The realities of Information Security

Information security is a scary proposition for many businesses. It's evolving rapidly; it's often associated with bad publicity; it's only understood by a small percentage of the population; and if it isn't implemented correctly, it can put even the largest corporation out of business.

There is plenty of media coverage about sites being hacked, credit card numbers being stolen, and virus infections causing millions of dollars of damages.

If everyone could employ his own security professionals, the digital world would be a safer place. However, there are two problems with this solution. First, there's a shortage of qualified security professionals, and second, they aren't cheap. As a result, many organizations assign the task of security management to a single person or group of people who are occupied with other chores and classify security as a task to complete when time permits. Security simply can't take a back seat. What's worse is many of those who wear the security hat -- when they're not busy tied up with their primary job focus -- don't have the skills to carry out the work of a security professional. Think about it: Would you want your tailor performing a blood test on you because a pathologist was too expensive?

Of course, training is an option. You can turn an IT person into a security professional with a few courses, a couple of certifications, and a pay rise. But it costs a lot to keep a security professional in the loop of up-to-date security trends and attack countermeasures. And training is only one part of what makes a good security professional; experience is what counts.

The need for hiring Security Pros

Each year more security exploits appear. Why? There are a number of reasons. As businesses gain more connectivity to the Internet and other business partners, the number of options for security holes increases. As hardware and software become more complex, the possibility of security holes increases. Many security exploits are found and not reported, and many security vulnerabilities have yet to be discovered. This makes
the job of a security professional tough.

With this information at hand, you should realize that staying on top of the latest security exploits takes much time and experience. You need skilled resources to assess the risk of these exploits, identify whether the business is vulnerable to these exploits, and if so, carry out tasks to prevent a full-scale attack. Perhaps you have one security professional or maybe even a dozen devoted to your business working constantly from 9 to 5. But does the average attacker also work those hours? Is there a sign hanging on your firewall that reads "Open from 9 to 5 -- please come back and attack us during business hours"? Security requires 24x7 support. Instead of one person working 8 hours, you need, say, three people to cover a 24-hour shift. Suddenly the costs have increased threefold.

Perhaps you can't splurge for a security professional, but you can hire a security consultant to bring your security up to acceptable levels. Maybe your consultant is so good that your security is now top-notch. Problem solved? Well, the problem is solved for today, but tomorrow there will be another five ways an attacker can defeat you. Security isn't a "set and forget" scenario. It requires you have the resources to devote it, and more important, you stay focused.

Outsourcing your Security Management

Outsourcing information security management means you no longer have the hassles or the costs of trying to hire security professionals, and you won't have to worry about whether your IT staff handling security management knows exactly what it's doing. An outsourcer will have qualified customer-focused staff to align security management with your business goals.

You need not worry about training costs. An outsourcer will be qualified to provide you with ongoing support, will be up to date on the latest security issues, and should be able to separate the facts from the myths.

Managing your security on a 24x7 basis is what outsourcers do best. You won't have to deal with the need to employ three people to cover 24-hour monitoring and management of security incidents. A good outsourcer will provide an operations center and incident-response team to ensure incidents are handled with care and managed from detection to resolution with quality control at every step.

The netfiniti edge

We at netfiniti have extensive knowledge of the security market, both locally and globally, to keep you informed and make recommendations that help your business grow while enhancing security. We also provide additional security services such as auditing, penetration testing, security policy documentation, security solution design and implementation, disaster recovery, education, monitoring, and proactive management.