Are you sufficiently paranoid about IT Security?
June 6, 2023
The cost of a data breach
According to IBM, the global average total cost of a data breach in 2022 was 4.35 million dollars. Not counting the monetary loss, data breaches tarnish a business's reputation and result in losing current and future customers.
Let’s be blunt, if you are not deeply concerned about IT security, you may not be keeping up with modern-day threats. Today’s businesses are not strong and trustworthy unless they remain capable of protecting their customers’ data to a maximum. In our view, ISO certification can help handle that and a bunch of other associated issues.
If you are still wondering if the ISO race is ever worth it, the answer is – it definitely is. With ISO, business processes align with international standards that guarantee the products and services consistency, security, and quality. The ISO quality management certification proves to be the backbone for a reputable, secure, and future-proofed business.
The perks of going for ISO certification
As a growing Business Central development house and a Microsoft hub, we know firsthand that ISO certification, along with GDPR compliance, are crucial for business. Almost four years into it, we see how the benefits of ISO go well beyond a somewhat vague understanding of information security.
ISO certification offers obvious advantages like implementing best international practices for data security, becoming more productive as an organization, identifying, and addressing risks in a well-structured way, and using untapped opportunities. It also brings a bunch of other, less obvious ones.
In this blog post, we share our insights on how ISO certification boosts business processes for a software engineering house. These might inspire your business to consider certification as your next business milestone.
Keeping the focus sharp
Getting ISO-recertified implies keeping our security team in tune. It means continuously revising and updating our security policies, processes, and daily routines. We improve current policies and add new ones if needed to protect customers’ data in the best possible way.
“If you stay still, your processes and security policies get outdated. Being outdated means being vulnerable to threats.”
- Oleg Lutskyi, Security Manager at Global Mediator
Getting certified and recertified is a great motivation to stay active and alert in relation to information security. We put in place best practices for cyber security and train our teammates to be ready to address any potential threats. Always.
Building up business credibility
The simple truth is that secured customers’ data brings in delighted customers. Getting regular ISO certifications emphasizes that a company is dependable and cares about its customers' information safety.
With security processes certified by independent international auditors and a holistic ISMS in place, Global Mediator anticipates inquiries about the security guarantees we provide to our customers. And in case a customer is hesitant between two companies, ISO certificates tip the balance for you and build up your business reputation. Justify your customers’ and partners’ confidence in you as you show and follow the security standards. “Seeing is believing.” As simple as that.
Going beyond GDPR
About 85% of our customers are EU-based. Naturally, GDPR compliance is crucial for Global Mediator to provide top-notch services. Getting certified for ISO implies auditing GDPR compliance as well.
For us, with ISO 27001 in place, the certification covers about 80% of issues related to GDPR. So, besides legal requirements related to information security, personal data protection is also a huge part of our process. Personal data breaches or any inappropriate actions related to customers’ data are exceptionally low.
Updating internal processes
Getting ready for ISO certification pushes us to work on risk reduction for our internal processes and team members’ data.
We assess the company’s information assets to prioritize and filter them. We model and process the potential security risks from a hacker attack to possible human error that may lead to a data breach or service failure. Global Mediator takes every step to identify risks and prevent them from occurring. We conduct regular vulnerability testing to mitigate risks and stick to a detailed risk treatment plan.
If you do not go for ISO certification, you will be attacked. It is not a question of "if", it is a question of "when"
Initiative-taking moves
Preventing is much cheaper than treating, especially when stolen or compromised business credentials and email fishing are the major causes of data breaches worldwide, 19% and 16% respectively. The former also takes the longest to identify. That is why Global Mediator’s teammates regularly go for mandatory security awareness training.
The team stays alert to potential cybersecurity mistakes on the web and while using email. Still, with remote work being a normal thing now, physical threats like tailgating or improper disposal of printed documents remain very real. Being security-savvy means being armed when it comes to security threats.
Actually, the work-from-home mode in Global Mediator should be noted separately regarding the ISO certification. We were ready for the online reality long before the Covid-19 outbreak and businesses’ massive migration to remote work. That is because the ISO 27001 certification defines clear controls and describes the necessary processes for secure remote work as part of the preparation for the initial certification and ISMS implementation. When we faced the pandemic and moved to 100% remote operation, our customers already knew that Global Mediator would continue to work from home without compromising data integrity and security.
More bonuses – team commitment
A less obvious bonus of getting certified for ISO is team commitment. Everyone understands the stakes of protecting sensitive data.
The team does the training, backs up sensitive data, and becomes an essential part of the security process and policies. One may even follow the rules without fully realizing how crucial they are. Until the moment a laptop dies for instance, and no data could be recovered from the hard drive. That is when one totally gets the importance of data backup promoted by ISO. And appreciates the weekly reminders from the IT security team.
Why so serious if ISO certification is not even obligatory?
43% of people make mistakes at work that compromise cybersecurity. It turns human error into 85% of data breaches, research says. For more than 80% of companies, such mistakes will result in data breaches. Worryingly, more than once.
"If you do not implement your ISMS according to ISO/IEC 27001 standard and leverage this tool for operational excellence and proper risk management, you will be attacked. It is not a question of "if", it is a question of "when".
- Nicolai Krarup, COO at Global Mediator
While ISO certification is not obligatory, these international certificates help businesses show their compliance and avoid potential financial and legal penalties. ISO certification is extra proof that your business has a security management system that treats the information your business is entrusted with safely and securely.
In a world where new cyber threats emerge at blazing speed, ISO certification raises risk awareness and cyber resilience. It helps to identify and timely address security threats. With armor like that, both large corporations with years of experience and millions at stake, and small, vigorous businesses multiply their chances to strengthen their reputation and win new customers and markets.
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