Cyber Security: Is Your Integrator Equipped to Handle Your Cyber Security Needs?

By Brad Wilson

Poor cyber security is all too evident in the marketplace. Businesses large and small have been hacked, whether it’s been done to shut down systems, steal information or simply to disrupt business. And we all know it can be costly — both from a dollar-and-cents as well as from a public relations standpoint.

Cyber protection has become top of mind. Organizations trust their security integrator to help them shore up their security systems against cyber attack.  But has the integrator proven they can handle it?

It’s one thing to put a client’s system through the paces — subjecting them to risk analyses and audits, performing penetration tests, securing data through the installation of secure devices on servers and appliances that are used as part of the physical security system. But has the integrator done all of these same things internally?

Like the children of the shoemaker who are forced to go barefoot because their father has no time to make shoes for them, the same could be said about integrators who are so focused on the cyber security of their clients that they have neglected to protect their internal systems.

Knowing that an integrator has done the due diligence on his or her own business says a lot about what they are able to do for their clients.

• First – They show they understand the threat is real; not only to their clients, but also to themselves.

• Second – They have internal policies, procedures and systems related cyber security. That means they either have the personnel on board to handle this, or they have access to and alliances with the proper service providers.

Finally, having undergone a rigorous examination of their own business, they are better poised to help their clients because they have identified weak spots, reinforced systems and have taken a proactive, rather than reactive approach to a very real problem in the industry.

With cyber security in the white-hot spotlight these days, it can be very tempting for companies to simply say they can guide a client through the process. But isn’t it better to know that you are dealing with an integrator that has gotten its own house in order before working on yours?