Discovering Guardz

Are your clients' businesses truly protected from cyber threats?

Let us introduce you to Guardz. It's a powerful managed cybersecurity platform for MSPs. It helps keep small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) safe. Guardz empowers MSPs to protect their clients, simplify their workflows, and fuel their growth. It achieves this with layered security, ongoing training, and flexible, customizable tools.

In this article, we’ll look at how Guardz got started, meet the founders, and check out its flagship product, key features, user tools, and plans for the future. This article also shows the impact Guardz can make for MSPs and the SMBs that rely on them.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

1. Guardz Company Overview
2. Guardz Founders
3. Guardz Timeline and Evolution
4. Guardz Cybersecurity Platform Overview
5. Guardz Plans, Free Trial, and Demo
6. Overview of the Guardz Dashboard
7. Spotlight Wrap Up

1. Guardz Company Overview

Guardz helps Managed Service Providers (MSPs) protect small businesses from cyber threats. Their mission is simple: keep small businesses safe online. At the same time, they give MSPs a way to grow their revenue through one platform that covers both cybersecurity and insurance.

Guardz approaches cybersecurity differently than most companies in the industry. They offer layered defenses to cover a wide range of threats. This setup makes it easier for MSPs to handle multiple clients.

Their platform shows a clear picture of security for all clients, saving time and effort. It also comes with one-click fixes and strong integrations to help people who need more technical knowledge.

At its core, Guardz is about building top-tier products. They put customers first and work together as a team to move quickly. The platform keeps improving based on what users require. With experts in both cybersecurity and insurance, Guardz is growing fast, using the latest innovations to stay ahead of the game.

2. Guardz Founders

In 2022, Alon Lavi and Dor Eisner created Guardz, a cybersecurity company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Their goal was simple: to help small businesses stay safe from cyber threats growing daily.

Alon Lavi, Guardz’s co-founder and CTO, has a strong background in computer science and business.

Before Guardz, he worked at Argus Cyber Security, where he became an expert. Now, he’s using that expertise to help Guardz grow fast and land key partnerships and funding.

Dor Eisner, Guardz’s Co-Founder and CEO, has over 20 years of experience in the field of cybersecurity. He saw a big problem before starting the company. While working at Rapid7 and Insights, Dor noticed that small businesses were being hit the hardest by cyberattacks. Criminals were using “Attack-as-a-Service” tools from the Dark Web to target them. Many small companies couldn't keep up. The security systems out there were too complicated and expensive. Even worse, if they were attacked, many couldn’t qualify for cyber insurance.

To fix this, Dor and Alon launched Guardz. Their platform makes cybersecurity simple, affordable, and effective for small businesses. It protects businesses from attacks with monitoring, detection, prevention, and response. It also helps them qualify for cyber insurance. Under their leadership, Guardz has become a key tool for MSPs.

3. Guardz Timeline and Evolution

2022: The Beginning

• Early 2022. Founding – cybersecurity experts from Tel Aviv, led by Alon Lavi and Dor Eisner, founded Guardz to fill a major market gap. With cyberattacks rising, small businesses needed affordable, easy-to-use cybersecurity.
• Later 2022, Seed Founding Guardz raised $10 million in seed funding, led by Hanaco Ventures with iAngels, GKFF Ventures, and Cyverse Capital. This funding fueled the development of Guardz’s AI-powered cybersecurity platform for SMBs.

2023: Growth and New Milestones

• January 31, 2023: Official Launch – Guardz launched its all-in-one cybersecurity platform to protect small businesses from online threats, offering MSPs an easy management solution.
• Spring 2023: G2 Recognition – Guardz earned 22 badges in G2’s Spring Reports, recognized as a top solution for MSPs.
• October 2023: MSP Platform Launch – Guardz introduced a new MSP-focused platform, offering enterprise-level features to simplify client protection and reduce costs.
• Early Challenges: They faced initial hurdles convincing MSPs to switch to a unified platform. Their premise was it could save money, reduce complexity, and streamline security.
• November 21, 2023: Growth Hub Launch – Guardz launched Growth Hub to help MSPs boost revenue with marketing tools, channel manager connections, custom reports, and branding options.
• December 13, 2023: Series A Funding – Guardz secured $18 million in Series A funding to fuel product development, global expansion, and customer success.
• 2023 – MSP Today Product of the Year: Guardz was awarded Product of the Year by MSP Today. Guardz was also featured in leading media outlets such as Forbes, Fortune, AXION, and TechCrunch. They gained industry recognition for their innovative approach to cybersecurity.

