IT specialist: Cyber security a serious matter

Companies in Barbados and the rest of the region are being cautioned to take the issue of cyber security seriously and invest in systems and processes that help to mitigate cyber threats. This caution has come from IT security professional Ricardo Martinez, Chief Revenue Officer with security consulting and solutions firm DigitalEra Group.

Martinez said every company will experience a cyber attack at some point, and depending on what systems are put in place, what processes are enabled and the level of awareness among staff, it could result in devastating costs.

“Every industry is affected. The ones most affected are probably financial institutions just because they have access to money quickly. Also depends on the location you are in, the larger organisations and folks who have readily accessible money is probably where you are going to be most affected,” he said.

Pointing out that not all companies required the same kind of technology and security, Martinez said too often firms think of cyber security as just buying a piece of technology or several tools. However, he told Today’s BUSINESS “there are three tiers – you have to look at the people, your process and your technology or products”.

“Technology is one part and probably the most expensive part, but what is more concerning is the lack of process that most organisations have that is why we keep on seeing breaches.

A lot of times they keep on relying on ‘I bought the latest technology’, but they did not configure these three or four features that enabled you to be more secured, and by not having it enabled it caused a wide open gap for adversaries to come in,” he explained.

“When they are concerned about cost I think it is really understanding where you are today and then what would it take to really improve it, because you don’t have to be 100 per cent secure because no organization is. You don’t have to have every security feature out there but just taking advantage of the basics will improve your security prospects,” said Martinez.

He stated while the level of awareness about cyber attacks continued to grow, there was still a lot of work to be done.

“A lot of times the technical teams are aware of the events but they have a very difficult time selling it up to the executive and board level. But I think the number of events that have happened regionally has opened the eyes of executives and board members whereas before they weren’t talking about security events, now they are concerned,” he said.

Martinez said he also believed whenever the issue is highlighted in the news it helps to bring awareness and the need for companies to “step up their game from a security standpoint”. “But I still think there is a lot more to do,” he added.

He said DigitalEra, a security consulting firm that provides a range of solutions for organisations by first carrying out an assessment and identifying gaps, has realised in recent times that a lot of digital technology firms were focusing on cloud applications and digital transformation and a lag in security.

“That is why we, in the past couple of years, created something called the Secure Miami [cyber security conference] where we invite all our customers throughout the region and the Caribbean to participate,” he said.

The conference, which is scheduled for early May this year, is designed to bring together IT security professions to discuss cyber security challenges, shed light on breach prevention, practical insights and tools to aid security leaders in tackling those challenges. 

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb