Hivint has launched a new portal – “Security Colony” (www.securitycolony.com) – providing battle tested security resources to help businesses combat the threat of hackers. The concept follows a simple philosophy: if a problem is discovered and solved in one organisation, it makes sense to make the answer readily available to other organisations so they can take immediate steps to protect their businesses from the same threat.
The service is an Australian-first, and is a break from the normal way the cyber security consulting industry operates.
On the Security Colony portal, Hivint makes available “de-sensitized” versions of the reports, strategies and guidance material that it develops through its consulting engagements.
In other words, Security Colony makes available the 80 percent of each consulting project that is re-usable between organisations. This information is available 24/7 to subscribers for a fraction of the cost of bringing in a consultancy firm to develop it from scratch. There is already over $1 million of security consultancy output on the portal and over $100,000 worth of material is added every month.
Businesses don’t have to look far to find examples of the threats that exist. The recent hacking of the dating website Ashley Madison is one of the most high profile examples, and in the last fortnight Australia has seen breaches at retailers Kmart and David Jones. But as Craig Searle, Co-Founder of Hivint, points out, cyber security is a widespread problem.
“While data breaches involving millions of records regularly make the headlines, losses of thousands of records are commonplace,” Mr Searle said. “Being comparatively small, or remote, is not a defence. The truth is most organisations are being out-paced by the threats, so are falling further and further behind.”
Recent research has found that 41% of Australian businesses suffered a cyber security incident in the last three years, and many were unprepared.
Nick Ellsmore, Co-Founder of Hivint, said: “Everyone agrees we need more collaboration in cyber security. The Security Colony portal answers the question about how to get started. For the cost of one day of a consultant’s time, you get access to millions of dollars of consulting output. It’s a pretty simple cost/benefit equation.”
The portal includes breach intelligence to help businesses pro-actively detect and resolve current security threats, and the resource library supports the efficient development of a robust set of management and operating procedures.
Security Colony has received a nomination for the Project of the Year award at the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) Awards 2015. The service is targeted at a wide range of Australian businesses, from ASX 100 organisations to SMEs. Early subscribers include law firms, financial services businesses, and technology companies.
