carrier, Akamai. “While headline-grabbing attacks tend to involve larger brands, it’s small businesses with limited security budgets and skills that are often hit the hardest by an incident. With the latest enhancements to our SPS Secure Business solutions, we’re making it even easier for ISPs to extend Akamai’s unmatched security capabilities and threat intelligence to their SMB customers to enhance those relationships and protect their own business in the process.”

Security Services Purpose-Built for ISPs

Specific deployment options and features that are new to SPS Secure Business include:

• SPS Secure Business Cloud: The SaaS solution reduces planning and deployment cycles, minimizes hardware and software requirements, streamlines delivery and reduces capital and operational overhead.
• Customizable Services: ISPs can align the look and feel of the service to their brand and offer feature sets and threat protections tailored to local market requirements.
• Enhanced Threat Coverage: SPS delivers continuously updated threat intelligence based on unmatched visibility into DNS and web traffic – including an evaluation of 200 billion anonymized DNS queries per day gathered from ISPs around the world – which reduces disruptive false positives and improves responsiveness to fast-changing exploits.

For more information on SPS Secure Business, please visit:
/content/akamai/en/products/network-operator/sps-secure-business.html.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

This release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai’s management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, inability of the newly-introduced solutions to operate as expected or to address intended market needs, failure of Akamai and Comcast technologies to interoperate, customers not realizing the desired benefits from solutions they purchase, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, and other factors that are discussed in Akamai’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.