Better IT Security - For Less

Business Tips

The dangers of the internet are real and multiply every year. Viruses, Trojans, worms, hackers, phishing, spearphishing - the number and type of attacks by organized crime syndicates are growing so quickly that the actual figures become a little meaningless. Some perspective is offered by law enforcement agencies which estimated that by 2009 the profits from computer crime, estimated at $1 trillion, had surpassed those of the illegal drug trade.

Firms have traditionally reached for a box of anti-virus software for team members' computers and a firewall for the network connection. Both defenses require constant updating by IT security vendors to ensure they contain a database of the latest and most dangerous threats. If you fail to update your computer every day, a tearaway, newly-launched virus can slip past your defenses and steal precious information.

Safety in Numbers

For many firms there is a more effective way of guarding your computers - and it could cost you a lot less. Most of the big names in IT security such as Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro have set up data centers around the world to scan the internet for malicious software (malware). The same firms that sell anti-virus software for your PC will sell you a service that uses these data centers to filter out all the malware and spam passing through your internet connection before it reaches your business.

This approach is far more effective because it draws on economies of scale. Other than banks or government agencies, a firm chooses the level of security in part by how much it can afford to spend on a firewall or other security appliances. Even large firms will only be able to afford modest levels of protection compared to a data center containing the Rolls Royce versions of firewalls and intrusion-detection systems.

The data centers also receive instant threat updates and virus definitions. And because they scan such high volumes of internet traffic, new malware is easier to spot - sometimes within half an hour of their launch onto the internet. This means that the likelihood of a security breach is far lower than relying on a locally operated firewall.

Another attraction is the payment structure. Firms don't need to outlay thousands of dollars in capital to buy security appliances. Security-as-a-service contracts are charged on a per-user, per-month basis which shifts the cost of IT security to operational expenditure. Adding team members is as simple as dialing up the number of users. 

Finally, you might experience a lift in the speed of your internet connection or network performance. More than 90% of email traffic is spam and stopping all that useless traffic in the data center will reduce the congestion caused when you receive and block all that spam in your own firewall.