by Jessica Murillo, Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) Chief Operating Officer
Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an annual reminder to consumers and businesses alike about the importance of securing data and personal information. In a world where everything is connected, the risk of cyberattacks is a real concern, and as technology continues to evolve, so does the sophistication of these strikes. IBM’s annual Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024[1], conducted by Ponemon Institute and sponsored by IBM, shows that the global average expense of this type of incident increased 10% over the previous year, reaching USD 4.88 million, the biggest jump since the pandemic. Malicious attacks (those committed by outside attackers or criminal insiders) made up 55% of all data breaches, while the remaining 23% are due to IT failure and 22% to human error.
This highlights how crucial it is to invest in strong cybersecurity measures and prevention strategies, especially when it comes to threat detection. While outages, breaches, and ransomware grab the headlines, I'd like to discuss something fundamental to enterprise IT: support services. Often overlooked as critical to securing infrastructure, the right support can make all the difference in maximizing uptime, by:
1. Detecting threats and accelerating response time,
2. Helping ensure infrastructure is current and monitored, and
3. Prescribing data hygiene throughout your data center lifecycle.
When data breaches can throw operations into chaos, security can’t just be an afterthought, but a priority. IBM Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) provides IT support, services, and insights for multivendor data center environments — including servers, storage, networking, security, and software — to optimize the technology asset lifecycle and help clients to monitor, identify, and address potential threats, aiming to minimize vulnerabilities. This holistic approach, which goes way beyond a break-and-fix mentality, helps organizations maintain effective levels of security and optimize the return on their IT investment.
1. Proactive Threat Detection and Quick Incident Response
At IBM TLS, we provide monitoring and in-depth analysis to spot potential threats early on. By identifying issues before they escalate, you have the opportunity to mitigate security incidents and keep systems running smoothly. This proactive approach mitigates the risk of attacks and unexpected downtime, which can help your business to stay efficient and secure.
By investing in premium support tiers in offerings like Expert Care for IBM products and Multivendor Enterprise Care for certain non-IBM products, IBM TLS provides quick issue resolution and the potential to address problems before they occur, as this level of support provides a dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM) for the clients, a specialized Subject Matter Expert (SME) who reviews the entire IT environment, serves as a single point of contact and focuses on proactive measures and problem resolution.
Building on this proactive support, IBM TLS further enhances its services with IBM Support Insights on its portfolio, a feature that manages an inventory of over 3,000 clients and 3,5 million IT assets, identifying and alerting over 1,5 million security vulnerabilities with recommendations for resolution. With this kind of intelligence, the IT team can identify and address problems before they escalate.
2. Keeping the Infrastructure Up To Date with Data Center Management
Data centers today are far more intricate than they used to be due to advancements in technology. Managing them means dealing with multiple servers, networking equipment, virtual machines, containers, and storage devices, all from different Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Ensuring that all systems are up-to-date requires tracking maintenance schedules, licenses, and troubleshooting across various systems. This duty falls under vulnerability management, but it can be challenging and time-consuming for the IT staff.
That is why IBM TLS serves as a unified source for all IT support requirements providing insights to accelerate issue resolution. By offering multi-vendor support, we act as a single point of contact for managing a client's server, storage, and network. As IBM TLS simplifies the support process, streamlining can help address the risk of introducing malware or insecure configurations during installation.
3. Incorporating Data Sanitization
Making data sanitization a part of the cybersecurity strategy is pivotal to keeping data protected. It's a simple but crucial step to maintain cybersecurity.
- It involves permanently destroying or modifying data, thereby preventing unauthorized access and protecting sensitive information.
- It supports organizations as they comply with various regulations and standards related to data protection, by altering personal identifiable information (PII) to be properly destroyed.
- It can help reduce the risk of data breaches and subsequent legal liabilities by minimizing the amount of sensitive data available to malicious actors.
- It can serve as a strong defense mechanism against ransomware attacks.
IBM TLS offers data erasure services across different types of drives and vendor technologies, supporting companies as they work to meet the standards for their secure data erasure following privacy regulations around the globe. These services support more than 25 erasure standards and guidelines globally, including the clear or non-destructive purge contained in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Guidelines for Media Sanitization.
Conclusion
In recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it's crucial to highlight the importance of strong IT support in safeguarding against threats and maintaining a resilient security posture across all systems. When an incident strikes, it is the IT support that is often among the first lines of defense, collaborating with teams to quickly identify and resolve the problem.
As organizations adopt increasingly complex IT environments, IBM TLS providers can help ensure that security measures are integrated effectively throughout the technology lifecycle by offering specialized expertise and tools, assisting organizations in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, implementing robust access controls, and maintaining ongoing monitoring and maintenance programs. These efforts can contribute significantly to strengthening overall cybersecurity posture so that organizations are positioned to defend against evolving threats and maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their data and systems.
Optimize your infrastructure with IBM TLS!
[1] Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024. IBM. July 2024.
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