Cisco launches new cybersecurity assessment tool for SMBs

Cisco has launched a new cybersecurity assessment tool for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the Asia Pacific to enable them to better understand their overall security posture.

The online tool assesses an organisation’s “cybersecurity readiness” through the lens of “zero trust,” the concept that all attempts to access an organisation’s network architecture are not granted until trust can be verified.

When a user accesses an application through a device, both the user and device are verified and that trust is continuously monitored. This helps secure the organisation’s applications and environments from any user, device, and location. Cybersecurity has become a key focus area for organisations as they adopt hybrid work, allowing employees to work remotely and through various devices.

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“This has expanded the attack surface and increased cybersecurity risks beyond the perimeters that companies have traditionally built to protect the business,” the company said in a statement. The tool assesses the organisation’s level of maturity in six areas of zero trust, i.e., user and identity, device, networks, workload (applications), data, and security operations. 

“Once the organisation enters details of its security capabilities and policies, the tool assesses the overall security posture of the organisation based on industry and sector benchmarks,” it explained.

Special report

The tool generates a bespoke report for each organisation indicating their level of maturity, challenges, and opportunities in each of the six areas of zero trust. It offers tailored recommendations on the technologies and solutions to help strengthen the organisation’s overall security posture and preparedness in a hybrid work environment where applicable.

SMBs in the Asia Pacific are becoming increasingly aware and educated about current cybersecurity risks and are investing more to better prepare for cyber incidents. As per ‘Cisco’s Cybersecurity for SMBs: Asia Pacific Businesses Prepare for Digital Defense’ study, more than half (62 per cent) of SMBs in India suffered cyber incidents in 2021. Further, cyber-attacks cost their business more than ₹3.5 crore.

During the same period, three in four (74 per cent) SMBs in India suffered cyber incidents that resulted in 85 per cent of customer information loss to malicious actors, in addition to a tangible impact on business.

“The number one reason highlighted as the cause of these incidents was cybersecurity solutions not being adequate to detect or prevent the attack. These attacks have a tangible impact on SMBs from disruption in operations and loss of revenue to a negative impact on the organisation’s reputation,” it said.

Top threats list

According to SMBs surveyed for the study, phishing, unsecured laptops, targeted attacks by malicious actors, and the use of personal devices are among the top threats to their overall security.

“With small businesses digitising at speed and scale and the threat landscape becoming far more sophisticated than ever before, securing their business becomes a top priority. Going forward, SMBs must ensure end-to-end protection across their workforce, workloads, and the workplace and adopt a zero-trust strategy to manage and strengthen their cybersecurity posture in a cloud-first world,” said Anand Patil, Senior Director, Systems Engineering, Cisco India & SAARC.

“As a first step to adopting this strategy, SMBs can leverage Cisco’s new, online self-assessment tool that provides a better understanding of their cybersecurity landscape and the opportunities and gaps that require attention,” he added.

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