Outsourcing of information security: this solution is how successful?

Purposes and tasks of outsourcing

The autsorting appeared initially as a method of execution of activity which is not profile for firm, or such which you can easily isolate from other business process. For example, if the company decides to build the office and attracts to this contractor, then it is possible to tell that it gives construction on outsourcing. As today the quantity of tasks which each business daily faces grows, there is nothing surprising that outsourcing prospers.

What benefits receive the companies which will wish to resort to outsourcing services? The most powerful incentive for transfer of activity of the company on outsourcing is the chance thus to concentrate on own examinations, without spraying the available resources. The company which resorts to the help of the outsourcer saves at the same time on a design in staff of the highly-skilled employee on a permanent basis, instead services of outsourcing firm which as a result cost usually cheaper are paid.

Axiom it is possible to call offshore programming. Using services of the Indian, Brazilian, Belarusian companies, many western customers can save considerable means already only thanks to a difference in compensation of employees. Other example – legal services. The few companies need the highly skilled lawyer for full time, but to have access to his knowledge and acquaintances several hours a week on a pocket to a bigger circle of the organizations.

Actually, the main advantage of outsourcing to the companies employers it is possible to call that services of high quality employees which will be able to work so much time how many it is required to the company employer can receive for rather moderate payment. At the same time such employees, upon completion of execution of any work it will not be required to load with the tasks which are specially created "under them" which have nothing in common with requirements of the company, just not to dismiss these specialists.

Some of the most important points of outsourcing for the commercial organizations can call financial performance. It happens so that the companies decide not to buy software and the equipment not to increase fixed assets, however a need for a certain functionality at them is all the same had. In this case the appeal to service provider who is able to propose solutions necessary to firm whether is slightly the only suitable exit from this provision.

IT and cybersecurity outsourcing today

Services which are provided today by the outsourcing companies include also development to order of any software, and ensuring activity of IT infrastructure of the company. If are able to afford to order software for own needs only really big, having serious income companies, then here the second option of IT outsourcing with success is used today by the enterprises of any value.

Today trends of development of the IT field lead to the fact that in this sphere the separate niche – ensuring information security of the organizations clearly forms. Because of very broad application of information technologies and also is more increasing, constantly increasing importance of data in work of both commercial, and state companies, ensuring information security also is more and more important aspect of their work. In many companies special departments of information security which provide protection of corporate data against the most different threats, as because of limits of the company, and existing in her work presently.

Together with growth of cost of ensuring information security today even more often there is a question of how it is possible to save on this item of expenditure. Outsourcing seems in this case one of the most probable ways for solution.

What is understood as data security today?

To talk on information security outsourcing more in detail, it is necessary to understand at first that exactly today it is accepted to include in concepts of information security of data in general.

The information security implies ensuring data protection from malicious or accidental influences, protection against possible data loss is also meant. Tasks of those employees which should ensure information security of private company or a state institution include prevention of such influences and also the maximum neutralization of effects of those influences which for some reason to prevent everything it did not turn out.

What threats today do information security specialists daily face? All such threats are quite logically subdivided into external and internal. To external usually refer the attacks directed to corporate servers and also attempts of illegal penetrations into a local network of corporation, espionage and the malware. Also here carry spam which usually is one of the main sources of the malware getting into corporate network. As for internal threats, usually refer threats of destruction of information or date leak because of deliberate acts of some employees to like those or – thanks to their negligence.

As we see, a modern range of threats for corporate data with which the different organizations presently, quite wide deal. At the same time the number of incidents which are connected with data protection constantly grows, and specialists who are responsible for this sphere in the companies need to use very great efforts for maintenance of a situation on control. Expenses on information security increase too because thanks to spam and malware load of servers increases, respectively, in process of growth of firm grows as well staff of department of corporate security.

What can autsorter give?

Information security is one of those spheres where it is necessary to select extremely attentively what directions can be given on outsourcing and what to leave better under responsibility of specialists of the company. It is quite obvious that entirely it is rather dangerous to transfer this sphere of a company performance to outsourcers. Certainly, it is necessary to remember that there are no universal recipes simply and therefore each organization can independently decide that it can trust a certain outsourcer at a given time.

First of all, it is necessary to transfer to outsourcing audit of information security of the organization without fail. Conducting checks by third parties will allow to reach their impartiality and efficiency because probability decreases that auditors will begin "cover" colleagues with whom they are connected thanks to the friendly relations and jointly the spent thousands of hours at work.