2024: More Awards and More Partnerships

• April 2024: Guardz partnered with SentinelOne to integrate advanced AI technology into its platform. This move enhanced cybersecurity solutions for SMBs and made enterprise-grade protection accessible through MSPs.
• May 2024: Guardz and SuperOps joined forces to streamline cybersecurity for MSPs by automating threat detection, response, and ticketing. The objective of this partnership was to allow MSPs to focus on business growth while improving security.
• June 2024: Guardz expanded into Canada by partnering with iON United to launch iON Guardian, a platform designed to deliver comprehensive, affordable cybersecurity for Canadian SMBs.
• July 2024: Guardz integrated with ConnectWise PSA through the ConnectWise Invent program, allowing MSPs to automate cybersecurity management, improving efficiency and scaling protection for SMBs.
• August 14, 2024: Guardz launched the Community Shield Plan, a free platform providing MSPs with unified detection and response for their internal operations. This platform helps protect businesses without added costs.
• 2024 MSP Today Product of the Year: Guardz’s AI-powered platform was again named 2024 MSP Today Product of the Year. This award recognized its innovation and success in delivering top-notch cybersecurity to SMBs through MSPs.

Future Plans

• Global Expansion: With fresh funding and continued innovation, Guardz plans to expand into new markets globally. They will focus on further developing their platform and incorporating cutting-edge technologies like AI and machine learning to stay ahead of cyber threats.
• Customer-Centric Growth: Guardz remains dedicated to offering small businesses powerful cybersecurity solutions while prioritizing ease of use and exceptional customer support.

4. Guardz’s Cybersecurity Platform Overview

Guardz is a powerful, easy-to-use cybersecurity platform. It helps MSPs protect small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from cyber threats.

The Cybersecurity Platform combines email security, cloud data protection, and endpoint management. It also offers real-time threat detection, all in one place. No extra hassle.

Guardz also has a Growth Hub, loaded with tools to help MSPs grow. It supports marketing, reporting, and keeping clients engaged. It also offers customizable cyber insurance for clients with certain security standards.

Guardz Cybersecurity Platform Features Overview:

• Email Security: Blocks phishing, spam, and malware. Integrates with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace to scan and quarantine suspicious emails.
• Cyber Awareness Training & Phishing Simulations: It trains employees and runs AI-powered tests to guard against phishing and ransomware.
• Cloud Data Protection: It monitors cloud environments and controls permissions. It secures sensitive data across apps to prevent unauthorized access.
• External Footprint Monitoring: It scans the company's digital edge for flaws, old systems, exposed assets, and leaked credentials. This helps to find security gaps before they are exploited.
• Endpoint Security & Device Management: It protects devices from malware and ransomware. It does this with real-time scanning, an automatic response, and visibility into device management.
• A centralized platform with integrated security features. It makes setup and management easy for MSPs.
• Single View of Threats: Scans attack vectors, ranks issues by risk and gives detailed options for fixing threats.
• User-Centric Risk Management: It collects user data to measure employee risk. This helps MSPs find behavioral vulnerabilities.
• Growth Hub for MSPs: It offers ROI reports, prospecting tools, and client insights. These help MSPs show value, boost revenue, and engage clients.

Cyber Insurance:

Cyber insurance bundles with Guardz’s cybersecurity tools. It ensures active risk management and better premium rates. This feature provides insurance options for data breaches, ransomware, and business interruptions with customizable coverage for clients.

• Real-Time Risk Assessment: Automated monitoring adjusts the policy based on the business’s security posture.
• Customizable Coverage: Tailored policies to fit the business's specific needs and data sensitivity levels.
• Streamlined Claims Handling: Guardz simplifies the claims process through its integrated platform, offering real-time support in the event of an incident.

Target Focus and Industry

The Guardz Platform is made just for MSPs. It has a multi-tenant setup, which lets MSPs easily manage clients and see a clear, combined view of their security. The platform is perfect for those MSPs providing IT and cybersecurity services to SMBs.

These SMBs often lack big teams and budgets for advanced security. So, they need something simple but strong. Guardz offers an affordable, easy-to-use solution. It protects users from cyber threats like phishing and ransomware.

