inspirational leaders
february/march 2018 business edge
Vigilance essential to keep ahead of the cyber criminals Recent years have seen more and more companies become reliant on their IT, which means that a failure of their systems can be a devastating blow to them. However, according to IT expert Martin Bannister, too many companies are still taking unnecessary risks with their security and laying themselves open to attacks by criminals. Martin is the Managing Director of Kogo, an IT support company based in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Having left school to become a car mechanic, he soon discovered that his interests lay in the field of computers and he eventually established Kogo in 1998. Today, the company is a managed IT service provider supplying high-end managed cybersecurity, data loss prevention and business continuity solutions. It employs 19 staff and is the largest IT support company in East Grinstead with clients operating nationally and internationally in aviation, hospitality, financial and professional services, manufacturing and healthcare and with bases in East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Surrey, South and Central London. Martin believes it is important that Kogo helps to educate the business community regarding the types of cyber threats that they face and he has been active providing free education seminars and talks on cyber security and the impending introduction of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR, which represents one of the biggest changes in data protection in years and will be enacted in May, relates to all organisations that handle EU citizens’ data and will happen regardless of Brexit negotiations. Driving the legislation is the EU’s desire to create international consistency around data protection laws so that both businesses and
“The company is growing steadily. For us, the key thing is to provide good customer service for clients large and small, however big you grow. You should treat everyone exactly the same.”
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citizens can be assured that their sensitive information is protected. Failure could lead to fines of €20m or 4% of a company’s annual turnover for data breaches and Martin said: “If you go back to the start of 2017, I think a lot of smaller businesses were unsure if GDPR applied to them but as the year went on it became clear that it did. “Nevertheless, even after all the publicity about the changes, a lot of them are still burying their heads in the sand and hoping that GDPR will go away., “The thing about GDPR is that it is commonsense, there is no dark art to it. If you are looking after clients’ data, look after it. “Once GDPR comes in, we might see one or two companies singled out for action over their failures to implement it and that will make people sit up and take notice.” Martin is also concerned about the growth of ransomware attacks, where hackers take control of systems and only release them when money is paid. Kogo has published a booklet on ransomware and educating firms about the technology forms a large part of its support for clients, building on years of experience with partners such as WatchGuard, Mimecast and Trend Micro. Kogo has also encouraged its clients to earn their Government Cyber Essentials badge. Martin said: “A lot of smaller companies think ‘I’m not Amazon, I’m not going to be on the radar of cyber criminals’. “However, the thing about ransomware is that it has become so slick, and I hesitate to use the word, that anyone can do it.
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“There is software out there that allows you to operate ransomware and even companies that will help you collect the money so businesses must continually train and upskill their staff. “That training has to extend to everyone working in a business. For example, you might have a temp who is taught all the physical things, where the fire alarms are etc, but then handles emails without being trained in cyber security. “This is a constant battle. We will always be fighting cyber criminals because every time we get on to top of one threat the criminals will develop something new. “I am working with one client who was watching sport online and a message came up saying he had to update Adobe Flash and by the time he realised it was not genuine it was too late. “The message for businesses is to be constantly update the skills of their staff so that they can recognise the dangers.” Helping clients of all sizes means that it has been a busy twelve months for Kogo, which has moved premises, undergone a rebranding exercise and continued to expand by hiring new staff as well as constantly updating their technical skills and running graduate and apprenticeship schemes to recruit new talent. Martin said: “The company is growing steadily. For us, the key thing is to provide good customer service for clients large and small, however big you grow. You should treat everyone exactly the same.”
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