The made-to-measure cybersecurity solution that’s focused on business resilience

Many companies are in the process of reassessing their strategic plans made before the pandemic. The intervening period has seen multiple technologies grow in importance. You think immediately of collaboration tools and video conferencing, of course, but there’s also been a much greater use of secure remote connectivity solutions (VPNs, Wireguard, secure RDP) and unified communications applications. Overall, there’s been a certain increase in companies’ willingness to digitize: the OECD highlights greater demand [PDF] for fiber connectivity from 2019 and a huge rise in mobile data use as just two pointers to how attitudes have changed. Conversely, hackers and cybercriminals have not sat idle – there has been a huge ramp-up in the number and sophistication of attacks. Of the dozens of papers and surveys available, Deloitte’s Impact of COVID-19 on Cybersecurity shows multiple attack types, all of which ramped up significantly during the epidemic.

With a clear need for at least a reassessment of cybersecurity, organizations have several choices. In an ideal world, and with deep pockets, companies might employ more specialist cybersecurity personnel on full-time contracts to protect continually as the business grows. Unfortunately, it’s very much a seller’s market at the moment, and properly-qualified experts can make huge salary demands. Even relatively junior white hat operatives are expensive and difficult to retain in the current employment market.

An off-the-shelf option from any of the well-known big tech companies means buying into established service tiers and readymade product portfolios. Differentiating between each vendor’s offerings is difficult from a buyer’s point of view. Those services typically involve deploying a set configuration that’s sold and deployed to all customers, regardless of vertical or, in some cases, company size.

When we assess what purpose cybersecurity protection serves, it’s business continuity in the event of a cyberattack that’s most important. The various options of detection, remediation, failover, disaster recovery, and even cyberinsurance ensure the organization recovers, but few are targeted at the need for businesses to continue operating despite (or even during) an attack.

At the core of internet connectivity is, of course, the infrastructure that underpins digital communications. Logically, those providers close to the network layer (the fibers that connect a business to the internet backbone) are best placed to ensure continuity of connectivity and as the next logical step, business continuity.

From a technical point of view, those who have oversight into connectivity between businesses various locations and the internet can stop common, network-based attacks that can debilitate a business. Denial of Service and DNS spoofing variants can take an entire business operation offline in seconds, without the need for a bad actor to penetrate the company’s perimeter defenses or cloud protection mechanisms.

Careful choice from a range of cybersecurity measures, network layer protections, and always-available failover connectivity creates a more resilient framework from which organizations can trade and, in time, grow. With many legislatures locally and nationally now insisting on high degrees of data resilience (and having evidence to prove necessary steps have been taken), companies simply can’t rely on the last generations of malware protection. The cybersecurity team must prove resilience procedures are in place, are practiced, and meet best practice standards.

Business continuity is defined by the time taken to restore productivity to critical production systems; ideally, companies should aim for seconds, not minutes. To achieve the goal of being able to continue operations even during a cyberattack is practically impossible to achieve by buying off-the-peg cybersecurity solutions. Having the experience to pick and choose protection tools and recovery methods is expertise few companies have accrued. In a crowded market where many products claim near-invulnerability, it’s invaluable to have a skilled and objective partner to differentiate the marketing bluster from the actual capability.

As a supplier of digital connectivity over many decades to enterprise organizations, Consolidated Communications knows its customers’ needs better than most. It’s capable of ensuring resilience against threats that seek out weaker targets and look to remove any chance of recovery or failover. Consolidated Communications brings objectivity and a unique approach by careful choice and deployment of the components that companies need for protection in addition to their existing systems. Its network security experts will help you prioritize your data assets, wherever they are (on-premise, in the cloud, in hybrid settings), and create a security posture that will minimize risk at the lowest possible cost.

While no cybersecurity provider will ensure 100% effectiveness against every threat, the proactive and practical approach from Consolidated is a refreshing breath of fresh air from the cybersecurity industry’s one-size-fits-all approach. It’s a business-focused cybersecurity ethos that’s only defined as each organization’s priorities become apparent. Its careful appraisal of production systems focuses on ensuring continuity of service during and after cyber incidents and allows the organization to grow and scale safely and in a compliant manner.

To learn more about the security provisions available to your organization and discuss your company’s topology and needs, reach out to a representative today.