Category Archives: Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity, News

7 Best Ways to Improve Your Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a top priority for most companies today. However, some still experience lots of threats and successful attacks due to a lack of proper security posture. As a result, data breaches happen almost every day regardless of the company’s size, budget and location.

The good thing is that we live in the digital era. That means companies can now easily explore methods hackers use to steal information and be prepared before a successful attack hits. We created this article to help you explore the best ways to improve your cybersecurity to save your business in 2023. Let’s explore them below:

Hire a Cybersecurity Team

One of the easiest yet effective methods to boost your cybersecurity is hiring a security team that will be in charge of all questions. Companies that don’t have these teams risk losing signs of threats which will result in a successful attack. Investing in the team is a cost-efficient option compared to an attack.

Perform Penetration Testing

Penetration testing is an excellent alternative and an addition to your exciting cybersecurity team. This process involves mimicking real attacks to see how systems and employees react. The key thing here is that cybersecurity specialists use the same methods and tools that real attackers would, so the result is always real, allowing you to explore vulnerable places in your systems or staff.

Train Employees to Spot Cybersecurity Red Flags

Identifying minor changes in the network and user behaviour allows organisations to take action quickly and save the situation. Not only should the security team pay attention, but all of your employees should also know what red flags exist. These may include poor-quality logos, spelling mistakes, fake domain names and so on.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication can also be an important part of your cybersecurity strategy. This practice means that accessing software or carrying out a transaction requires little personal verification, which aids in security and allows you to verify users. Even though modern hackers can still overcome this step, adding another security layer anyways.

Update All Your Software 

Hackers like outdated systems and software. That is because these systems are much more vulnerable and can’t resist an attack the way the latest technologies can. In addition, they are harder to protect. So if you want to achieve higher security in place, we highly recommend updating all your software.

Store Personal Data Separately

Even though modern people like the idea of storing all keys and sensitive data in one place for higher convenience, it can also be a damaging thing to them and the organisation they work at. That is because when hackers get access to one place, they get access to all your sensitive data, opening doors for all vulnerabilities. That is why experts recommend keeping all this data separate.

Audit Your Systems Regularly

Alongside penetration testing, you should always test all your systems on a regular basis. Hire specialists that will perform an audit and train your staff in order to maximise results from your investments. Just having cybersecurity doesn’t mean you are protected. If you don’t have enough skills or knowledge, you would like to delegate the process to experts.

 

Cybersecurity, News

Cohesity Announces New Data Security Alliance with Industry Heavyweights in Security and Services to Collectively Help Enterprises Win the War Against Cyberattacks

Cohesity has today announced that it is partnering with the ‘who’s who’ of cybersecurity to give customers more ways to win the war against cyberattacks.

The Data Security Alliance combines best-in-class solutions from industry leading cybersecurity and services companies with exceptional data security and management expertise from Cohesity. Partners in the ecosystem include: BigID, Cisco, CrowdStrike, CyberArk, Okta, Palo Alto Networks, Securonix, Splunk, and Tenable, with new security advisory relationships with Mandiant and PwC.

Security complexities cannot be solved by one vendor alone. According to research commissioned by Cohesity, nearly half of organisations (47%) were hit by ransomware attacks in the first half of 2022.

When an organisation is the victim of an attack, companies want to detect and stop the attack as soon as possible, avoid paying the ransom, and if necessary, recover core business operations as quickly as possible. To achieve these goals requires close collaboration and integration of security and data management solutions and services.

This new Data Security Alliance collectively brings together the boldest solutions and the brightest minds in security to provide customers with a comprehensive approach that integrates data protection and resilience into an end-to-end security strategy. This strategy starts at prevention, extends to early detection and protection and also includes rapid recovery — critical in the event of a cyberattack.

 

“Today’s non-stop and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats require an all-hands-on-deck approach. It’s not the responsibility of one vendor to solve all cybersecurity challenges, it takes a village to fight the bad guys. That’s why, out of the gate, we’re starting with multiple best-of-breed security partners, with tens of billions in market cap, who are serving thousands of customers globally,” said Sanjay Poonen, CEO and president, Cohesity.

“As a leader in data security and management, we are partnering with these industry heavyweights so they can leverage our platform, the Cohesity Data Cloud, to help customers easily integrate data security and resilience into their overall security strategy. This not only helps enterprises better protect against the threat of cyberattacks but brings together CIOs and CISOs to the collaboration table to fight cybercrime in ways not seen before in our industry,” Poonen added.

