Enterprise-grade IT security for SMEs

Businesses of all sizes face the threat of cyber crime, but SMEs can’t always afford enterprise-grade security. TRG has developed a cyber risk management service for SMEs, backed by a sophisticated security operations centre.

Johannesburg, 19 Nov 2020

“For the first time, SMEs can access holistic end-to-end fully managed enterprise-grade security at affordable rand-based pricing,” says Marc Seymour, TRG’s managing director.

The sheer volume of attacks directed towards the South African business community rivals the highest in the world. Business is no longer adequately defended through the sole use of firewall and anti-virus technology. A far more robust approach is required.

“While most SMEs have basic security like firewalls in place, these provide little real defence to a determined hacker. We quickly realised that what SMEs need is a provider that can come in and explain to them about the actual threats that are targeting businesses like theirs. Furthermore, they need a partner that can solve these challenges via a simple and easy to understand package that will protect their business against all such threats,” he says.

TRG has introduced a cyber risk management service, Sentry, designed to support and protect the SME community. Sentry provides enterprise-grade security features bundled into low fixed monthly fees. Seymour says: “Our pricing and packages are aimed at supporting the post-COVID business community. This means they no longer have to commit to a fixed contract duration, yet have the peace of mind knowing that their cyber security is taken care of.”

While there are no guarantees in the world of cyber defence, the Sentry model layers a host of technologies, skills and services to drastically reduce the likelihood of a cyber event that could negatively impact an SME. “The solution identifies weaknesses and vulnerabilities that could expose the SME’s data, offering endpoint protection and bringing in secure enterprise asset management technology that’s typically not usually deployed to SMEs, owing to its cost. We closely monitor for changes in the environment, scan for breaches and maintain a watchful eye for any threat event, all of which are managed throughout the mitigation process. As part of the solution, users are upskilled in the identification of events.”

Typically, access to these technologies is expensive, particularly for South African business buying dollar-based products with rands. TRG aims to provide a truly comprehensive level of defence, to manage this on the SME’s behalf, to provide it in a manner that is affordable and to remove the concern around long-term contractual obligations.

Seymour adds that while TRG’s packages like this are focused on SMEs, they are also enterprise capable and do scale immensely well. The goal, he explains, is to make quality security available to those customers who typically don’t have the financial means, or maybe the security skills, to do it themselves.

According to Andre Mostert, Head of Cyber Risk Management at TRG, threats and vulnerabilities are rapidly evolving, consequently exposing your business to newer, unheard of security risks every day. With the cyber security skill gap continuously increasing, many organisations are struggling to find the expertise they need. TRG, however, is well placed to offer access to both strategic and operational expertise, all while sparing you the inconvenience and expense of employing a full time cyber security team.

“There is a saying in the security industry that everyone will be hit eventually – if you are prepared, you will avert it, but if not, your business will become just another statistic. With TRG, you can be assured of high quality and cost-effective security, tailored to your company’s needs, and backed by our sophisticated SOC and top line security experts,” he concludes.

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