Make Your MSP Cyber Resilient: Earning the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) face growing pressure to prove their cybersecurity expertise to clients. The CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark offers a concrete way to demonstrate your security capabilities and stand out in the market. While earning this certification involves a comprehensive evaluation process, Compliance Scorecard provides the tools and expertise to make certification straightforward and efficient.

Here's why and how we support the CompTIA's Cybersecurity Trustmark’s mission to make MSPs cyber ready, cyber aware, and cyber resilient.

The MSP Cybersecurity Solution: CompTIA

What is CompTIA?

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a nonprofit trade association that acts as an advocate and educator for the IT industry and workforce. They’re also the largest vendor-neutral credentialing program for tech workers. Their globally recognized and valued certifications cover various IT domains, including networking, cloud computing, technical support, and cybersecurity.

The CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark

In March 2023, CompTIA announced a new cybersecurity certification aimed directly at MSPs. The goal of the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark is to elevate cybersecurity awareness and readiness of IT solution providers and help them improve their security culture and risk posture. MSPs that achieve the Trustmark can prove to their clients that they’ve implemented a strong foundational security framework and position themselves as leaders in best practices for end users.

What’s Involved?

CompTIA’s Cybersecurity Trustmark is based on some of the strongest controls from globally recognized risk frameworks, including:

The Center for Internet Security’s 18 Critical Security Controls
ISO/IEC 27001
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-171
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Cybersecurity Regulation

To achieve the Trustmark, MSPs must demonstrate compliance with a comprehensive set of 177 cybersecurity safeguards. These safeguards are derived from the frameworks above and represent essential security controls and best practices. The certification process includes in-depth assessments of operational procedures, infrastructure, and security systems.

Milestones

MSPs working toward achieving the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark move through three milestones:

Readiness: A baseline assessment to identify security gaps and develop an action plan.
Self-Attestation: An audit review process that verifies compliance with a subset of controls and provides a report for actions and additional milestones to complete.
Full Audit: A comprehensive audit of all controls and evidence to validate compliance.

After the final audit, MSPs receive another report and, if accepted by the auditor, their application for the Cybersecurity Trustmark is sent to the Accreditation Board for review and approval.

How Important is the Cybersecurity Trustmark?

Gain Trust

Voluntarily putting your MSP through the process of earning certification from one of the most trusted names in the IT world demonstrates a commitment to your clients. Moreover, it’s a tangible way to prove your engagement with industry best practices in cybersecurity. With it, your clients can be confident that you ensure the safety of your environment and that of your end users more effectively than anybody else.

Stay Trendy

CompTIA’s ultimate objective for the Trustmark is to become the globally adopted industry standard for cybersecurity. MSPs who consider themselves industry leaders should take note: getting ahead of this certification puts you in a strong position for the future.

Be Different

The MSP market is a competitive one, and earning certifications sets you apart. Not only does a CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark become a key differentiator between you and other MSPs, but it also increases your ability to do business with regulated clients looking for more substantial proof of cybersecurity compliance from their service provider.

CompTIA & Compliance Scorecard

Compliance Scorecard played a pivotal role in shaping the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark, contributing to the development of key controls, policies, and procedures. This deep understanding positions Compliance Scorecard to guide MSPs seamlessly through the certification process.

From the readiness review to the final audit, these features strengthen your cyber resilience and cyber awareness as you work toward the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark:

Risk analysis and management: Breeze through the readiness milestone using scorecards that measure risk, policy, assets, and more.
Policy management: Start aligning with the Trustmark’s controls and fostering a culture of cybersecurity with our expert policy documentation.
Cybersecurity integrations: Manage the various technical aspects of cybersecurity, such as attack surface management and access controls, with 20+ integrations.
Evidence collection: Microsoft Intune, RMM/PSA tools, and MS365 Ecosystem enable you to securely store and manage compliance evidence when auditing time comes around.
Reporting: Generate reports for stakeholders and auditors using customizable reporting tools that demonstrate progress and inform action plans.
Reviewing and updating: CompTIA intends to make revisions to the Trustmark program each year, and you can count on Compliance Scorecard to be up-to-date when it comes time to review.
Auditing: Audits are a breeze with all your compliance evidence, reports, documents, and versions stored and organized in one central repository.

Start Your Cybersecurity Certification Journey

The CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark is a quantifiable way to demonstrate a commitment to cybersecurity and industry best practices. As cybersecurity shifts from optional to essential, the Trustmark positions you for lasting success.

Compliance Scorecard supports you on the journey toward certification with the exact tools and resources you need to streamline the process. Contact us to learn more about how we can help with the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark process.