Category: News

Craig Freer, executive head of cloud and managed services at Vox

In July, City Power was hit by ransomware resulting in customers unable to purchase prepaid electricity or access its website. This has again put the spotlight on cyber security and highlight how few organisations, irrespective of their size, are safe from an attack.
Security is no longer a luxury. It is something that must take top priority not just amongst large corporates, but small to medium enterprises (SMEs) as well. With more than 350 000 new global threats emerging daily, this is an ongoing concern that must be addressed at a board level and not left being ‘relegated’ to an IT decision-maker.
The statistics make for grim reading.
70% of SME’s that pay after a ransomware attack will close their doors within six months of the breach. those that don’t close still suffer reputational damage, loss of data, and exposed customer information that can potentially be distributed in the public domain.
For too long, companies have simply not invested properly in getting the right cyber security infrastructure in place. Those that do, ensure their systems are updated to factor in emerging threats. They also continually assess their ability to effectively deal with attacks.

Fluid state
Managing IT is a complex undertaking. This policy-led environment usually sees many changes occurring over time. It then reaches a point where someone could potentially make an adjustment that renders the entire organisation vulnerable. Cyber security at an organisation is therefore not a snapshot in time but evolves as the threat landscape changes. And it is in this evolution where systems must be monitored and protected.
The first phase of safeguarding the business entails getting the right tools in place. A company must ensure that employees understand the security policy and that it is tested regularly. Building from there, the next phase revolves around planning for the event of a breach.
If there is one thing those organisations that lead the way when it comes to cyber security have in common, it is the knowledge that no system is fail safe. This means having a backup environment that mitigates the risk of losing data when ransomware or other malicious attacks occur. Sadly, most organisations do not have this in place. Best practice dictates that there needs to be three copies of data, two copies being on different storage media, with one copy located off site.
Frighteningly, some of those organisations who perform backups keep them on the same server their other information is stored on. This means that when they get hit by ransomware, they lose their data and their contingency plan to restore it.

Understand the environment
Companies must go with a reputable cyber security brand in the market. While it might be tempting to opt for a more cost-effective solution, the long-term impact could be dire. Also, a business must ensure it has the right security skills in place, whether those are in-house or outsourced. Finally, they must have a proactive approach to security and evaluate their readiness on at least a quarterly basis.
Having proper backups in place means the business can restore mission-critical information with immediate effect. No company is immune to an attack. Whether it is a multinational like LinkedIn or Facebook, or local such as Liberty or City Power, these attacks occur and will continue to take place even more frequently.
A company must therefore conduct an extensive audit of its entire IT environment. In our experience, most companies are not geared to repel any type of attack, much less recover effectively from one. It has become a case of businesses being sitting ducks.
Very few SMEs understand how best to do this assessment and how to really understand vulnerabilities. It is quite complex for them to secure themselves as best as possible. It really is a case of they do not know what they do not know.
Looking towards the future, SMEs (and larger organisations as well) must do more to educate themselves about the threats they face and take the necessary steps to protect themselves.

October 2019, Johannesburg: Integrated ICT and infrastructure provider Vox has added Managed Mimecast to its suit of managed service offerings to provide customers with a more effective way of safeguarding their emails against spam and malicious attacks.

Given that 63% of South African organisations have reported an increase in impersonation fraud and 84% saw email-based spoofing of business partners and vendors, according to Mimecast’s The State of Email Security Report 2019, decision-makers have no choice but to protect one of the most vital forms of communication in the digital age.

“The challenge is that an optimal setup of Mimecast is difficult to do for most business users. And even when it is completed, the evolving threat landscape means organisational resources must be allocated on a frequent basis to keep the system running effectively. This is where our managed service approach comes in. We implement, customise, and support Mimecast for companies to remain focused on their strategic priorities,” says Barry Kemp, head of managed IT at Vox.

As part of this offering, Vox conducts a quarterly assessment of the Mimecast implementation at a customer and identifies the areas that must be adapted to be reflective of current threat conditions.

