Did you know that 90 percent of all large businesses have already faced a cyber attack of some kind? Worse, the effectiveness of these attacks have increased by an astounding 114 percent. In today’s online environment, it isn’t a matter of if your network will fall under attack; it is simply a matter of when, how bad it’s going to be, and what you can do about it.
Attacks are becoming more advanced, more persistent, less predictable, and more costly. In fact, for every record stolen you can expect to lose an average of $217. Could you afford that rate if the hackers made off with 1,000 records? 10,000? 100,000? Most small- to mid-size businesses couldn’t, yet fewer than 5 percent of those businesses carry cyber security insurance.
Today’s security environment affords zero room for error. However, most businesses are simply not able to provide the kind of security necessary to protect their intellectual properties, customer data, and other sensitive operational information. Here are four reasons you should consider partnering with a networking security firm.
A networking security partner is able to inspect all of the network traffic, no matter what ports or protocols are involved. This allows them to catch intruders using evasive tactics to avoid detection, such as port hopping or encryption techniques. Since most IT teams are consumed with daily operations, answering user questions, systems updates, backups, and other routine matters, a networking security partner can free them for those tasks without leaving your network open and vulnerable to attack while no one is watching.
Traditional security techniques are clearly not working. The old approach to protecting the parameters is morphing into the new method of ‘zero trust’. A networking partner can design the security to demand that all entries into the system are verified — no traffic, user, or device is assumed to be safe or trustworthy. Again, this is difficult to accomplish without a partner, because your in-house IT staff likely does not have the time to chase down every questionable entry and verify that the user is authorized to use the network.
Advanced threat protection is more than just firewalls and antivirus software. It also includes anti-malware solutions and supplementary systems like Content ID and Wildfire. This multi-layered, multi-faceted system of protection is the only way to safeguard against the more sophisticated, advanced, and persistent attacks that are most commonly seen today. A networking security partner is an industry expert, trained in the absolute latest technologies in security. They are aware when new threats enter the cyber universe and can act quickly to close known vulnerabilities, stop zero day attacks, and other threats as they become problematic. It’s difficult or impossible for an in-house IT team to stay abreast of the latest changes and innovations, because they also have to be experts on the business systems and other issues relevant to the organization they serve.
Yesterday’s threats aren’t the same as today’s or tomorrow’s. Cyber security specialists have to be learning and changing techniques and tactics constantly. Most IT professionals can’t do this while also keeping up with changes in their own specialization, such as app development or database administration.
Without a networking security partner, organizations that have franchises, branch offices, or remote facilities would have to hire separate IT teams for each of their locations. A networking security partner can service the entire organization, making recommendations on how to assemble a safe IT infrastructure across the nation or across the globe. A partner can also simplify things like security audits that involve the entire organization.
Are you ready to partner with a networking security firm that can free up the time and resources of your IT department while providing a better level of protection? Request a quote at TTI today!