So, you might be a business thinking or looking to put aside resources into partnering up with a cybersecurity service provider. Youโve done research and have an idea of the services you are looking for, what you want to protect, and how you want to protect it. However, do you totally understand how you should be maximising the services your cybersecurity provider offers? Do you believe that once you have a cybersecurity partner on board, that you are unequivocally safe from any breaches, compromises, and hackers? The keyword here is โpartnerโ, you need to treat your cybersecurity service provider as you would a marriage, where communication and trust is essential to the success and safety of both parties.
As of late, cybersecurity in general has been given somewhat of a bad reputation, in particular the โsecurityโ aspect of the word. The reality is that cybersecurity is an essential part of any growing business that need to protect their digital assets. The misunderstanding happens because people and businesses donโt understand that cybersecurity services are not just for protection and detection but โ equally as important โ for mitigation purposes. In cybersecurity itโs not a matter of, โif you will be compromised,โ itโs a matter of, โwhen youโll get compromised,โ which may sound off putting but most cyber-attacks happen for reasons that were out of control from your cybersecurity partner to begin with. Why? Well, because cybersecurity companies cannot control the actions of employees who entertain suspicious activity, misuse sensitive company information, click on phishing links and reveal their passwords to ransomware actors. This is the main way cybercriminals manage to find their way or obtain sensitive information from companies they target, whereas many people believe hackers โhackโ their way into companies, and this is where the bad reputation is placed upon the cybersecurity service provider.
However, the compromise is the very reason you brought a cybersecurity partner on board because they will mitigate an immeasurable amount of damage compared to if you did not โ which may be the difference between your business closing its doors for good. This is the very reason you need to treat your cybersecurity partner as a marriage, because when you suspect something suspicious โ emails, suspicious movement of data, other employeesโ activity โ you can trust they will investigate whether you have been compromised or prevent a threat from happening in the first place. The idea is to make the cybercriminal use out of the ordinary methods to try and breach or compromise systems, which then your cybersecurity partner would have tools in place to prevent a potential attack now and in the future of similar nature.
To conclude, the nature of cybersecurity is an industry that can evolve overnight and often cybercriminals are developing new and improved methods perpetually. Cybercriminals can trial and error their methods and tools, whereas cybersecurity companies must learn from successful cyber-attacks and adapt their tools and methods to make sure that these new types of attacks do not happen in the future โ there is no trial and error when it comes to protecting a clientโs business. That being said, practicing safe online housekeeping and communicating anything suspicious, is still the first line of defense for your cybersecurity partner.