“Mimecast focuses on anti-spam and anti-virus protection. However, sending spoof emails have become incredibly easy with malicious users trying to find more innovative ways of beating spam filters. Furthermore, while estimates vary, most security specialists agree that at least 250 000 new malicious programmes are registered daily. This means that any cyber security solution must be continually monitored with companies not having the luxury of just installing and forgetting about it.”

Furthermore, the modular approach of the Vox managed services means companies can select the components they want from an extensive solutions list. Therefore, Mimecast can be taken on its own or integrated into a broader Vox managed services offering.

“And as this is a cloud-based service, we can easily manage and update the service as the needs of the organisation change. We conduct an initial assessment for the customer, suggest the changes that must be made, and implement them if the client is happy with that.”
The Mimecast managed service is available at R449 for under 100 users and R949 for anything above that.

Vox enhances cloud assessment service

November 2019, Johannesburg: Integrated ICT and infrastructure provider Vox has automated its cloud assessment service to provide clients with a more cost-effective and transparent way of transitioning to a cloud environment.

“Through this enhanced offering, Vox ensures businesses can run as lean and efficiently as possible when it comes to the cloud. The process was previously manual-driven and by automating it Vox is delivering a best practice solution at a world-class level. We are harnessing the capabilities of multiple sophisticated probing tools,” says Daniel Jacobs, senior product manager of cloud computing at Vox.

The assessment is done across the entire ICT infrastructure of a business environment. It examines all the physical devices connected on-site, the size of the resources, how much of those are used, and what the network looks like. It also examines the application, user, LAN, and WAN dependencies to give complete insight into what will be required to migrate to the cloud.

“By automating the report, Vox can deliver an accurate assessment of not only the ideal cloud environment for the business’s needs, but also exactly what the migration will cost. With Vox, there is no thumb-sucking involved.”

Furthermore, Vox follows a cloud-agnostic approach to ensure clients have the choice of any cloud platform that meets their budget and business requirements.

“Vox conducts the assessment and provides clients with options on which cloud platforms will be ideal for them. Our calculated costing models see customers benefitting from up to 30% less than their current cost structure depending on their choice of applications and/or cloud platform. This leaves budget for innovation and the expansion of IT services to further assist their business. It is about delivering a total cost of ownership value proposition competitive with anything that is currently available in the market today.”

He says that some of the pitfalls in public cloud services, like pay-per-use models, are sometimes cleverly disguised in pre-sales pitches. If not managed correctly, these can result in needless additional expenses to the organisation.

But besides the upfront cost saving predicted with the Vox cloud assessment, clients will benefit from monthly total cost of ownership (TCO) reports.

“For us, it is not about selling just a product. Rather, it is empowering our clients to better manage their initial cloud migration and thereafter their continuous cloud processes and management. The cloud is about a journey from analysis and assessment through to implementation and ongoing management.”

According to Jacobs, it is about developing a path for a client that is not only affordable but effective as well.

“For example, just by switching off certain cloud features at night, a business can already save 20% of its monthly bill. The Vox assessment tool determines exactly what is needed and how best to make it happen,” he concludes.

Commentary

“The cyber attack on the City of Joburg’s network once again puts the spotlight on cyber security and highlights how few organisations, irrespective of their size, are safe from an attack.

“Security is no longer a luxury. It is something that must take top priority not just amongst large corporates, but small to medium enterprises (SMEs) as well. Cyber security must be addressed at a board level and not left being ‘relegated’ to an IT decision-maker.

“Companies need to conduct an extensive audit of their entire IT environment, invest in getting the right cyber security infrastructure in place and ensure their systems are updated to factor in emerging threats. They also need to continually assess their ability to effectively deal with attacks.

“In our experience, most companies are not geared to repel any type of attack, much less recover effectively from one. It has become a case of businesses being sitting ducks.

“Very few SMEs really understand their vulnerabilities and it can be quite complex for them to secure themselves as best as possible. It really is a case of they do not know what they do not know.

“Cyber security at an organisation is not a snapshot in time but evolves as the threat landscape changes. Businesses must do more to educate themselves about the threats they face and take the necessary steps to protect themselves,” says Craig Freer, executive head of cloud and managed services at Vox.