What is IT Security? 10 reasons why you must consider it

The world is just one step closer to Industry 4.0, and organizations are quickly adopting IoT, AI, Big Data, Cloud computing, and other technologies to improve their operational efficiency. The dark side of Industry 4.0 is cyber criminals taking increased advantage of the vulnerable technologies deployed by organizations.

As your business grows, you operate in new locations with employees and contractors working remotely across the globe. Your network becomes complex to manage, but so do its security needs. It becomes a vulnerable point to a cyber attack. Firewalls and antivirus no longer serve as a standalone solution against the most dangerous cyber criminals deploying some of the most sophisticated techniques to steal your data by attacking your network. An absence of expertise only worsens this situation into an unsolvable problem. To combat these issues, you need a security solution that evolves with the attackers and threats part of the digital space.

IT security is all those procedures, techniques, and procedures deployed to protect the most critical assets of your network. Let us look more closely into what IT security is and why it is essential for businesses of all sizes:- whether you have started your journey, own an established business, or are a medium scaled business.

What is IT security?

IT security encompasses all the measures, security controls, techniques, tactics, procedures, and technologies deployed and implemented to keep your IT infrastructure and all of its data assets safe from the threats of cybercriminals.

It is aimed at the protection of all information and data assets through the implementation of best security practices. An enterprise-level IT security may cover the deployment of advanced security solutions and expertise for effective prevention, detection, identification, and response to cyber threats.

Ideally, good IT security would also take into account the size and verticals of the business into consideration and would grow as the scope changes.

How does it differ from Information Security (InfoSec)?

Now you may be thinking, aren’t Information Security and IT security the same?

We will clear this common misconception. Information Security is an umbrella term for systems, processes, and tools deployed to protect sensitive information. On the other hand, IT security focuses on a broader aspect. It comprises protection of all the systems that store, transmits and process digital data processed across IT infrastructure. It focused more on preventing cyber attackers from gaining access to endpoints, networks, IT infrastructure, and the information stored and processed in them.

What is the objective of IT security?

The speedy shift to online has made it vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Cybercriminals are targeting to steal the most critical sensitive information relating to company secrets, intellectual property, personal information of customers, financial information, and other information. It calls for increased security, with a focus on the protection of all the systems where sensitive data is stored. The following are the two primary objectives of IT security:

Protection of Integrity of the information

One of the primary objectives of IT security is the protection of all information and data assets from unauthorized damage, misplacement, misuse, and alteration.

Protection of the access of the information*

Another primary objective of IT security is to protect all networks, endpoints, servers, and applications from unauthorized access to all the information – stored and processed by them.

What are the components of IT security?

To understand IT security better, we must understand its components. The following are the essential components that makeup IT security:

Cybersecurity Framework 

The first component is the cybersecurity framework. Experts identify and implement the security measures (relating to security controls, ISMS, etc.) and recommendations stated in the regulatory and global compliances applicable like ISO27001, NIST, PoPIA, etc. 

Deployment of technology for real-time protection 

It involves deploying the right security solutions with industry best practices for real-time protection like Firewalls, Network Security, Anti-malware, EDR, and Identity and Access Management (IAM).

Establishing a Security Operations Center (SOC) 

To make sure that there is a touch of human expertise, establishing SOC forms an essential component of internet security. Organizations who can afford the costs of an in-house SOC can either build it in-house or outsource it through Cybersecurity as a service, SOC-as-a-service, MDR as a service, or SIEM as a service to make the best of both worlds within their budget. 

Incident Response Management 

Consider this as firefighting. You will need the right set of tools and expertise to contain the fire. Similarly for cyber incidents, you would need the right set of security solutions, strategies, and expertise to contain damage and take the right security measures against cyber incidents.

Security Awareness

Since human error is one of the low-hanging fruits for attackers to exploit, security awareness is an equally important component of internet security. It involves training key personnel on the best practices for IT security and bridging the knowledge and awareness gaps. 

Security Auditing and Testing  

A security audit is a top-down examination of an organization’s cybersecurity posture. With periodic security audits and pen-testing, experts identify all the underlying vulnerabilities and risks. Based on that, they implement the most effective security measures. It ensures the protection of all the latest TTPs deployed by cybercriminals.

10 reasons why you must consider IT security?

According to a study conducted by Javelin Security and Research in 2022, identity fraud related attacks totaled up to 52 billion last year with more than 42 million adults being affected by it.

Another study (cost of breach report) conducted by IBM found that stolen and lost credentials take more than average time to identify and cost around $150000 more than any other type of breach. This proves that there is an increased need for IT security more so than before.

Here are the 10 reasons to consider IT security:

1. Secures operations and improves efficiency (low downtime)

As a manufacturing company, implementing IT security through experts can ensure that you can reduce the risk of increased downtime as a result of cyber attacks. It can secure your operational information from harmful cyber criminals who are looking to steal data and use it to extort ransom, publish it online, etc.

2. Protection from unwanted, unpredictable costs

Having a vulnerable IT infrastructure means being subjected to unpredictable and unwanted costs as a result of cyber attacks. Not to mention the huge damage to reputation as a result of cyber attacks. IT security ensures that all of your valuable assets are protected against cyber attacks and saves you from any unpredictable costs as a result of cyber attacks.

