Data security is becoming an increasingly important concern for businesses, especially in light of several high profile successful hacks of agencies previously thought to be all but unassailable. There are whole ‘gangs’ of hackers collaborating on such projects, and at this point, no target can be said to be completely safe if they set their minds to breaching your defenses.
One of the many struggles of businesses, especially smaller ones, is the ability to attract people with all the right kinds of skills needed to protect against the various threats your business may face. It is often hard enough to find and hire enough people with the right skills just to keep your core business functions rolling along smoothly, and IT talent can be expensive!
That’s where internet security consultants come it. These are hired guns, if you will. Specialists who can step into the shoes, and into the mind of the hacking community, audit and assess your company’s current security protocols, stage mock attacks to see how well your system would stand up to an attack, and make recommendations which will help provide you better security.
At the end of the day, that’s what it boils down to. Finding a cost effective means to protect your business. Finding an effective way to protect your information, because information is the life blood of business, and if you don’t protect your data, then you run the risk of catastrophic loss, both in terms of trust, and in terms of your bottom line.
The primary advantage of making use of an independent security consultant is that you don’t have to keep them on the payroll year round. Just hire one periodically (annually would probably be ideal, though any time you feel that you may be at risk, or, heaven forbid, if you have suffered from an attack, then these are the folks you would turn to in order to get back on your feet again). The advantage to you is that you save a ton on payroll expense, and you get the peace of mind of having your security system regularly checked.