ISSUE 3 - DECEMBER 2021
INDUSTRY REVIEW:
CYBER SECURITY: ARE YOU SET UP FOR SUCCESS WHEN THINGS GO WRONG?
IBM cybersecurity and gamification strategists John Clarke and Dr Jason Flood
FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE
Awareness, education and a willingness to take a few simple defensive steps are the keys to defending your company’s brand against the ever present threat of cyber-attack, according to leading Irish experts in cybersecurity. The bad news is that the threat posed by cyber criminals to every business is increasing. The good news is that there are a few very simple steps you can take, without spending a pile of money, to protect yourself against 19 out of 20 attacks.
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As well as driving the growth in remote working, the pandemic has also accelerated the pace of digital transformation for business, essentially a drive to the cloud and the adoption of software as a service (SaaS). So instead of dealing with a system in a single location an IT manager could now have effectively 50 or 60 satellite offices or devices that each have to be manage remotely. The problem is exacerbated when people start using their own personal devices, including PCs, laptops and particularly smartphones, for work purposes. “People think it’s great that they’re able to do everything on their phone. But if you click on a link that exposes your company data, there’s your brand gone. The moment people realise you don’t secure
your system they’re not going to share their data with you. You have to trust somebody to work with them,” says David McNamara, founder and MD of CommSec, a cyber security services provider based in Blanchardstown. “It’s incredibly easy to become a hacker, a 12 or 13 year-old can start watching video tutorials and get into the game,” points out Dr Jason Flood, CTO of security gamification and modelling with IBM in Blanchardstown, who has 20 years of experience in cybersecurity. “Even software tools originally designed for good can end up being used with malicious intent – and hackers are all too often shown as ‘cool’ in the media,” he adds.
He points out that a surprising number of smaller businesses will engage somebody like a student to create a website for them – it could be the gifted, tech savvy daughter of a friend, for example – and its functionality might well be excellent. “But has it been hardened for security? And then what happens when you’ve been hacked? Who do you call? You might have got a cheap website, but if your digital footprint is going to be important to the operationalisation of your business are you set up for success in the event of something going wrong?” he asks.
Simple but effective steps McNamara points out that there are a number of standards that people can adhere to but a basic