Guardz works well in many industries, like IT, finance, and healthcare, where data protection is critical. It's especially useful for small MSPs. They lack big security teams but need to provide solid protection. Guardz helps them protect clients' data, comply with security rules, and avoid new cyber risks.

5. Guardz Plans, Free Trial, and Demo

Why is Guardz so cost-efficient? This is because it combines key security features that would need separate tools.

The cybersecurity platform offers three plans:

• Community – Free, for MSPs’ internal use, no commitment.
• Pro – $5/user/month for 100+ users, includes client security features and a 14-day free trial. The pro edition can be extended to 500+ users (/month). If you commit for 12 months to this plan, then just adjust or cancel as needed.
• Ultimate – Custom pricing, volume discounts, 24/7 support, and scalable security. If securing many users, ask about tiered pricing discounts. Contact sales@guardz.com for details.

Note: Each plan provides automated detection and response, with Pro and Ultimate focused on securing clients. You can explore all core security controls and MSP tools, during the trial. If you continue, simply add your credit card to choose a plan. Also, remember that you can add the Secure & Insure option to your plan. This is perfect for the end customer to meet the security score threshold for favorable pricing.

• What if you want to upgrade? Easily upgrade your Guardz plan if you add more users. Your next invoice will reflect this change. Always keep billing accurate.
• What are the payment methods accepted by Guardz? Pay for Guardz with any major credit card, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners, and China Union Pay.

Trial and Demo

Fortunately, Guardz offers an amazing 14-day free trial phase. While testing this trial, we loved how well we could test Guardz with Workspace and 365 clients. We recommend trying Guardz’s free trial to see if it meets your specific needs. Sign up to start the 14-day free trial (no credit card required).

Demo: We found the Guardz demo to be quite impressive. It had a quick setup. We saw one MSP onboarding a customer within an hour. However, they chose not to proceed due to specific unmet needs and concerns about pricing transparency.

Schedule a Demo: MSPs can book a demo to explore Guardz’s capabilities firsthand: Book a Demo.

6. Overview of the Guardz Dashboard

The Guardz dashboard gives MSPs strong control over client cybersecurity. It’s simple to use, even when managing multiple clients. The dashboard also allows quick toggling between clients and makes adding new clients smooth. It also supports both big-picture views and detailed analysis with drill-down features. A highlight is its real-time risk scores, which help MSPs make swift, informed decisions. This improves their ability to protect clients from changing cyber threats.

a. The main menu (left panel)

Left Panels:

The left sidebar uses simple icons to access essential sections like:

• Issues
• Users
• Devices
• Internet Assets
• Awareness training
• Growth Hub

b. Single View of Threats and Coverage

The Guardz main dashboard gives MSPs a clear view of client security. It lets you view users, devices, browsers, cloud drives, and internet assets. It shows both protected and unprotected areas across security controls. These include endpoint security, phishing simulations, and dark web monitoring. This overview helps MSPs assess their security quickly and focus on weak areas.

The top section shows key numbers: users, devices, mailboxes, browsers, cloud drives, and internet assets. Each category includes alert icons that flag risky areas, like devices needing a closer look.

In the center, the Coverage & Issues panel uses a radar chart to show layers of security—like Phishing Simulations, Security Awareness, and Endpoint Security. You can spot weak areas quickly and direct resources where needed most.

Right Panels: 

• A Customer Risk Summary lists clients. It marks them on severity, such as high or critical risk. This highlights where to focus first.
• An Issues by Risk bar ranks problems from Critical to Low. You can see what requires attention now and what’s less urgent.
• The Insights panel below offers recommendations, like reports for new prospects or alerts for missing MFA or Leaked Credentials.

c. Security Controls

The Guardz Dashboard’s Security Controls section gives you an organized view of all active security measures across client systems. It shows all active security controls, the ones running and those inactive. This setup ensures full coverage in critical areas.

Each control’s details are easy to follow through. They show coverage across users, devices, and domains. The layout lets you adjust settings fast and spot any gaps needing attention.

d. Issues Dashboard

This section gives a central view of all issues found across the organization. It sorts issues by severity, type, status, and dates. This helps MSPs filter and tackle urgent threats first. With this, MSPs can switch between default and custom views. For example, they can focus only on email security issues.

