Editor’s Question: How can the channel help SMEs?

Adri Faasen, Head of Sales, DRS, cybersecurity specialists, explains how the channel can help SMEs.

Channel is ideally placed to upskill and educate the SME sector on cybersecurity.

From a cybersecurity perspective, the answer to the question, ‘How can the channel help SMEs?’ is quite straight forward – the channel is ideally positioned to offer immense value to SMEs.  Companies operating in this sector are generally constrained by budget and lack of resources. Moreover, there is a global dearth of cybersecurity skills which has been particularly felt during the pandemic, which brought a surge in cyberattacks.  Even if the skills were readily available, SMEs generally do not have budgets that can accommodate the hiring of in-house cyber security specialists, preferring to rather rely on their over worked IT managers to supply same.

Responsible Cyber lists some of the greatest cybersecurity challenges facing SMEs as follows:

The insider threat – staff remain the biggest and most common cybersecurity threat to businesses of all sizes.

Increasing adoption of cloud. The flexibility and scalability that the cloud offers makes it compelling to small and mid-size businesses. However, huge concerns still exist for SMEs when it comes to the security challenge associated with the cloud technology.

The Internet of Things (IoT) – too many entry points but it is unquestionably the future of technology, but it has also opened new doors for cyber-attacks.

Phishing and Spear Phishing – businesses still fall victim to phishing attacks every day.

Lack of cybersecurity Knowledge – cybersecurity strategies, policies and technologies are entirely worthless if employees lack awareness whereas channel partners specialising in cyber security will be able to deliver the necessary knowledge transfer for businesses to overcome this issue.

Bring your own device (BYOD) especially during a time of remote working where this is now so prevalent.  As more small businesses make use of the BYOD trend there is also great risk from unsecured devices carrying malicious applications which could bypass security and access networks.

In all the areas noted above, the channel has an invaluable role to play  to play in educating, supporting and uplifting the cybersecurity profiles of SME businesses.  Channel partners can assist SMEs to construct  a safe, secure, effective and custom  security environment.  Channel partners can use their consultative selling approach to guide SMEs on the best security fit for both their budget and their data safety.  Also,  channel partners have support directly from global vendors which positions them particularly well to deliver information on the latest security trends and technologies available in the market.