Securing a corporate IT environment has become extremely complex ‚ thanks to changes and advancements in IT systems, the internet and email, growing mobile workforces, and of course, the ever-evolving cyber criminal.
Companies must have all kinds of security software and devices in place if they are to put up any defence against the escalating number of IT security threats that arise daily.
But, it can be a mind-boggling, intimidating and most certainly very expensive exercise. Not only do most companies not have the capacity and resources in house to effectively manage their IT security, but many simply don’t have the financial means to purchase every bit of security that is necessary. The result: they just ignore the issue until it becomes a much bigger problem.
‚Obviously companies do not want to get to a point where their IT security and business systems are compromised. Hackers and crime syndicates nowadays are not hacking into company networks for fun. It’s their business. It’s how they make their money.
‚Aside from the potentially astronomical financial losses that can occur, working systems are jeopardised, affecting business continuity, and critical business information can be compromised and stolen, which can have a severely detrimental impact on an organisation’s reputation and open it up to legal liability. Corporate espionage is certainly not relegated to the movies.
‚Companies just cannot afford to bury their heads in the sand. They need to be aware of the potential threats and take proactive action. Rather than buying security in a relatively un-informed, patchwork fashion, or ignoring it completely, companies can and should consider outsourcing their IT security to specialists,‚ advises Dries Morris, Operations Director at Securicom, a specialist IT security company that offers a range of fully-hosted and managed IT security services to companies in Africa.
He says that while companies in the past may have had reservations about fobbing off the IT security function to outsiders, many are now seeing the benefits of an outsourced model.
‚It’s not just the smaller companies that are seeing, and reaping, the benefits of outsourcing their IT security. A large number of big concerns have also moved to a managed services model.
‚Outsourcing the function means that the burden is off their hands, they have access to experts who specialise in IT security, and they can avoid costly technology acquisitions,‚ he says, adding that a great percentage of security breaches come from within, which is another impetus for taking IT security ‚outside‚ .
Securicom’s security solutions are hosted and managed upstream where they are monitored 24x7x365 by the company’s team of security experts. All Securicom’s solutions utilise world-leading technologies, which are innovatively packaged together for their individual strengths and combined with Securicom’s expertise to deliver comprehensive protection against known and emerging threats. Securicom offers its services on a subscription basis so there is no capital outlay for clients.
Morris says there are numerous advantages to its range of managed IT security services.