Every company will be hacked. It is no longer a matter of if, but when. As bold a statement as this may sound, I’m finding more and more that the tone has changed when executives are speaking about cybersecurity; it’s becoming more of dialogue around, how ready are we? It is far more proactive stance. However even in Malta we have seen very high-profile companies compromised.

When COVID-19 hit, life as we knew it changed dramatically. Many people faced health and personal hardships, and some businesses were forced to shutter their doors. At the same time, our lives became more connected and digital. Small and medium-sized businesses moved online, launching new websites in the hope of keeping business going. But along with an increased online presence came an increased and unseen vulnerability to cyber-attacks, making these companies a huge target. Sixty-seven per cent of small and medium-sized businesses have experienced a cyber-attack, and in a world where small and medium-sized businesses make up 90% of all companies and employ roughly 70% of the global workforce, security is no longer a nice-to-have, but an essential must.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a 300% increase in cybercrimes reported to the FBI — cybercrime could cost $10.5 trillion by 2025, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. With cyber-attacks on the rise, the first step in defending important assets is getting educated about cyber threats. Next is getting the right tools to stay ahead of and even fend off cyber-attacks. TriStratus has partnered with Trend Micro to protect companies in Malta – supporting organisations with security assessments and leveraging Trend Micro’s security offerings to defend against attacks while giving them access to new technologies to enhance their business.

We all have a role to play in how we protect our businesses from the ever-increasing threat of cybercrime. However, hackers targeting our businesses are not the only concerns companies face. Compliance will continue to be a driver of security in the coming years. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies to anyone, literally any company in the world, who receives data from the EU and the financial risk associated with non-compliance.

Organisations found to be non-compliant can be fined €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is greater. Despite the warnings, we continue to see companies in Malta struggling with compliance, and when coupled with a poor security posture, the threat to the business magnifies. This is a real directive, with hard-hitting implications and companies need to be compliant.

So, how does TriStratus help companies?

I get asked all the time: What advice would you give to companies? And it always comes back to cybersecurity for me. Companies must have a clearly defined cybersecurity strategy and empower their employees with the right knowledge. Cyber defense needs to be discussed in the boardroom and made a priority throughout the organisation.

The alternative is to wait until after their company is compromised at which point it becomes a discussion about mitigating financial and reputational damage. Companies plan their strategy years in advance and cybersecurity needs to be a part of that planning.

Can you tell us a little bit about TriStratus?

TriStratus Ltd helps customers achieve real business value through the adoption and optimisation of private, hybrid and public cloud services. We focus on delivering consultancy on the benefits of cloud services from the three global hyperscale providers – Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Each customer is provided with a custom architected cloud deployment strategy combined with a detailed cloud migration plan and ongoing managed support. By being vendor neutral, our customers are guaranteed that the best solution is proposed.

Eurostat Statistics show that just 53% of companies in Malta made use of cloud computing in 2020. While this is a substantial growth over the 35% recorded in 2016, local businesses that have not made the move to the cloud have not done so due to several factors:

• Lack of knowledge – Design, migration, management, etc.

• Security concerns – Data sovereignty

• Lack of human resources – Prioritising ‘keeping the lights on’ rather than innovating.

TriStratus is well positioned to help local businesses overcome these factors and enhance their business operations by bridging cloud and local infrastructure with support and managed services.

Can you give some information about this strategic cooperation with Trend Micro?

The most important point I can raise is the most basic – it comes down to readiness. There should be governance around an organisation’s cybersecurity readiness. In the event of a cyber-attack, it will be unacceptable for companies to be unprepared. Every person within the organisation needs to be aware of their role within the organisation’s cyber readiness. Everyone within the organisation needs to feel, and be, accountable.

To be cyber ready, it is critical that organisations understand their own cybersecurity risks. By doing so, they gain valuable insights into the areas where they are most vulnerable. Our strategic joint venture with Trend Micro allows businesses of all sizes to automatically assess and prioritize the cyber health of their company and the third parties that they do business with.

TriStratus – together with Trend Micro – will help simplify security.

Cloud security is critical since most organizations are already using cloud computing in one form or another. Maintaining a strong cloud security posture helps organizations achieve the now widely recognized benefits of cloud computing: lower upfront costs, reduced ongoing operational and administrative costs, ease of scaling, increased reliability and availability, and a whole new way of working.

Whether you are using cloud providers, such as AWS and Microsoft Azure, to host your sensitive applications and data or taking advantage of the speed that Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox, and other cloud software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers offer, you have a role to play in cloud security. Cloud service and SaaS providers work hard to deliver a secure environment, but in the shared security responsibility model you are ultimately responsible for the data and workloads you put in the cloud. Whether it’s with additional security controls to meet internal or external compliance requirements or protection against ransomware attacks, zero-day vulnerabilities, and other sophisticated attacks.

While the security issues facing a traditional corporate network are well understood, the challenges of using the Cloud are more complex. Trend Micro offers Workload Security for AWS, Azure, and other cloud environments, Security for Microsoft Office 365 and other SaaS cloud applications, Cloud-based security intelligence and Security as a service to help customers protect cloud workloads with advanced detection and prevention capabilities.

Trend Micro’s passion and forward thinking have culminated in multiple industry-first and market-leading innovations in hybrid cloud security, network security, and user protection. Trend Micro looked to capitalize on their leading-edge solutions through a channel partner who has the same passion to be part of the customers’ journey to the cloud. This partnership will better protect customers from the ever-evolving IT threat landscape.

The Trend Micro - TriStratus partnership will provide customers with security solutions through a professional team dedicated to Malta who can design, deliver and support corporate.

Businesses are the heartbeat of our Maltese economy and as the world accelerates further into the digital space, we are dedicated to enabling businesses to survive and thrive, stronger than before. Contact us for a security assessment.

Kevin Abela is Managing Director – TriStratus Ltd.

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