5 Tips To Pick The Right Cyber Security Partner

It is not safe out there. There are hackers all around you. There are viruses that are waiting for you to commit one little lapse so that they can take advantage of your vulnerability.

Whether you are a business or a government entity, you must uphold a certain standard of cyber security and safety in your organization. For this, you must associate with a dependable Cyber Security partner right away.

There are threats looming all over and the only way to protect your critical company data, records, and financial information, from getting into the wrong hands is to choose a Cyber Security partner that understands your business goals and contributes to your growth every step of the way. Following are a few tips that can help you choose the right vendor:

Ask A Few Valid Questions

This is not a single tip but a cluster of a few questions that can help you out when choosing the right Cyber Security vendor. Let’s begin with a few questions that should always be on the top of your mind:

What Technologies Do They Use?

Find out all the technologies and internet security suites and software that they use. Do they keep themselves well updated? How well are they aware of the market trends and the latest threats that businesses have to deal with these days?

Answers to these questions will give you an adequate idea as to how technically well-equipped this company is.

Do They Have Ample Certification For Them?

They may claim to have partnered with the right technology giants, software partners, developers, engineers, and experts in the market but do they have any certifications or affiliations to prove that? Where is the signed contract?

What Risks Do You Have As A Business Entity?

Get a quick assessment of your business and all your networks and systems from the vendor. Ask them about the risks that your business might be exposed to at the moment. This works as an initial consultation and should not cost you anything. 

Who From Their Team Will Be Working On Your Account?

Get to know the cyber security personnel who will be working on your account. Is it going to be a remote employee or a specialized project manager who is going to show up as and when required? Ask if they are available for a little chat while you are there.

How Is The Fee Structure Designed?

Do not forget to ask about the fee structure. There must be a personalized strategy and a special price for the same that you should pay, nothing more and nothing less.

How Can You Be Of Help?

There is always a bit of contribution that you can make as well. Your networks and your servers, nodes, computers, and all the peripherals that you use are your assets.

It will be partly your responsibility to keep them regularly updated and equipped with the most suitable antivirus software platforms.

Going Beyond The Basic Cyber Security Hygiene

The cyber security company that you have chosen should be able to assess your basic safety practices to ensure that your company data is secure and never gets exposed or into the wrong hands.

Ask them if they perform strict assessments and evaluations to enable you to get a CMMC certification so that you can do business without any hiccups or security failures.

And if in any way, you are dealing with the Department of Defense. You must make sure that you uphold certain cyber security standards that are laid down by the government so that you can stay away from any penalization or adverse financial outcomes in the future. 

Understand What A 360-Degree View Is

A 360-degree view primarily means comprehensive protection against several cyber threats. This includes malware protection, virus protection, multifaceted hacking attempts, financial data theft, cracks in the firewalls that you may have already installed, hardware vulnerabilities, and a lot more.

If your potential cyber security partner is not able to provide comprehensive security measures for all your systems and networks, it is better to look for more options.

Get A Hold Of Your Supply Chain Vulnerabilities

They should be more than willing to understand what your supply chain vulnerabilities can be. All your vendors and suppliers including your logistics partners are connected to you through your internal and external networks and distributed devices.

There are third-party software platform integrations and connected hardware as well.

Your cyber security expert should be able to understand all these risks and the complex web of networks that you make use of to do business day after day.

Not having every bit of information about these operations will prevent them from gaining clarity about your supply chain vulnerabilities, if any. This can be greatly detrimental to your business.

Always Ask For A Scalable Solution

If the vendor can’t come up with a custom solution, it is time to look elsewhere for more options. Don’t fall for the much-advertised “wide range of packaged services” line” Ask for those packages right away and as clearly as possible.

Your company’s needs are unique and the vendor must understand this. Their capability to deliver personalized solutions is going to determine whether they are a good fit for you or not.

For example, a capable and practical internet security vendor is going to ensure that you don’t lose any control over or access to your company data in the process of adding an additional layer of security to it.

What good is a cyber security measure going to be if you have to call the professional every time it fails to recognize your biometric footprint or read an individual employee’s passwords correctly, right?

Conclusion

As pointed out earlier, your cyber security partner is going to be your ally in your business and growth.

He is going to work with you every step of the way to make sure that none of your critical business data gets into the hands of your adversaries, competitors, or any anti-social elements. So pick them wisely.