ABSTRACT
In the words of one IT manager, outsourcing “represents the possibility of recovering from the awkward position of trying to accomplish an impossible task with limited resources.” This promising possibility is embodied in a new segment of the information security market called managed system security providers (MSSPs), which has arisen to provide organizations with an alternative to investing in their own systems security. With the exception of a few large companies that have offered security services for many years, providing outsourced security is a relatively new phenomenon. Until the late 1990s, no company described itself exclusively as a provider of security services; while in 2001, several hundred service and product providers are listed in MSSP directories. The outsourcing of security services is not only growing in the United States or the English-speaking world, either in terms of organizations who choose to outsource their security or those who provide the outsourced services.