“We at CrowdStrike believe frictionless data security is critical to drive business value for our customers. We continuously work to ensure that organisations with their endpoints, workloads and users continue to operate without obstacles, while data is continuously secured against breaches and insider threats, including ransomware exfiltration,” said Michael Rogers, vice president of global alliances at CrowdStrike. “We’re pleased to join this alliance and team up with Cohesity to help organisations strengthen their cyber resilience, in the face of evolving sophisticated adversaries.”

“To any organisation hit by a cyberattack, backup environments must be free of security risks – the last thing an organisation needs in an emergency situation is to introduce new risk,” said Ray Komar, vice president of technical alliances, Tenable. “Tenable’s Exposure Management capabilities and Cohesity’s data security and management platform deliver complete visibility across the modern attack surface, including backup environments, so customers can reduce their overall risk and improve their resiliency.”

“The Cohesity + Cortex XSOAR value is strong, with the bi-directional flow of data and commands to rapidly detect and respond to ransomware,” said Pamela Cyr, vice president Technical Partnerships, Palo Alto Networks. “Cohesity confirms infection, and the Cortex XSOAR automation platform manages the enrichment and initiates a safe restore of business-critical data. We’re happy to be a part of this growing ecosystem.”

 

Partners will be able to leverage the Cohesity Data Cloud in a variety of ways to help joint customers advance their security posture. For example, with Cohesity, partners can leverage Cohesity’s AI-based anomaly detection to gain early insights that an attack may be in progress and accelerate response and remediation. Cohesity’s API-first approach makes it incredibly easy for security partners to join the alliance and integrate their solutions with Cohesity’s data security and management platform — essential as the battle to defeat cyberattacks continues to evolve.  Additional details on the partners can be found below:

·  BigID: Drives visibility and control for all sensitive & critical data helping organisations understand and minimise data risk across the cloud & on-prem with a data-first approach – for data security, privacy, compliance, and governance.

·  Cisco: SecureX is a cloud-native solution with XDR capabilities that integrates the Cisco Secure portfolio with the entire security infrastructure, speeding detection, response, and recovery. When a ransomware attack strikes, customers can initiate workflows for Cohesity to restore data and workloads.

·  CrowdStrike: Secures the most critical areas of enterprise risk – endpoints, cloud workloads, identity and data – to keep customers ahead of today’s adversaries and stop breaches.

·  CyberArk: The CyberArk Identity Security Platform enables unparalleled protection of any identity – human or machine – across the widest range of devices and environments from a single, comprehensive platform.

·  Mandiant: Industry-leading threat intelligence and expertise drive dynamic solutions that help organisations develop more effective programs and instill confidence in their cyber readiness.

·  Okta: The leading independent identity provider offers platform and services for workforce identity and customer identity.

·  Palo Alto Networks: Cortex XSOAR provides the automation and flexibility that allows enterprises to more quickly manage cyber and ransomware attacks.

·  PwC UK: Offers a full suite of advisory, implementation and managed security services to enable organisations to build their cyber security defences and respond effectively to cyberattacks.

·  Securonix: Delivers a solution to defend against advanced threats in today’s complex hybrid environments. Securonix Next-Gen SIEM is powered by the most advanced analytics and built on a scalable, flexible cloud-native architecture.

·  Splunk: Provides an extensible data platform that delivers unified security, full-stack observability, and custom applications.

·  Tenable: Empowers organisations to understand and reduce their cyber risk by providing visibility across the entire attack surface. Tenable.io powers Cohesity’s CyberScan to easily assess data backup environments, which can be used as a proxy for sensitive production environments as well as ensure that a recovery situation does not introduce vulnerable conditions into production.

 

“Cybercriminals continue to up their game, often attacking backups in an effort to neutralise an organisation’s options and increase leverage for their ransom demands,” said Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant. “At a time of ever-increasing cyber threats, it’s critical that cybersecurity, data security and management companies work hand-in-hand to collaborate and keep bad actors at bay. We’re thrilled to be part of this security alliance.”

“A major concern of our customers is the increase in the number and severity of ransomware attacks. These destructive attacks have highlighted the importance of organisations not just having strong protection but coupling it with a comprehensive backup and recovery capability,” said Richard Horne, Partner, PwC UK. “Working alongside Cohesity helps us offer an end-to-end strategy to not only protect our customers against cyberattacks, but to quickly recover their core business operations should they fall victim to a successful attack.”

“The Data Security Alliance is an important step towards ensuring customers are better equipped to defend and recover from cyberattacks. Cohesity’s approach to integrate the Cohesity platform with key security providers with an API-first strategy is absolutely the best method to increase protection for customers,” said Randy Kerns, Senior Strategist and Analyst for Evaluator Group. “The incessant threat of ransomware makes it imperative that cybersecurity, data security and management vendors collaborate to provide customers with a solution to identify, prevent, protect, and recover data in the event of an attack.”