3. Securing business against legal damage

When an organization becomes a victim of a cyber attack, it also put itself at legal risk as a result of non-compliance. With the average legal fine for non-compliance costing anywhere from 4 to 10 million dollars, it becomes highly critical for organizations especially small and medium enterprises to implement measures for IT security.

4. Protect the productivity of personnel

By implementing measures for IT security, organizations automatically insure their employee’s productivity from disruptions as a result of cyber attacks. IT security ensures that all of their data is protected at its truest integrity without any damage or alteration.

5. Increase business opportunities through increased security

By safeguarding your organization from cyber-attacks you find yourself in a good company of partners, employees, investors, and customers. It increases your chances of unlocking a new business opportunity and accelerates faster towards business growth.

6. To protect all of your sensitive confidential information

Identification and assessment of your IT infrastructure’s systems that are vulnerable to cyber attacks leading to the loss or compromise of your data assets is critical. IT security ensures that all the sensitive information stored and processed systems across your IT infrastructure of your employees and customers is protected from malicious actors who would misuse it or publish it to the internet or engage in the alteration of critical information. It ensures that all your sensitive confidential information is protected against cyber criminals such as company secrets, intellectual property, behind-the-scenes content, etc.

7. Increases the reputation of your business (win customer trust & loyalty)

Securing the sensitive personal and financial information and knowledge assets of your customers builds trust among your stakeholders resulting in an improved reputation for your company. Taking IT security measures also ensure that you achieve guidelines stipulated in many regulatory and global compliance earning you certifications such as ISO 27001 and GDPR that many reputed businesses look for before striking any kind of partnership with a business.

8. Manages remote workplace risks

Going global and expanding operations to multiple locations means you have to deal with a complex network with personnel and contractors working remotely. It exposes your network to security vulnerabilities that standalone solutions can’t tackle. This is where IT security steps in. With IT security measures, you can safeguard your most important knowledge assets and ensure round-the-clock protection for your IT infrastructure.

9. Prevents Zero Day attack scenarios from happening

Having IT security in place reduces the risk of unexplored vulnerabilities being exploited from a zero-day attack with dedicated threat experts who constantly research the threat environment for the latest TTP (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) and keep the cybersecurity of all the data and information processing and storage units of the IT infrastructure secure from cyber attacks.

10. Achieve global and regulatory compliance

In a constantly changing threat landscape, it becomes critical to take measures that are in line with the latest adversarial mindset and TTP. And to ensure the security of the personal and sensitive information of their citizens, many local and global governments enact guidelines for the protection of the information of their citizens. By implementing IT security measures, you ensure an increased possibility of taking the measures suggested in the guidelines by regulatory and international bodies for information security.

Challenges to IT security

Now we know that as a business owner, it is difficult to ensure IT security on your own. One of the primary reasons is the rising cost of security solutions and the very high cost of setting up your own Security Operations Center with a team of experts taking care of all the security needs. 

Let us take a look at the challenges that you may face while approaching IT security:

Absence of a dedicated team for security (SOC): Setting up a dedicated security operations center can go anywhere from around $1 million to 4.6 million on average, not to mention months of time invested.

Lack of awareness: Over 59% of corporate office workers are unaware of the social engineering attacks they are vulnerable to.

High volume of alerts: More than half of organizations (56%) face more than 1000 alerts every day.

Rising cost of security solutions YoY basis: Over 60% of the organizations surveyed reported that the cost of their cybersecurity solutions rose by up to 25% in the last two years.

Evolving compliance requirements: Non-compliance can cost a company up to 4% of its gross revenue.

SharkStriker exclusive benefits worth considering: Cybersecurity as a service

We understand that hurdling through multiple vendors and silo-based cybersecurity solutions and services can seem impossible, especially if you are a small and medium business owner. Therefore, we offer a range of holistic cybersecurity services under our cybersecurity-as-a-service. We offer a magnitude of benefits through our cybersecurity services and solutions: 

1. SharkStriker MDR 

Our Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is a human-led, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning driven platform with data sets and tailored algorithms that map protection with the MITRE ATT&CK Model. 

It blends human intelligence with cutting-edge technology, seamlessly integrating with the enterprises’ current infrastructure rendering round-the-clock, state-of-the-art cybersecurity. 

2. VAPT

We assist you in pushing the boundaries of your application, network, and IT infrastructure to effectively achieve all your governance, regulatory, and compliance requirements through a series of offensive, real-world techniques rendered through simulations. 

3. SOC

Leverage the expertise of security experts like security analysts, incident responders, threat hunters, threat researchers, subject matter experts, and DevSecOp engineers to augment your cyber security posture. They operate round the clock (24×7) for 365 days to ensure your organization remains safe from cyber attacks. 

4. Compliance-as-a-service

Meeting all the regulatory and global compliance goals is no longer a challenge with our dedicated service for compliance. Our team of compliance consultants and cybersecurity experts assist you in identifying the gaps in compliance and taking the correct measures to close the gaps and achieve globally recognized certifications like ISO 27001, GDPR, NIST, PCI DSS, and more!

To sum it up

We have seen how critical IT security is and the challenges to rendering IT security measures specific to a business. We have also looked into how SharkStriker can help your organization address all the IT security requirements with experts on board who are well-equipped with the right set of tools and expertise.