Development of regulating documents which are connected with information security is also quite seldom assigned to actually staff of the companies. Actually, security policies can be developed by forces of specialists actually of the organization, but better idea transfer of this single action that who has an experience of development of such documents is represented. Also the problem of training of employees which is also often shifted to shoulders of the third-party companies is close to it. With the periodic advanced training organization of rates for employees on information security, by itself, specialists of firm for which such activity already became profile will much better cope.

It is quite simple to transfer to the third-party companies the VPN organization (virtual private networks) for communication between the branches of the company deleted from each other and also creation of secure channels of communication in firm and systems management for prevention of invasion into network of the company.

It is separately necessary to note fight against spam sending which is very relevant for those companies whose IT infrastructure functions in real time. For these companies load of information-channels which is created thanks to spam flows can be critical. And, most likely, it will be much more convenient to these organizations to transfer to outsourcing of a system for protection against spam which will allow to unload seriously servers of the company and system administrators who service an antispam.

What is not recommended to transfer to outsourcing? First of all, such questions which are directly connected with the system of internal security of the organization. Here, in particular, system management for data loss prevention and also analysis of the incidents connected with it, and other tasks which correspond to management of confidential information join actually. These are just those tasks in which the department of information security will need to be engaged, or to the employee who is responsible for information security.

Outsourcing and consulting

It is necessary to separate outsourcing of information security from consulting in the field. Though to be fair it is necessary to specify that the very often companies which provide outsourcing and consulting services confuse these terms.

Consulting (engl. consulting is consultation) is a type of professional services (normally it is services paid), which are provided to the corporate clients who are interested in optimization of own business.

To consulting usually define development of different councils and requirements which belong to support of information security of the organization up to standard. Common examples of those works which are performed by the consulting companies specializing in information security include:

• Economic analysis of a system of information security;
• Development of a technique for qualitative analysis of security of the organization;
• Development of councils for protection InformSystems;
• Development of requirements to a system for data protection which answer features of the organization;
• Development of technical specifications for creation of a system of ensuring information security;
• Drawing up the software overview for ensuring information security by earlier set criteria;

Development of requirements in respect of qualification of staff of department of information security;

• Development of regulations and policy for ensuring information security.

Consulting in the field of data security, by itself, it is also possible to call quite important component for creation of reliable data protection of the organization, it helps to optimize expenses in this column of the budget of the company. But after all, consulting and outsourcing – different things which organically supplement each other. The consulting subject in the field of information security, of course, is worthy separate consideration, but this article she nevertheless is beyond.

Risks of outsourcing and also choice of the outsourcer

The companies which resort to the help of outsourcers including they when outsourcing information security, often think that the address to such specialists allows to reduce risks for their company because these risks are shifted on the distant employee now. In general, it indeed: thanks to outsourcing of the company actually can get rid of such risks as a hardware failure or insufficient qualification of personnel because all these risks are undertaken by firm outsourcer.

However, to believe that the company is completely exempted from such risks, transferring security of confidential data to outsourcing firm, after all it will not be absolutely correct. Just because outsourcing itself bears some risks, and they need also to be taken into account. The basic from such risks it is possible to call strong dependence on work of the specific outsourcer.

Just outsourcing companies are usually very interested in that their clients did not leave them under no circumstances and therefore very often their representatives use the most different methods of customer retention – also imperceptible clauses of the contract which limit freedom of the customer, and different technology tricks are used. Therefore it is required not only to read you the agreements signed with outsourcers, but also to minimum understand something in solutions which are proposed by the staff of the company.

The basic that is required to be considered, selecting the company outsourcer – degree of responsibility which this company in ensuring information security of your firm can undertake. The problem of the choice of the company outsourcer is closely integrated to risks of outsourcing. Selecting to whom to give care of information security of your company, it is necessary to study carefully what responsibility the outsourcer can bear for the performed work and how the quality of its execution is provided.

Presence at the company outsourcer of different certificates which confirm service quality, provided with this company is unconditional, important. The best recommendation, as usual, is cooperation of this company with some of your partners, of course, on condition that your partners not against to share with you data on results of such cooperation and about its possible "reefs".

Instead of the conclusion

In spite of the fact that outsourcing in the field of information security – the phenomenon rather fresh and new in our business realities, is not present doubts that behind it the future. As threats appear more and more today, the qualified information security administrators will be more and more demanded, so, their cost in labor market.

Therefore in more and more aggressive information environment where competitive intelligence, purchase of the data stolen by unfair employees from the employer, and other similar things become, unfortunately, regulation, information security support will become necessary not only for the large companies, but also for medium and small business. And outsourcing will be really good solution owing to all listed above advantages of these method of execution of works here. Therefore it makes sense to think of its use already today, earlier, than all your competitors thought.

Author: Roman Idov