Five signs your business needs cyber security as a service

The importance of cyber security cannot be overstated for business continuity, protecting your reputation, and saving costs (as well as avoiding fines). It’s why 75% of businesses and 63% of charities report that cyber security is a high priority for their senior management. 

That’s where cyber security as a service comes into play, offering expert protection and 24/7 monitoring to safeguard your business. All organisations should invest in services from an expert cyber security consultancy, however there are some key signs that your need for cyber security support is urgent.  

If any of these five statements sound like your organisation, do not hesitate to get in touch with our cyber security team and get rapid support to patch the gaps in your cyber security defences- before threats find them. 

The signs that you need cyber security solutions- fast.

You've experienced a cyber security incident 

This is perhaps the clearest indicator that your cyber security defences have gaps that must be addressed.  

These cyber security incidents could include a data breach through human error or internal threats, ransomware attack, or phishing scam.  

Even if you were lucky and there were minimal consequences from your cyber security incident, this still shows that your organisation is vulnerable. These vulnerabilities can threaten the very existence of your organisation.  

Use cyber security as a service to: 

• Immediately respond to incidents to minimise damage 

• Prevent future attacks  

• Get access to 24/7 monitoring to detect threats before they have a chance to compromise your organisation  

Your IT costs are unpredictable 

IT costs are notoriously prone to fluctuations. This is because they are highly situational, such as physical IT infrastructure requiring replacement or a sudden undetected security issue needing budget to resolve. This unpredictability is often down to a lack of accurate forecasting, a lack of understanding of your threat landscape and IT infrastructure, and the use of disparate technology providers and tools.  

When your systems are regularly maintained, they are also less prone to experiencing sudden crises or outages as these situations are forecast and prepared for. By paying a standard monthly retainer, you’re not only ensuring you avoid unpredictable costs and maintain excellent standards of cyber security; you’re also improving the longevity of your systems by using expert services to maintain them. 

Use a cyber security service provider to:  

• Minimise unpredictable IT costs 

• Budget more efficiently 

• Maintain your systems more effectively, reducing overheads 

Your IT team is overwhelmed 

Regardless of the size of your business, relying on one IT team to take care of all things cyber security is a huge task to undertake by overloading your IT team you risk:  

• ‘Alert fatigue’, leading to threats potentially slipping through the cracks  

• Cyber security and systems being neglected, with other daily tasks taking priority 

• Slow responses to urgent cyber security alerts  

Use cyber security services to: 

• Free up your IT team to focus on more productive and strategic tasks  

• Benefit from a vast team of specialists with insider knowledge 

• Use AI to eliminate human error and gain efficiencies 

Your compliance needs outweigh your expertise 

Many industries, such as healthcare and finance are subject to complex regulations from regulators such as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). 

This is because these industries tend to hold a great deal of sensitive data, such as financial records and medical data. These kinds of organisations will always be a prime  
target for cyber-attacks due to this, as this data can be used for blackmail or for profit at the expense of customers or public citizens.  

Even if your industry is not strictly regulated, legislation like GDPR applies to all businesses; with non-compliance resulting in enormous fines and the loss of customer trust.  

Cyber security services help by: 

• Providing guidance and audits to ensure compliance and avoid fines 

• Carrying out internal training to educate teams on the importance of compliance, baking this into processes 

• Implementing robust encryption and access control measures to protect against internal and external threats  

• Completing regular managed backups to protect against data loss 

Your cyber security strategy is reactive 

By only dealing with threats as they become visible, rather than preventing them, you’re putting your organisation in a constant state of jeopardy.  

If you don’t have a disaster recovery plan in place, your organisation could face significant downtime. This is highly costly for organisations, with downtime costing as high as $9,000 per minute for large organisations.   

Cyber security services are crucial to ensuring that your organisation stays operational- even during and after a cyber-attack.  

These services put in place operational resilience best practices for your organisation. These include: 

• Leveraging advanced threat detection to bolster your security defences 

• Training employees and fostering a culture of security and resilience 

• Developing a comprehensive disaster recovery plan  

Speak to cyber security experts

If any of the above points resonate, then your need for cyber security as a service is of paramount importance to keeping your organisation operational and thriving. Prioritise business continuity today and speak to our cyber security experts about cyber security solutions to protect your company.