Appointments, Cybersecurity, News

BlueVoyant Welcomes Veteran Sales Executive

Michael Conley appointed chief revenue officer, joining the company from CDW, which recently entered a strategic alliance with BlueVoyant. 

BlueVoyant, an industry-leading cyber defence company that combines internal and external cybersecurity, today announced that Michael Conley is joining the company as chief revenue officer. Conley brings more than 25 years of experience helping enterprises solve cybersecurity issues, most recently at CDW’s Sirius Computer Solutions, one of the nation’s largest IT-solutions integrators.

BlueVoyant recently entered into a strategic alliance with CDW where CDW and BlueVoyant will serve as each other’s preferred technology partners to bring complete full-stack cybersecurity solutions to the companies’ mutual customers. The two companies have been working together for some time, with BlueVoyant initially partnering with Sirius before it was acquired. CDW will now be a preferred BlueVoyant reseller for BlueVoyant Core: MDR™ (Managed Detection & Response), BlueVoyant Terrain: SCD™ (Supply Chain Defence), and BlueVoyant Sky: DRP™ (Digital Risk Protection), which offer clients best-in-class protection to help with cyber defence.

 

“I am excited to welcome Mike and his strong reputation in cybersecurity to our team,” said BlueVoyant’s CEO and Co-Founder, James Rosenthal. “In addition to his great relationship with the CDW teams, he has the experience needed to continue our rapid growth and expansion to serve more worldwide organisations.”

Most recently the executive vice president for managed and cloud services at CDW’s Sirius, Conley also served on the board of directors. Prior to joining Sirius, Conley held the role of senior vice president at Forsythe Technology, now an integrated part of Sirius, where he specialised in emerging technologies and key accounts. He joined Forsythe in 1993 as an account manager and quickly rose through the ranks by serving many of the company’s largest clients, focusing on security strategies.

 

Conley has been a guest-lecturer for the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and the University of Notre Dame Executive MBA Program, educating executive business students about IT issues in business context. He is also a sought-after commentator on technology, including for Tech Talk with Craig Peterson, the No. 1 Saturday morning radio show in the Boston market. Additionally, he has been published in CIO Insight, IT Business Edge, and Information Today.

 

“In my 25-plus years in technology I have never seen more effective cybersecurity solutions than BlueVoyant’s products and services,” said Conley. “Clients today need proactive cyber defence they understand and can depend on that is also cost-effective. Being able to measure and manage risk means they can make effective business decisions at a speed that meets their business needs. BlueVoyant was created by the brightest and most experienced cyber defence experts in the world. Our global experience benefits clients 24×7.”

 

Cybersecurity, News

ThreatQuotient Publishes 2022 State of Cybersecurity Automation Adoption Research Report

Survey results highlight which automation use cases are working, which need more focus, and how senior cybersecurity professionals are approaching the challenge of securing the extended enterprise

 ThreatQuotient™, a leading security operations platform innovator, has released the State of Cybersecurity Automation Adoption in 2022. Based on survey results from 750 senior cybersecurity professionals at companies in the UK, US and Australia from a range of industries, this global research report examines the drivers and challenges for implementing cybersecurity automation in today’s distributed enterprises.

The report indicates that organisations have become more confident in automation itself compared to last year’s report, with over 84% of companies now having some level of trust in automation outcomes, up from the 59% who had confidence in outcomes last year.

 

The 2022 State of Cybersecurity Automation Adoption finds that organisations are working to automate various elements of their security strategy and are progressing through different levels of maturity.

However, barriers remain. Technology was cited as the top blocker that is preventing organisations from applying cybersecurity automation (21%), in addition to a lack of skills (17%), and lack of management buy-in (17%) acting as a brake on adoption. Additionally, the report identifies a considerable disconnect and a lack of consensus over the drivers, barriers, and challenges of automation among the various roles that influence cybersecurity strategy and tactical approach.

 

Key findings of the report include:

  • 98% of respondents indicate their automation budget is increasing, although many are eating into other departmental or technology budgets to achieve this. A notable proportion (30%) are re-allocating unused headcount budget.
  • Organisations are most likely to already be automating threat intelligence management and incident response (26.5%), with phishing analysis (26%) and vulnerability management (25%) not far behind.
  • Surprisingly, only 18% of respondents are automating alert triage, despite this being a potential route to reducing the burden of manual review and prioritisation.
  • Heads of IT Security Solutions/Architecture are having the most issues with management buy-in (37%) compared with the other job roles (19%).
  • When asked to rate their automation maturity from level 1, limited capability and no resources, to level 5, fully resourced and responsive set-up that integrates with other cybersecurity disciplines and adds business value, the majority of organisations (63%) rate themselves at level 2 or 3, showing that they have explored at least some use cases for cybersecurity automation, but that room for improvement remains.

