Danny Kerdijk (Security Consultant) & Edwin Roetgering (Presales Consultant)
Successful businesses are built to adapt to constant change at every level, from the largest, organisation-wide endeavors like business transformation through to smaller, everyday tasks such as launching new customer apps. The same also applies to security – the same adaptability must be engrained at every level so you can stride forward with cyber confidence.
Handling security threats is no different from the other projects you successfully complete across your business on a daily basis. You’ve got to consider what might change in the future. The attack surface is constantly shifting, so you must ensure you’re able to match these moves accordingly to meet new requirements without increasing your cyber risk. It’s a bit like chess. You have to anticipate your opponent’s next move.
Adopting an assured cyber security approach
Many businesses that are digitally transforming their IT infrastructure are yet to fully evolve their systems and programs when it comes to daily management. For example, cloud platforms are not insecure – far from it. The issue is often that the processes businesses implement around their cloud usage don’t incorporate high security standards.
Cloud infrastructure has to be managed in the right way. Let’s say an employee leaves the company, you need to have both a federated access management solution and processes in place. These are needed to ensure that other people can access their data and to prevent the employee from taking it with them. Internal access can be a security hole in even the most robust infrastructure. It’s too dangerous to leave to chance because we need to stop data ending up in the wrong hands.
A broader view of security is needed. It’s not just about defending against the latest threats, like new strains of malware or ransomware, it’s also about being constantly aware of different vulnerabilities that could leave your business exposed. You need a way of covering all possible attack vectors at all times.
Secure your processes
Cyber security can either be a barrier or an enabler. Assuring customers and partners that you’re capable of treating their data with due sensitivity, and are able to keep it secure, is becoming more and more a fundamental criteria in their selection process. So ensuring you maintain a good security record and install secure processes will help you to win new business and build new partnerships with greater confidence.
This is where a managed services partner can come in to show you the ropes. They can ensure you have the right technology and processes in place. Services like Vulnerability Scanning and Security Incident and Event Management as a Service (SIEMaaS) help provide round-the-clock assurance that services are working as they’re supposed to. They help uphold ongoing security levels and assure your business is well protected against potential attacks.
Another simple measure you can take is to adopt end-to-end data encryption across multi-cloud environments. For instance, by using NetApp’s capabilities for encrypting data for on-premises storage systems, you can ensure a greater level of protection for data in transit and even onto NetApp’s cloud solutions. All this is managed through a centralised and well-coordinated management and key management system.
We successfully serve our 3,500 customers by having the right checks, certifications, standards and measures in place. We help make security an ongoing pursuit by constantly adapting and improving our customers’ systems, technology and processes in line with new requirements and threats to ensure their data is always secure.
