ITBusiness, part of the KID Group, has launched cyber security services as part of the company’s strategy to offer more holistic information management and governance services.
ITBusiness saw a need in the market for an expanded, integrated suite of data services, says MD Chris Pallikarides. Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the corporate world has been forced to adopt a new, remote working structure, in order to curb infection rates and preserve lives.
However, this new way of working has resulted in a rapid increase in cyber threats and crime globally. South Africa has experienced a spike in cross-industry cybercrimes, with the third highest number of cybercrime victims globally.
Threat actors perceive many businesses as potentially having lower defensive barriers and that they may face a lower chance of incurring consequences for their malicious activity. These factors highlight the importance of cyber security and conducting penetration testing to ensure the implementation of efficient security measures, determining vulnerabilities in infrastructure and applications as well as saving remediation costs and reducing network downtime while preserving an organisations reputation.
“The KID Group has been a data-centric organisation for over 21 years. Now that customers are recognising data as its lifeblood, more organisations are being targeted for their data. It was a natural progression for us to expand our offering to help customers secure the environment,” he says.
“Data security is a vital element of a broader information management strategy and is a key component of the data governance wheel. Organisations need to understand where their vulnerabilities are and close gaps in their processes, people and technology environments. Ultimately, it’s about risk management.”
ITBusiness’ customised penetration testing forms part of a strategy to support data management and governance. The new service is structured and priced competitively to serve primarily medium sized enterprises, who have been under-served to date, says Pallikarides.
“Smaller and medium-sized businesses are becoming an increasing target for cyber attackers, often because they do not have the resources to adequately protect their data; and because vulnerable smaller players can be an easy route to access their larger enterprise partners.”
He notes that specialised cyber security and penetration testing skills are extremely scarce in South Africa and are often priced out of reach of smaller and mid-sized enterprises.
ITBusiness has invested in a team of eight senior cyber security specialists to drive and enable the new service, all of whom are Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certified and highly regarded in the field. A security roadmap with customised assessments and penetration testing plans will be developed in conjunction with the client’s needs and maturity in their security journey.