Have you ever considered why you only eat at the same restaurant, and why you choose the same brands time and time again when making purchases. Or perhaps you only get your hair cut from a certain hairdresser or barber. Perhaps you choose the same dish from the takeaway repeatedly. Why is this? The answer is trust.
Trust
The age old saying we’ve all heard; it takes years to build and seconds to break. Now of course convenience and cost will always be factors when making choices in life but the true underlying foundation to any sustainable long-term relationship is trust. American author Simon Sinek found that trust plays a far more pivotal role than actual performance. Interesting right?
So, you’d think if one of the highest performing organisations on the planet values trust so highly surely the corporate world would follow suit. Well, on the face of it, it would appear not.
Cyber Assurance A Grudge Purchase
In the UK alone there are 5.5 million registered businesses, with 99% falling under the banner of a small or intermediate size [1]. Yet, since the introduction of the government backed Cyber Essentials scheme in 2014, which aligns closely to Cyber Assurance only roughly 132,000 organisations and businesses have been accredited.
Why is that? Put plain and simple, it’s culture. Security for most part has always been considered as a functionality hindrance to businesses, and a grudge purchase. You can see why when you consider that it costs money to implement security frameworks. There are also labour costs to be considered for all the person-hours and continual improvement that goes into it. Sometimes it is tricky to identify a clear ROI.
Data
In 2024, data has become the global currency. Regardless of how it is collected, organisations and businesses must now implement technical controls to restrict access to confidential information. Clients trust these businesses to safeguard personally identifiable information and sensitive data. Consequently, businesses must ask themselves how they can present themselves as secure and trustworthy to the public. With the rising difficulty of maintaining security and a significant increase in cyber-attacks—72% of organisations experienced a ransomware attack last year alone—this question is more pressing than ever.[2]
Frameworks
So what's the answer? Frameworks. Just like the deep routed foundations and the 10 tonne steel girders that hold skyscrapers together, businesses in the corporate environment rely on similar structural cohesion. You wouldn’t enter a building that looked like it was going to collapse, would you? So why would you trust a business that isn’t structurally sound in terms of its cyber resilience? This is where IASME Cyber Assurance comes in. Designed specifically for SMEs which we already know accounts for 99% of businesses in the UK. This scheme is tailored to not leave the little guy behind.
IASME Cyber Assurance
The scheme consists of thirteen themes ranging from planning to disaster recovery and includes Zero Trust Network Access (where appropriate) and backup (which is always appropriate!). But don’t be put off. You won’t need a big board meeting and a chunk of your annual budget to implement this, not by a long shot. IASME Cyber Assurance is a cut down version of ISO 27001 and provides smaller organisations with a stepping stone to ISO compliance. This scheme is catered to be implemented quickly, cost effectively and most importantly provides businesses with a great cybersecurity posture baseline. With flexibility built into the framework, it allows businesses to mould the requirements stated within the themes, to help bridge the gap from where an organisation is to where it needs to be. Like its little brother Cyber Essentials, Cyber Assurance follows the same methodology of two separate levels, level one, and level two. Both levels have the same implementation rules and requirements except level one is based upon a self-assessment which is then assessed remotely. Level two on the other hand, will involve an external audit to make sure what you’ve said in level one is true. If it is, your organisation will be awarded the level two IASME Cyber Assurance certificate. IASME Cyber Assurance helps you reduce the likelihood and impact of risks – in a structured way. It covers not only identifying risks, but protecting your organisation, detecting attacks, and responding to and recovering from incidents.[3]
Confidence
All in all – trust is at the core of all successful long term business relationships. Frameworks such as IASME Cyber Assurance highlight to the world that you’re ready to operate at a higher standard than those without it. Meaning you are more secure, more reliable, and most importantly more trustworthy. This can give you a competitive edge when tendering for new business and builds trust within your existing client base. It demonstrates that you take some pride in your intangible assets such as your reputation whilst others may dwindle. If you want to build, develop, grow and construct your business with a framework welded into its foundations. Prioritise your information security and reap the rewards that follow with it, which include lower cost cyber insurance premiums. Stay trustworthy. Stay safe.
If you would like to discuss getting either your Cyber Essentials or Cyber Assurance certification then please get in touch with mike@torosolutions.co.uk.
[2] https://statista.com/statistics/204457/businesses-ransomware-attack-rate/