A series of government initiatives promises to help small and medium businesses (SMEs) better understand their cyber security obligations and maturity – but knowing more about security is only the beginning of the journey, with a growing number of SMEs also finding the right security appliances are invaluable in plugging problematic capability gaps.
Such was the experience of Bailey-Harris Construction Company, a well-established construction firm that recently overhauled the network that provides crucial secure VPN connectivity between its head office, what is typically up to a dozen site offices, and across the sites themselves.
Previously, on-premises domain controllers were used, fulfilling roles including authenticating WiFi through NPS/RADIUS. When one of those controllers failed however, users couldn’t access critical applications and it was clear the company needed to adopt a different approach.
That approach was to embrace cloud-based domain services, with access management consolidated on a single point of ingress and egress – the Microsoft Azure environment. By introducing a pfSense Plus virtual appliance in Azure, and a physical pfSense appliance at each location, the company quickly achieved simplification and standardisation.
Using a cloud-based domain controller not only boosted the performance and reliability of Bailey-Harris’s remote access infrastructure, but is saving the company thousands of dollars per year while allowing it to apply consistent security policies across all of its sites – and paving the way for new features such as cloud based remote desktop web filtering.
A security boost for SMEs
The combination of cloud-managed security infrastructure and on-premises appliances is proving increasingly popular amongst SMEs, many of which have struggled to build and manage the sophisticated security architectures they need to protect themselves in the face of today’s threats.
With even small businesses now coming into cybercriminals’ crosshairs, the need to improve security has become a universal obligation – yet despite constant exhortations to address cybersecurity, many small organisations still lack the knowhow and resources to get their security up to scratch.
As SMEs warm to government initiatives such as its voluntary cyber health check program, one-on-one assistance through the Small Business Cyber Resilience Service and similar private-sector offerings, security appliances’ ability to rapidly deliver cutting-edge security features is driving rapid growth in a worldwide market that, IDC recently reported, grew in value by 7.6 per cent through the middle of 2023 even as the number of appliances shipped soared 22 per cent year on year.
That market will maintain “a healthy rate of growth in the years ahead as hardware-based security platforms remain a key component in a customer’s cybersecurity investment strategy,” noted IDC research manager for enterprise trackers Carlo Dávila.
Helping customers get more secure
Security appliances have proven extremely popular as Australian businesses work to get their security up to scratch, often delegating management of that security through the cloud to an IT service provider like Eclipse Technology Services (ETS).
Demand has been so strong that ETS recently took on Australian retailing of the Netgate range of appliances, helping SMEs access a more robust security foundation without requiring extensive security knowhow – and this, ETS founder Gerard Lill said, has become critical as SMEs tighten up their security.
“Today’s headlines are absolutely loaded with reports of cybersecurity breaches that are seeing cyber criminals hanging small business operators out to dry,” he explained.
“Although those business owners are constantly being told to improve their cyber security practices, they typically lack the expertise or resources to make massive security investments – which is why we have put our weight behind the Netgate range as an important security value-add for both existing and future customers.”
In a crowded field, Netgate has worked to most effectively support the security needs of small businesses – particularly those operating in service industries that face onerous security obligations, such as accounting, legal, retail, and medical – with a range of security appliances that facilitate secure connectivity within and between sites.
With 12 different models catering for even the smallest business, Netgate’s value proposition is to take care of the heavy lifting while ETS backs the technology with a range of complementary value-add services.
Such services will help companies build more mature, effective security cultures backed by data protection technology – and with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing that the number of companies with 20 or more employees increased by at least 8 per cent in the last year alone, that protection will be crucial as those growing companies become increasingly high profile targets for cyber criminals.
“We understand the challenges that small businesses face in the complex world of cyber security,” Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Clare O’Neil said in launching the government’s SME focused Cyber Security Strategy late last year, “but they are not on their own.”
“Uplifting the cyber security of our small businesses is integral to a cyber secure and resilient nation, and this dedicated support will make a huge difference in their preparedness and resilience.”
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