In this panel, you can also toggle between views. Change from default or quarantine, email, cloud DLP, and devices. You can then filter each issue, and double-click on each to see more details (along with recommendations and email notifications). The issues dashboard also shows you remediation options. You can apply automated fixes to attempt to resolve the issues at hand.

e. User Risk Management

The Users Dashboard on the Guardz Cybersecurity Platform shows MSPs each employee’s security status. It also tracks each employee’s risk level. It lists their email, risk level, and security controls (like email protection and cloud data security). This lets MSPs find users at risk and apply custom security steps.

Key Features

• User Overview: Shows users with details like Email address, Name, and Risk Level (e.g., “Low”, “Medium”, or “High”). With this, MSPs can focus on high-risk users.
• Security Controls Status: Icons show the status of controls, like Cloud Data Security, Email Protection, and Dark Web Monitoring. A checkmark means active, and a red “X” means inactive. This makes it easy to spot vulnerabilities.
• A right panel shows extra info: When you double-click on a user, you get additional info. You can see a fuller security profile picture on a user like: Last Activity Date, Google Workspace License Status, Role (e.g., “Admin”), and Open Issues.

f. Device Management

The Device Management Dashboard on Guardz shows you a full list of devices. It details their hostname, status (e.g., “Risky”), OS, and antivirus status. With it, MSPs can drill down into specific devices to review their security posture. They can also address vulnerabilities in antivirus, firewall, encryption, and OS settings.

Key Features

• Device Panel: It shows each device's IP, OS version, antivirus status, and issues. This allows targeted threat responses.
• Issues Tracking: Lists open issues and their status for quick resolution.
• Device Posture: Summarizes security settings like AV status, firewall, updates, and disk encryption. It has checkmarks for compliant areas.

g. Internet Assets Management

The Internet Assets Management Dashboard gives you an overview of all Internet assets. Each asset displays details like IP address, geolocation, issues, status (active or inactive), and customer name. This dashboard helps MSPs monitor, prioritize, and secure external IPs for their clients. Internet assets management is critical to prevent threats proactively.

Key Features

• Issue Indicators: Green checkmarks mark secure assets. Red markers flag IPs needing attention. They make it easy to spot vulnerabilities.
• Status Tracking: It shows if an asset is active. This helps MSPs manage their operational IPs.
• Customer Linkage: Links each IP to a specific client. This information helps with multi-client management.

h. Awareness Training & Phishing Simulations

The platform offers customizable security training and phishing tests. One standout feature is its use of generative AI. 

MSPs can manage training for each customer with this Training and Simulations dashboard. They can assign topics like financial fraud and phishing to boost cybersecurity awareness. Each module has videos and quizzes. They aim to engage users and ease learning.

i. Growth Hub for MSPs

And last but not least: The Guardz Growth Hub (introduced November 21, 2023).

This fantastic feature gives MSPs the tools to grow their cybersecurity services. It has curated marketing materials, customizable reports, and prospecting tools. They can use these to educate clients and expand their reach.

A standout feature of Guardz’s Growth Hub is its Downloadable Resources. You can access tools like Sales Decks, Industry Briefs, and Survey Results on SMB cybersecurity. Industry-specific insights are also available for sectors like Education and Healthcare. Here you can download materials in PDF or PPT formats. These will also help you show clients the value of cybersecurity.

Additional Key Features

• Direct Channel Manager Access. This enables immediate contact with support and sales Channel Managers using the displayed information. This nice add-on ensures MSPs get the help they need (when they need it).
• Company Profile Setup Tracker. A setup tracker guides MSPs through key profile steps. They must upload a logo and update contact details. This creates a polished, professional online presence.
• Prospecting Reports. Create reports to analyze clients' risks. With this, you can educate prospects on their cybersecurity needs.
• ROI Reports. ROI reports benchmark client security against industry standards and track progress. These reports are great for building stronger client relationships.
• Subscription Management. Easily track client subscriptions across Starter, Trial, and Pro plans. This will keep you informed of their current statuses.

7. Wrap-Up

Guardz brings together everything MSPs need in one place. It has easy threat monitoring, user training, and simple, customizable dashboards and reports. But, it’s more than just protection; it’s about making your work smoother and saving you time.

With Guardz, you’re not only keeping clients secure but also building stronger relationships. Plus, the Growth Hub and built-in insurance options give you even more ways to add value.

Curious? Start a 14-day free trial or book a Demo to see Guardz in action!