In the IT industry, a VAR is a company that buys third-party products – hardware, software, networking – that “adds value” to the product through additional features, software, integrations and professional services, and resells them as an integrated, turnkey solution to end-user organizations. A VAR buys third-party products from distributors or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Cyber resilience is the term used to describe the quality of IT infrastructure that is pliable and robust enough to withstand changes and modifications and can rapidly return to a stable state. These changes and modifications can include a cyberattack, the onboarding of new employees, adding new endpoints or workloads to the network, hardware failures, or a merger or acquisition – in short, any activity that changes and “disturbs” the status quo. In some cases, a cyber resilient infrastructure can withstand a disturbance and quickly return to its normal or static state. In other cases, the infrastructure may withstand a disturbance and, as a result, create a new, dynamic state. Any disturbance introduces an opportunity for cybercriminals to attack your systems and data.

If you work in information technology, you have heard the terms value-added reseller or VAR, and managed service provider or MSP. This article discusses the differences between a VAR and MSP and the benefits and disadvantages of each.

It’s not even over yet and 2021 has already had its share of cyberattacks, breaches, and cyberthreats. Let’s examine five of the top cybersecurity threats of 2021.