 

In the 2021 survey, 37% reported already automating key processes, with 45% planning to do so in the coming year. Now that the additional 45% have started to implement automation, the 2022 report notes a change in the type of concerns reported. Last year, concerns were more conceptual, focusing on issues like trust in outcomes. Based on the 2022 responses, teams are now more focused on practical issues, such as how best to apply automation to heterogeneous environments and legacy tools. It is here where solutions that simplify set-up of key use cases and use no-code to make automation accessible to a wider group of personnel can help overcome barriers and accelerate effective automation.

“ThreatQuotient commissioned this survey to gain a clearer picture of the state of IT security automation and adoption and understand what is either accelerating or slowing automation in the UK, US and Australia. We are encouraged and intrigued by the 2022 results compared to the 2021 study,” said Leon Ward, Vice President, Product Management, ThreatQuotient. “Cybersecurity automation acts as a foundation to support the protection of the fast-evolving security frontiers of tomorrow. While the research shows that organisations have certainly made progress over the last year when using automation to manage routine work and improve overall cybersecurity maturity, many teams still report challenges with automation. ThreatQuotient’s goal is to further the industry’s understanding of where cybersecurity automation brings the most benefit.”

To download the full State of Cybersecurity Automation Adoption in 2022 report, including more detail on the survey questions, regional and industry snapshots, and recommendations for senior security professionals to follow if they are looking to automate their security processes, click here.

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Report Methodology

Leading security operations platform innovator, ThreatQuotient, commissioned a survey, undertaken by independent research organisation, Opinion Matters, in July 2022. 750 senior cybersecurity professionals in the UK., US. and Australia from companies employing 2000+ people from a range of industries including: Central Government, Defence, Critical National Infrastructure, Retail, and Financial Services sectors, with 150 respondents from each.

Cybersecurity, News

New research reveals UK online consumers ready to switch retailers over cybersecurity

Akamai Technologies, the cloud company that powers and protects life online, today launched new research revealing cybersecurity as a key dampener of British consumers’ confidence in the retail sector. The research shows that the majority (59%) of those who ever shop online would stop shopping at a retailer if it was the victim of a cyberattack and half (49%) don’t trust retailers to keep their personal details safe. These results come at a time of national economic uncertainty, with retailers under increasing pressure to attract and retain customers. Retail sales volumes fell by 1.6% in August 2022, continuing a downward trend since summer 2021 (source: ONS).

Consumers are becoming accustomed to constant cybersecurity threats, with 64% of those ever shopping online having experienced an attack attempt in the last year. This is reflected in recent global data from the Akamai Intelligent Platform showing that web application and API attacks in the retail sector have increased by 301% between July 2021 and July 2022. Almost half of respondents (46%) say they think it is likely their personal data will be exposed in an attack in the next twelve months.

The link between cybersecurity and spending is clear: 70% of online shoppers said they assess how secure a retailer’s website looks before buying and almost all (91%) consumers said they would abandon their shopping cart if a website did not appear secure enough. 59% also said they would tell their friends to stop shopping with a retailer if they had been the victim of a cyberattack. When it comes to user experience (UX), the research found that 79% of people would rather protect their personal data than receive a more personalised online shopping experience.

When asked how they expect retailers to tackle cybersecurity, the vast majority (76%) of British online shoppers expect retailers to invest heavily in data protection and security as opposed to educational campaigns or communications (37%).

“With cyberattacks on the rise, it is more important than ever for retailers to ensure their customers feel safe and secure while shopping online. At this time of economic uncertainty, many retailers will be tempted to cut budgets. This research shows that cybersecurity is one area where they cannot afford to cut corners. Consumers are ready to walk out on retailers over bad cybersecurity,” said Richard Meeus, Director of Security Technology and Strategy EMEA at Akamai. 

 

Methodology

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,171 UK adults, 2,116 of which ever shop online. Fieldwork was undertaken between 31st August – 1st September 2022. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

 

About Akamai

Akamai powers and protects life online. Leading companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and secure their digital experiences — helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. With the world’s most distributed compute platform — from cloud to edge — we make it easy for customers to develop and run applications, while we keep experiences closer to users and threats farther away. Learn more about Akamai’s security, compute, and delivery solutions at akamai.com

 

Cybersecurity, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity, News, Tech, Telecoms

The Importance of Digital Resilience in an Uncertain World

Written by Adrian Taylor, Regional VP at A10 Networks 

Today we live in a ‘VUCA’ world full of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. As enterprise leaders make plans to ensure the business is ready for whatever the future brings, they face multiple challenges on every level.

