You can reduce the risk of a catastrophic cybercrime event

With the recent epidemic of WannaCry ransomware infections, the expectation that every year more than 65% of companies will be hit by some form of cybercrime, and mandatory compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations due by May 2018, companies are having to consider more effective ways of managing the threat to data.

Simply hoping that your company’s critical information is secure is no longer an option, and smart companies are now taking a holistic approach to e-security risk.

Integrating IT systems

Typically this involves integrating into their IT systems the ability to monitor for new threats in real-time, while automatically auditing for policy breaches – this is like having a burglar alarm on your data – and with increasingly sophisticated monitoring and response technology, the ability to intervene when an event begins, rather than after it hurts.

There was a time when such systems cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and were only affordable by big corporates, but there are now security tech companies able to deploy low-cost but highly effective Data Collectors within an SME’s IT domain set up to monitor for new threats, and automatically report policy breaches to a designated Central Hub. This approach is made all the more attractive as it does not require the SME to punch a big ‘incoming’ hole through their existing firewall, and integrates seamlessly with any existing security technologies.

But is this the answer to all threats? Well, the honest answer is ‘no’. Any company determined to protect itself against the evolving threat of cybercrime will only be successful if they adopt a 360-degree business risk management approach as described in ISO 27001, with the new technology acting as a powerful immune system.

Mike Britnell Co-founder & Director, BeCyberSure