Cybersecurity from the Top 

We were published in the most recent issue of Security Dealer & Integrator magazine and featured on SecurityInfoWatch. The article, titled “Cybersecurity from the Top,” focuses on effectively creating a cybersecurity and safety culture as a business leader.

We’ve included the first few paragraphs of article below. You can read the full version by visiting the SecurityInfoWatch website and flipbook.

Cybersecurity from the Top

I was 20 years old, fresh out of college and had my first real job as a security system technician. It was a great opportunity and I was extremely excited to do what it took to succeed. I had a bit of anxiety about one part of the role – climbing heights to install and service security devices. In those days, we were not provided any fall safety equipment. We worked on ladders, used scissor lifts and repaired rooftop cameras without a second thought – just boots and tools. I vividly remember one incident, when a coworker asked me to hold him by his pants belt as he stepped outside the scissor lift at 35-feet above the ground. We were lucky there was never an injury – I wasn’t educated or trained in safety and neither was my employer.

Times have progressed and, now, taking safety seriously is nothing short of standard expectation throughout the integrator – or any contractor – community. Systems Integrators now hold safety classes for employees; the images of electrical accidents, slip and falls, and being ejected from a boom lift are shown repeatedly to raise awareness and eyebrows to real-life situations. Safety has become second nature in a systems integrator’s business, protecting their employees, contractors and customers from injury and accident.

Nowadays, cultivating a culture of safety within the workforce is not an option, but rather a critical aspect of any healthy organization. It is more than a business activity, it is an attitude – one that starts at the top and flows through every aspect of the business. Is cybersecurity following a similar path?

You can’t get away from it. As you watch the news, open a trade magazine or look at your social media posts, cybersecurity seems to be just about everywhere. There isn’t a week that goes by without a new story featuring a breach and loss of customers’ sensitive data.

Breaches are happening to organizations large and small; in fact, the Ponemon Institute recently reported in its 2017 Cost of a Data Breach study that one in four organizations will experience a breach.

It begs the question: Are we at a turning point where cybersecurity is taking the same path as we have seen with worker safety in the past? Well, especially given recent history, it certainly should be!

Cybersecurity is Safety

It can be argued that I am comparing life-and-death situations with protecting networks and data – but with more and more life safety devices and critical systems now communicating on the network, human safety is surely a factor. Critical support systems in hospitals communicate on networks, increasing the risk of a serious incident caused by a ransomware shutdown. An attack on critical infrastructure may result in disruption of the water supply or electrical power, potentially causing dangerous outages. The examples go on and on.

Outside of human safety, a breach of sensitive data can be absolutely devastating to an organization. Its impact often has a chain effect and can further impact the organizations doing business with the company, as well as its employees and other outside vendors. It is especially devastating to a small business, which is often not prepared.

Read the Full Article

Security Dealer & Integrator (SD&I) magazine is The Path to Greater Profits for its audience of security professionals who own, manage or help maintain dealer, integrator, reseller and installation businesses. SD&I keeps you informed of the latest in security technology solutions, while always providing strategies to run a more effective and profitable security business.