As a result, many organisations are talking about how to make their business more ‘digitally resilient’. This is about understanding the true relationship between the technology that we are now all so dependent upon and IT risk. Over the past decade, the world has witnessed massive digital transformation; the net result is more interconnected systems, a larger business ecosystem and an even greater reliance on internet communications. Employees now access work from anywhere via mobile devices, and servers that were once on-premises now exist in the cloud.

Therefore, enterprise organisations’ daily dependence on technology is not only all-encompassing, but also growing deeper and even more fundamental to its operations. There is no way of slowing this continuing digital transformation.

 

Nearly Five Billion Internet Users

To put this into context, in January 2022 there were 4.95 billion internet users, according to DataReportal. More people online means higher demand for network bandwidth, agility, flexibility, and security. Likewise, the COVID-19 pandemic proved that a virtual workplace is possible.

However, it has also highlighted that a work-from-home setup is not always ideal from a security perspective. Many enterprise organisations are opting for a hybrid model and adapting their workplace, not only for health reasons but also for efficiency and cost reduction benefits.

Keen to understand the impact of all the challenges enterprise organisations now face, we commissioned research at the start of 2022, which investigated various issues around digital resilience, cloud adoption, security and how enterprises were planning to work both now and in the future.

We surveyed over 2,500 organisations from a variety of vertical markets including financial services, education, government, gaming, utilities, healthcare and retail and eCommerce. It was interesting to see how the different sectors are evolving and to compare both the similarities and the differences.

 

What Are Enterprises Most Concerned About? 

When it comes to digital transformation, one industry at the forefront is retail and eCommerce. Alongside the digitisation of business applications and internal processes, retail organisations have seen much of their in-store, consumer-facing business move online. The organisations that prioritise consumer-friendly, convenient online offerings are seeing an exponential growth in e-commerce sales, which grew between two and five times faster than before the pandemic.

It was interesting, therefore, when we asked retail and eCommerce respondents how concerned they are about the organisation’s digital resilience and readiness to cope with various challenges, they were most concerned about their agile development and DevOps capabilities (95%), and how they would support staff remotely (95.5%) as well as managing the move from IPv4 to Ipv6 (95%).

Supporting staff remotely was also a key concern for finance sector respondents (96%) when asked the same question. This sector is witnessing ever-growing competition as traditional banks compete against digital neobanks and try to keep pace with consumer demands.

This often means they are rushing to deploy new technologies that enable frictionless digital experiences and increase customer value. The has resulted in more application services, which has created a dramatic increase in the viable attack surface for hackers. It is no wonder that this sector said the optimisation of security tools for competitive advantage (97%) was a top concern.

Gaming and utilities respondents were both least concerned about remote access (89%). Education sector respondents were most concerned about future resilience and responsiveness to external changes (95%).

 

How Is This Affecting Networks?

Looking at the impact that the exponential growth in online services is having on network traffic, our research showed the gaming sector had the highest average growth of all verticals, reporting a 52.6% increase in traffic. The education sector also experienced high growth, at 49.8%, however the average growth was surprisingly low for retail respondents (41.1%).

This could be due to retailers having gradually been moving infrastructure online for several years, whereas education establishments have had to suddenly pivot to offering online services during the pandemic.

Digital resiliency is more than network uptime, and lost revenue isn’t the only price to pay. As more and more services have gone online, most industries handle large amounts of highly personal information, including payment details.

This data is a lucrative target for cybercriminals. In October 2021, UK supermarket giant, Tesco, was in the midst of an e-commerce spike that saw 1.3 million online orders per week when it suffered an attempted cyber-attack. The company recovered quickly, but the incident took down the company’s website and app for nearly 48 hours, which resulted in significant potential revenue loss and impacted its loyal buyers. Commentators highlighted that a similar period of downtime before the pandemic would have had significantly less impact, exemplifying the growing need for digital resiliency.

Security is clearly top of mind for all the verticals surveyed. However, when asked about their biggest concern when it comes to cyberthreats, ransomware scored highest for utilities at 14.5%. Any downtime in this industry could mean the lights literally going out. Loss of sensitive data was the highest concern for the gaming and education sectors (20.5% and 20% respectively).

Interestingly – and perhaps counterintuitively for a sector that risks the wrath of gamers when networks are disrupted – the gaming sector scored the impact on brand and reputation as its lowest concern out of all the sectors surveyed.

 

Automating In-Person Tasks

When asked what technologies respondents had implemented in the past 12 months, AI and machine learning were high across all the verticals but highest in government and retail and eCommerce. This is not surprising as both sectors look to automate in-person tasks with AI tools.

