Our Insight

Work placement Billy gives an insider view to working at Ideal for a summer placement. 

The modern network can't survive without a security ecosystem. But with multiple complementary services, devices and systems producing millions of log events each month, identifying and acting on security events is a skilled and time-consuming job.

So you have three choices

Here's the problem with supporting a network: by the time someone comes to you and tells you they couldn't connect at, say, 7pm on a Friday evening, it's 10.30 on Monday morning. Sure, you could wade through thousands of lines of log text from your switches, access points or authentication server, but in the meantime the problem has resolved itself, and your team has more important things to do.

Since we launched our Managed SIEM service, we've been talking a lot about the kind of security, reporting and compliance headaches that businesses face, and how Managed SIEM (security information and event management) can help solve them. That's an important angle - as I know very well from my 22 years 'client side' at a major retailer - but I want to explore the additional benefits of having a team of information security experts on call, armed with the latest threat intelligence and event management tools.

SIEM isn't a one-size fits all proposition. Organisations have unique IT estates, face unique threats and risks, and have unique requirements from their security solutions. Finding the right SIEM (security information and event management) solution means weighing up your needs and matching them to the vendor and service who can best satisfy them, and at the right price.

To help you choose wisely, we've put together these 10 tips for getting a SIEM service that meets your requirements.

Time was you could cover off the majority of cyber threats with a firewall in the server room and anti-virus on your PCs, but the way we work has changed. Your mobile workforce isn't behind your firewall, and your anti-virus software isn't enough to secure smart devices from smarter criminals.

In my previous post, I discussed why contact centres are widening their reach to include non-voice channels such as e-mail, chat and social. I also discussed the difference between multichannel, which handles these as separate silos within the business, and omnichannel, which integrates the channels into one overall customer experience.

If we accept that only omnichannel contact centres will enable companies to remain compliant while they maximise the opportunities of the digital revolution, we need to examine how we put the seamless, frictionless omnichannel concept into practice. We also need to consider how to make the most its potential benefits.

You don't need me to tell you that there's a worldwide shortage of cyber skills - just try advertising a cyber security vacancy. According to the Center for Cyber Safety and Education there's already a 1.5 million-person shortfall in the worldwide information security workforce, and the centre's research suggests this will have widened to 1.8-million staff by 2022.

What does this mean for you?

Ideal has officially launched its latest managed security service: Managed SIEM (security information and event management). I want to explain what it is, and how it helps you become more secure without the associated costs and resource headaches.

When cyber vulnerabilities are found, we shouldn't think of it as a failure - more as an inevitability. In the open, standards-based computing and network environments we rely on, across hardware and in software, millions of instructions and rules interact in ways that can't always be predicted. Amid this complex fabric, unavoidably there are dropped stitches, just waiting to be discovered or picked at.

One in two businesses regard incident response planning as an afterthought, critically limiting their organisation’s information security. Is yours one of them?