Perimeter eSecurity is making it easier for service providers such as Verizon, Qwest and others to sell a full suite of managed security services to their small and midsized business customers with the release of a new portal that can be re-labeled by carriers.

Perimeter eSecurity’s Network Service Provider Portal provides management and reporting on 50 IT security services offered by Perimeter. These include firewall, intrusion prevention, intrusion detection, antivirus filtering, spam filtering and e-mail encryption.

The portal’s goal is to make it easier for service providers to sell managed security services to SMBs, which have become the top target for attacks. Smaller companies are more susceptible to security breaches than enterprises but often don’t invest in IT security, experts say.

"SMBs don’t see the need for security because it’s not something that’s tangible," says Clark Easterling, vice president of marketing at Perimeter. "In order for them to be able to adopt security, they need to see the value of it and see how easy it is to subscribe to these services."

Perimeter’s new portal gives a service provider’s customers an overall security protection rating and offers a snapshot look at firewall and other core security activities. The portal reports on viruses and attacks that were prevented. End users can create daily, weekly and monthly reports by user, site or e-mail address.

In addition to Verizon and Qwest, Perimeter’s service provider partners include Cavalier Telephone, NuVox, Onvoy, MegaPath, Internap and Connect 123. With the new portal, these service providers are able to sell add-on security services at the same time they are selling Internet access, VoIP or other data services.

"We started partnering with Perimeter last June," says Clint McDonald, data product manager for Cavalier Telephone, a CLEC that operates in the Mid-Atlantic region. "We are delivering their security products with our T-1s and data services."

McDonald says Perimeter’s new portal is helping Cavalier sell security services. In fact, the CLEC now requires its customers to sign a waiver if they don’t buy add-on security services when they purchase a T-1 line.

"We’re focusing on SMBs that don’t have IT staff and don’t have the ability to manage their own firewalls and routers," McDonald says. "They may not understand the process of security. We’re selling to car dealerships, small law firms, small medical practices. We’re explaining to them that if they need data, they need security."