Growing businesses, particularly those expanding geographically, need to ensure that their IT infrastructure is flexible and able to cope with a hybrid workforce. Here, financial services and healthcare respondents predicted most of their workforce would return to the office, with only 12%, respectively, saying that the majority or all of their workforce would be remote. Overall, across all verticals, the preference was a return to the office with only 14% saying a minority or all of their workforce will work remotely.

As organisations prepare for the next wave of disruption, including responding to cyber-attacks, keeping the enterprise environment secure, and accommodating remote workers, digital resilience will be the watchword.

Cybersecurity, News, SaaS

Remote Working Escalates Cyber Security Concerns

New study reveals 65% believe SaaS products cause biggest cyber security threat for remote and hybrid working in 2022

New report from Acora, reveals that 77% of UK IT leaders will spend the same or more time on cyber security services in 2022 – proving that concerns are escalating YoY.

The Acora CIO Report 2022 surveyed 100 UK-based IT decision-makers in organisations with 500+ employees, delving into cyber security issues.

It found that two thirds (62%) of people are still working remotely, and according to the ONS 84% of those working remotely in the pandemic continue to do so for some or all of the time in the future.

Working from home has increased the need for SaaS products used by businesses, thus escalating the threat of data leaking, phishing and other cyber security issues.

65% of IT leaders believed that SaaS security was the biggest cyber security concern, data leakage was second (57%) and phishing was third (49%).

As hybrid and remote working continues, it brings increased and persistent concerns for cyber security. Here is the full list of issues, as per IT decision makers:

  1. SaaS Security (65%)
  2. Data Leakage (57%)
  3. Phishing (49%)
  4. Certification compliance (44%)
  5. Patching (36%)
  6. Ransomware (35%)
  7. Supply chain auditing (29%)

LEE GANGLY, CIO, at Acora says, “Balancing cybersecurity controls with giving users the freedom to work seamlessly and productively is the biggest headache of the new hybrid working era.

As CIOs, our job now is to move out of that reactive mindset, and proactively equip our teams, users and wider organisations for the new hybrid world we now inhabit. It’s going to be possibly the biggest technical challenge we’ve ever faced; and a fascinating journey.”

97% of businesses already have a formal cyber-security policy in place, or plan to implement one in the next 12 months.

Signalling that hybrid and remote working is here to stay, this study revealed that these plans look one to three years ahead.

As hybrid and remote working becomes decoupled from the pandemic and is evolving into a basic, standalone offering, it is crucial that businesses invest in a strong cyber security policy to keep their organisations safe.

Awards, Cybersecurity, News

Check Point Software Celebrates Success of its Irish Channel Partners at Awards Gala with Guest Speaker Rob Kearney

Channel partners recognised for their outstanding achievements over the last 12-months at event in Dublin

Check Point Software, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions globally, has once again celebrated the achievements of its partners at the annual Irish Partner Awards Gala, held in Dublin on the 20th October.

Speaking at the event, Seamus McCorry, Ireland Country Manager at Check Point said: “The volume of incidents in Ireland is alarming, with an organisation being attacked on average 822 times per week in the last 6 months. We understand the challenges that SMBs face in the fight against cybercrime with fewer resources and manpower dedicated to threat prevention. That is why our channel partners are so valuable as an extension of these businesses, building resilience and consolidating cybersecurity without the need for in-house SOC teams.

“There has been a countrywide drive from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) to help business owners recognise and mitigate cyberattacks as hackers move away from bigger targets. It is our responsibility, and that of our partners, to support companies as they navigate this changing threat landscape.

“Our partners have worked tirelessly over the last twelve months to deliver another strong period of growth, and I want to personally thank them for their contribution in Ireland. We are proud to celebrate their success at our first in-person awards gala.”

 

The partner awards

The event took place at the Medley Private Dining and Events Space in Dublin. The Check Point Software Partner Day and Award Ceremony honours the input of Check Point’s affiliate companies and celebrates the growing partner community in Ireland.

During the evening, there was a fundraiser in support of Women’s Aid, with a total of over €1100 raised in donations. Guests were also treated to a talk by Rob Kearney, Ireland’s most decorated rugby player. His list of achievements for Leinster and Ireland includes being in Ireland’s top ten most-capped players of all time, two Six Nations Grand Slams and three Rugby World Cups. Rob was on hand to present the partner awards in various categories, including:

 

Award Winner
Partner of the Year Integrity360
Project of the Year IP Options
Growth Partner of the Year Presidio
Emerging Technology Partner of the Year Pentesec
Distribution Partner of the Year Data Solutions
Sales Champion of the Year Kevin Carragher – Integrity360
Marketing Champion of the Year Aisling Bolger & Anna Zdun – Presidio
Technical Champion of the Year Ernesto Cabello – Presidio
Channel Champion of the Year Stewart Grant – Integrity360

 

Check Point has been making significant steps in the Irish market, having recently partnered with Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) to help upskill staff in cybersecurity, both within the HSE and across the broader health sector. The partnership with Check Point MIND’s SecureAcademy is part of a large-scale digital transformation program within Ireland’s health service to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies and solutions.

