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Privacy breaches and attacks that hold an organization’s information at ransom are a threat to businesses of all sizes. And these threats are on the rise.
Seventy-five percent of Canadian business leaders said they have seen an increase in disruptive cyber incidents in the past 12 months, according to a study by Ernst & Young.
Incidents can cause financial and reputational losses, as well as long-term damage. Yet many companies still are not sufficiently prepared to deal with these threats.
Why do businesses fail to act? Among the key reasons are the perceived cost of protection or a lack of internal IT know-how. A survey by the Insurance Bureau of Canada found that almost half of Canadian businesses (47 per cent) are not allocating a portion of their operating budget to cybersecurity.
In the age of cloud computing, companies do not need a large IT infrastructure to provide premium solutions for data security. All-in-one cloud-based data services that include cybersecurity are game-changing for any business, says Mark Ryland, a director with the Chief Information Security Office at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Protect one of your biggest assets – trust
KOHO Financial is a case in point.
The upstart Toronto-based fintech company has made waves in an industry dominated by large financial institutions. They’ve carved out a niche in the market by leveraging cloud computing, to provide millions of Canadians with free or low-cost products and world-class cybersecurity.
KOHO Financial has also leveraged the cloud to deliver world-class cybersecurity, using a range of AWS solutions.
“We’re competing with big banks, and the most important element to be competitive is the trust of our customers. So, cybersecurity is critical to success. I’m always thinking about what we can do to reduce the risk of a breach,” says Jonathan Klein, chief technology officer at KOHO Financial.
For businesses of all types and sizes, AWS provides more than 200 affordable cloud solutions – everything from databases and analytics, to artificial intelligence and storage.
One example is Amazon Inspector. This security assessment service continually looks for software vulnerabilities and unintended network vulnerabilities that require action. It provides an automated solution to a complex problem.
“Having a place where you can audit your entire infrastructure is very convenient, saving time, people resources and money,” Mr. Klein says. “It means we don’t need to assign a team to constantly monitor emerging vulnerabilities.”
“It’s a huge cost advantage because these companies don’t need full-time cybersecurity experts on the payroll,” says Mr. Ryland.
The money saved can be allocated to business improvements and innovations. Enhanced cybersecurity supports business productivity, as well as protecting a company’s customers and strengthening the trust of all stakeholders.
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Share the challenge
Mr. Ryland says that cybersecurity can become a “shared responsibility”. Businesses need to take care of the security of their devices (e.g. laptops). Meanwhile, external providers offer security of the corporate computing in the cloud – from the host operating system, to the physical security of the facilities in which the services operate.
By leveraging cloud solutions, companies can protect what really matters (data, accounts, workloads, network control points) from unauthorized access. This scale of cybersecurity was formerly available only to large companies.
Top security professionals agree that early detection and response is critical to today’s cybersecurity defence. You need to catch the bad actors before they can do real damage.
“On average, hackers are sitting in a network for about three months, learning and slowly compromising other systems,” says Mark Nunnikhoven, a strategist at Lacework, an end-to-end cloud security automation provider.
One of AWS’ solutions, for example, is a threat detection service that continuously monitors for malicious activity and unauthorized behavior. The program uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify what might be imperceptible irregularities in activity. This greatly reduces the likelihood that cybercriminals can penetrate a network and remain undetected.
“It can find anomalous patterns humans can’t,” Mr. Ryland says.
Using cloud services makes this level of AI-based tools accessible to all. Cloud providers can also guide customers through every step necessary to implement these systems.
Benefit from best-in-class solutions
Customers gain other benefits from leading cloud service providers. For instance, the AWS environment is built to meet the requirements of the world’s most security-sensitive organizations, including government agencies. This allows companies of any size to affordably share the experience and the tools developed to address the complex and fast-moving world of cybersecurity defence.
Many of these security tools are standard. For example, KOHO Financial leverages the latest encryption methods included with AWS’ cloud services. Encryption renders data useless to anyone without the key to decrypt it. The keys to that encryption are held by KOHO and no one else, ensuring that only KOHO controls the security and privacy of their data.
With billions of dollars moving through KOHO’s system each year, a breach of its network could prove catastrophic. Using a comprehensive set of cloud-based cybersecurity tools from AWS, KOHO can concentrate on expanding innovative financial services for customers instead of being preoccupied with cybersecurity threats.
“We can move faster with strategic decisions for growth, because we know we have a secure cloud platform that can grow with us,” says Mr. Klein.
Learn more about how to protect your assets with cybersecurity and cloud solutions.
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.