Hughes Network Systems, ranked No. 144 on MSSP Alert’s 2022 Top 250 MSSPs list, was founded in 1971 and launched a dedicated managed security services practice in 2014.
The Germantown, Maryland-based company has nearly 2,000 employees, with 43 fulltime employees focused on security, including six focused on MSSP clients, according to Dan Rasmussen, senior vice president of Hughes’ Enterprise Division.
Hughes’ MSP, MSSP Market Expansion
Since 2018, Hughes has offered both MSP and MSSP services. Hughes recently expanded its suite of managed cybersecurity services for distributed enterprises to include managed detection and response (MDR) and SOC as a service (SOCaas).
Rasmussen described the intended impact its services will have on the MSP and MSSP marketplace:
“The new offerings bring network security expertise from Hughes, plus the benefits of in-house, enterprise-grade protections, to small and mid-sized enterprises, tailored and scaled to address their needs. We secure every transport type that highly distributed organizations depend on, including satellite and cellular, as well as every cloud and every edge, to leave no gap undefended.
"Hughes gives customers the peace of mind to focus on growing their business, with 24/7/365 managed SOC and personalized support to enable big ambitions without big budgets. With decades of expertise in optimizing commercial network performance for leading retail, QSR, hospitality, grocery, c-store, banking, healthcare, government and other highly distributed enterprises, Hughes cybersecurity offerings are tailor-made to defend growing businesses.”
Looking back on 2022, Hughes built upon its managed firewall and unified threat management (UTM) services. In addition, says Rasmussen, Hughes strengthened its incident response services, leveraging next generation managed detection and response (MDR) capabilities. Hughes also continues to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to further advance our cybersecurity capabilities.
Hughes is universally known as a leading MSP — an innovator in satellite and multi-transport technologies and one of the top providers of broadband equipment and services throughout the world, Rasmussen said.
“However, the company is not yet known as a managed security service provider,” he said. “Building awareness for our MSSP offering will help us reach more highly distributed enterprises in need of our specialized cybersecurity services."
Rasmussen noted that Hughes is recognized as an MSP leader from respected firms like Frost & Sullivan, Vertical Systems Group, and others. As he explained:
“Hughes leverages a powerful blend of distinguished security partners, such as Fortinet, Splunk, Netsurion, Rapid7, VMware and Cisco Meraki, to offer the best security solutions to our customers. Our SASE solution won the 2022 TMCnet Internet Telephony SD-WAN Product of the Year Award, and Hughes has been listed as a Top 20 SD-WAN Provider by Channel Futures.”
What the Future Holds for Hughes
Looking forward to 2023, Rasmussen said that Hughes is expanding its offerings to provide small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with cybersecurity tools that allow them to do more with less.
“These companies often lack comprehensive, 24x7 cybersecurity coverage and oftentimes do not have the personnel and expertise needed to protect a highly distributed enterprise network,” he said.
In 2023, Hughes will keep working to proactively address the needs of this market segment by enhancing existing capabilities like MDR, EDR, SoCaaS, SD-WAN and zero trust, Rasmussen explained. Hughes also has a roadmap for future technology advancements, such as secure access service edge (SASE) offerings.
“We will continue to invest in R&D for AI and machine learning to increase the efficacy of our cybersecurity technology and find and retain industry partners to ensure that our offering is both comprehensive and competitive,” he said.
Hughes’ Focus on SMBs
Cybercrime is up 600% since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Rasmussen noted, and SMBs are not immune to this trend. With 3.5 million cybersecurity positions unfilled globally, he believes that SMBs may not have the resources to attract and hire their own cybersecurity staff.
“Hughes is committed to expanding its offerings to provide this segment of the market with managed security services tailored to defend distributed enterprise networks,” he said.