Check Point has also launched its new global Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) Program which gives partners access to a fully integrated security portfolio and automated processes to remove administrative burden and empower a partner service-led approach. Under the new program, MSSPs can provide global SOC-as-a-Service without upfront investment and address major security incidents with streamlined onboarding and flexible pricing. The program includes Check Point’s prevention-first security operations suite Check Point Horizon, which partners can co-brand or white-label.

Cybersecurity, News

UK Employees Still Believe Their Employer’s Cyber Security Is Not Their Responsibility, New Research Reveals

  • New research shows that when it comes to company’s cyber security, the majority of employees (81%) believe it’s the IT department’s responsibility to ensure it
  • 18% of employees believe they cannot be targeted by cybercriminals
  • Businesses need to do more to support employees – nearly a third (31%) say there is no cyber training at all in their workplace, and nearly half (44%) haven’t had any cyber training
  • Educating employees and building a cyber-aware culture is the first line of protection

 

Terranova Security by HelpSystems, a global leader in security awareness training, has announced the results of a study that showcases the level of cyber security awareness among workers in the UK, France, U.S., Australia and Canada.

The study, conducted in partnership with research company Ipsos, surveyed 500 UK employees. It concluded there is confusion among employees over who is responsible for protecting company data. Despite the fact that human error causes 95% of cyber issues, 81% of UK employees believe it’s the IT department’s responsibility.

In addition, 1 in 4 employees do not think cyber security is necessary for them, and 18% believe they can’t be targeted at all by cybercriminals. The findings come at a time when the danger from a data breach is at an all-time high – businesses suffered 50% more ransomware attacks in 2021 compared to 2020. As of 2022, the average cost of a data breach to a large organisation increased to $4.35 million.

The research also highlighted that UK businesses aren’t doing enough to support their employees when it comes to providing education on common cyber threats and security best practices. Only 42% of employees say they work in a company where cyber security awareness training is mandatory. Of the 44% who haven’t participated in any cyber security training, nearly a third (31%) indicated that their company doesn’t offer any relevant training.

These low training rates aren’t due to a lack of interest from employees, as 76% believe cyber security training is interesting, and 56% have started or completed the training when it’s offered to them.

“It’s concerning to see such a high percentage of employees who believe a company’s cyber security is not their responsibility – especially in larger organisations,” said Theo Zafirakos, Chief Information Security Officer, Terranova Security. “It’s clear that many British businesses have room to grow security awareness training strategies, especially in the face of rising cybercrime. Our research also shows there’s still quite some work to do on educating people about the important role they play in protecting data at work. These people are the first line of defence against any cyber-attack, and on a positive note, our research demonstrates a strong appetite for learning more about it. By taking responsibility to invest more in education and build a security-aware culture around data protection within the business, companies will set up a powerful barrier against any cyber threats.”

 To read the full report and learn more about Terranova Security, visit: www.terranovasecurity.com

 

—

 About Terranova Security

Terranova Security by HelpSystems has been transforming the world’s end users into cyber heroes for more than 20 years. Using a proven pedagogical framework, Terranova Security training solutions empower organisations worldwide to implement programs that change user behaviours, reduce the human risk factor, and build a security-aware organisational culture. As a result, any employee can better understand phishing, social engineering, data privacy, compliance, and other critical best practices. With the addition of new features like its Security Awareness Index and upcoming Content Hub, Terranova Security consistently innovates to support all organisations’ cyber security objectives. These industry-leading solution additions also strengthen long-term information security for all professionals, regardless of region or sector, in an era where remote work and borderless productivity are standard. Learn more at terranovasecurity.com.

 

About HelpSystems  
HelpSystems is a software company focused on helping exceptional organisations secure and automate their operations. Our cybersecurity and automation software protects information and simplifies IT processes to give our customers peace of mind. We know security and IT transformation is a journey, not a destination. Let’s move forward. Learn more at www.helpsystems.com.

 

About IPSOS

Ipsos is the third largest market research company in the world, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 business solutions are based on primary data coming from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques.

“Game Changers” – our tagline – summarises our ambition to help our 5,000 clients to navigate more easily our deeply changing world.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP

www.ipsos.com

 

Cybersecurity, News

11:11 Systems to Acquire Recovery Business of Sungard Availability Services

Acquisition will Establish 11:11 Systems as Leading Provider of Cyber Resiliency and Disaster Recovery Solutions

11:11 Systems (“11:11”), a managed infrastructure solutions provider, today announced that it has entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire Sungard Availability Services’ (“Sungard AS”) Recovery Services business. The parties anticipate receiving bankruptcy court approval of the sale by mid-October, and the transaction is expected to close later this Autumn alongside 11:11 Systems’ simultaneous acquisition of Sungard AS’ Cloud and Managed Services (CMS) business.

Once completed, acquiring these two Sungard AS businesses will cement 11:11 Systems as one of the largest and most experienced cyber resiliency and disaster recovery providers. At the beginning of 2022, 11:11 Systems announced the acquisition of both Green Cloud Defense and iland, two market leaders in the cyber resiliency and disaster recovery space.

Once the two Sungard AS acquisitions are complete, the combined resources, experience, talent, solution offerings and customer and partner ecosystems will be brought together to establish an in-depth, comprehensive and global cyber resiliency and disaster recovery practice within 11:11.

Further, the addition of Sungard AS’ infrastructure recovery, backup and vaulting, managed recovery and consulting services will perfectly complement 11:11’s cloud, backup, disaster recovery and managed security solution suite. This combination of solutions, services and expertise form the most complete cloud, recovery and resiliency offering available regardless of the customer use case or where data resides.

 

“We know that more than half of all companies today have experienced some sort of cyber-attack within the past 18 months. With these strategic acquisitions, 11:11 Systems is the best option on the market for helping customers of any size – no matter how simple or complex their needs are – prepare for and defend against cyber-attacks and other business interruptions,” said Brett Diamond, CEO, 11:11 Systems. “We are bringing together the market’s best players in cyber resiliency, harnessing their experience and strength and will add to it an innovation platform that will not only convey our combined customer ecosystem safely into the future, but also will optimise their environments for efficiency, cost and availability.”

 

Collectively, the companies integrating into the 11:11 Systems platform have been recognised for the following:

 

  • iland named a Leader and Sungard AS named a Visionary in key analyst report for Disaster Recovery as a Service
  • Sungard AS cited as a Leader and iland cited as a Strong Performer in key Disaster-Recovery-As-A-Service Providers report
  • VMware Cloud Verified status achieved by Green Cloud, iland and Sungard AS
  • Veeam Cloud & Service Provider Impact Partner of the Year, North America: iland named in 2021 for the sixth time
  • Zerto Cloud Partner of the Year Award: iland named in 2020 for the fourth time
  • Zerto Alliance Partner – Gold Partner status achieved by iland and Sungard AS

 

Further Sungard AS has been recognised for the following:

  • Business Continuity Institute (BCI) Hall of Fame
  • Amazon Web Services Storage Competency Status, Managed Service Provider Partner Status, and Advanced Consulting Partner in the AWS Partner Network- Sungard AS

 

As a part of this transaction, 11:11 will gain a large team of highly skilled employees as well as 13 new cloud points of presence, which when combined with the 13 cloud points of presence included in 11:11’s acquisition of Sungard AS’ CMS business totals 26 new cloud points of presence for 11:11’s customers.

 

“Our goal is to enhance the cyber resiliency and disaster recovery team within 11:11 Systems by combining the best talent from the industry’s top data protection providers to expand options for our existing customers and blaze the path for business resiliency in the future,” said Justin Giardina, CTO, 11:11. “The well of experience, expertise and solution excellence is deep, and we intend to fully optimise this unique opportunity to the benefit of our customer and partner ecosystem.”

 

11:11 is backed by Tiger Infrastructure Partners, a middle-market private equity firm that invests in growing infrastructure platforms.

 

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as exclusive financial advisor to 11:11 in connection with this transaction. Perkins Coie acted as legal advisor to 11:11. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 

ABOUT 11:11 SYSTEMS

11:11 Systems is a managed infrastructure solutions provider that holistically addresses the challenges of next-generation managed cloud, connectivity and security requirements. The 11:11 model empowers customers and partners to “Rethink Connected,” which includes fully-integrated, fully-automated services, activities and delivering increased performance, optimisation and savings. Learn more at 1111Systems.com.

 

ABOUT TIGER INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS

Tiger Infrastructure Partners is an innovative, middle-market private equity firm that invests in new and growing infrastructure platforms. Tiger Infrastructure targets investments in communications (digital), energy transition, transportation, and related sectors, primarily located in North America and Europe. For more information, visit www.tigerinfrastructure.com.