Cyber Resiliency as a Service: A Comprehensive Approach to Security

Cyber resilience is an important topic that has only become more crucial with the proliferation of cyber threats and the growing frequency of attacks. Increasingly, organisations must prioritise their ability not just to thwart cyberattacks but also to withstand and recover from them to ensure business continuity and protect sensitive information.

However, building strong cyber resilience is easier said than done, given the rapidly evolving nature of cyber threats and the complexity of modern IT systems and environments.
 

Increasing Pressure on Cybersecurity Teams

One challenge enterprises face is the lack of a cohesive view of their entire digital estate, stemming from a fragmented approach to different aspects of their IT infrastructure. For instance, end-user computing (EUC) is typically managed by a standalone team responsible for endpoint devices and employee experiences. The infrastructure team, often separate, manages data centres and cloud deployments.

These teams usually operate independently, leading to disjointed communication and a disconnect in cybersecurity considerations. Of course, the fact that the typical enterprise uses an astounding 55 different applications on average, from cloud services or on-device apps, only serves to exacerbate the situation.

Moreover, organisations have disparate needs and requirements. Some might store their data primarily in cloud environments, making them more susceptible to cyber threats. Another might operate in multiple locations with a diverse workforce of remote workers, or hail from sensitive industries like financial services with a stronger requirement to safeguard both internal and customer data.

Despite these varied needs, cybersecurity solutions have become standardised and offered as pre-built products and services designed to serve the broadest number of users. Indeed, even employees from the same organisation might have differing security postures. For example, business leaders, IT administrators, and sales leaders face different levels of risk and are susceptible to distinct threats.
 

The Case for a New Approach

Given the limitations of the old paradigm, it is no wonder that enterprises struggle to improve their cyber resilience. Thankfully, enterprises know they need to strengthen their resilience and are moving faster than before. Where they used to take anything from 18 months or longer to procure a new cybersecurity solution, enterprises now understand they have far less time to react and adapt in today’s rapidly changing environment.

To fare better, any new offering must give enterprises a cohesive view of their infrastructure and systems, which might span subsidiaries, overseas offices, and remote workers. This includes constant monitoring and the ability to respond quickly to incoming or novel threats and contain them to avoid business disruption.

Another important strategy is to transfer cyber risks to a third party. However, while 43% of CIOs express interest in this, they also cite a lack of the right talent to make the switch. As a result, many enterprises end up handling everything in-house, to their detriment. The ideal cyber resilience solution must hence be comprehensive, without placing onerous demands on the cybersecurity team.

Finally, any solution will need to adopt established cybersecurity frameworks to help businesses achieve genuine resilience. Taken together, enterprises want the ability to protect against current challenges and unknown future threats, a powerful one-stop solution based on an integrated cybersecurity framework, and cost-effective integration with existing security solutions.
 

Not a Product but an Outcome

Enterprises are ultimately less interested in buying yet another product or solution but in an outcome. What if it is available as a service that allows them to proactively increase their resilience, effectively transfer cyber risk to a third party, and provide around-the-clock coverage to address threats and risks? Even better, what if this could be done at a predictable cost?

Lenovo’s Cyber Resiliency as a Service (CRaaS), is a unique cybersecurity service that integrates a suite of managed security services that align with industry best practices, including the NIST Critical Controls. By leveraging the best-in-class Microsoft Cybersecurity Reference Architecture (MCRA) and new GenAI-based applications and tools, including Microsoft Security Copilot, it provides an integrated, AI-driven approach.

Offered by Lenovo in an exclusive partnership with Microsoft, Lenovo CRaaS is priced at a per-user monthly fee to meet an organisation’s cybersecurity needs, covering the entire spectrum of services from advisory and deployment to managed services. In addition, it integrates with existing security solutions to ensure cost-effectiveness, faster deployment, and rapid resolution.

Deploying Lenovo CRaaS begins with an initial assessment that produces two detailed reports: The first identifies the security maturity level scored against various cybersecurity frameworks. A second report offers practical, actionable recommendations that enterprises can use to improve their cybersecurity baseline.

To further explore Lenovo’s Cyber Resiliency as a Service and how it might help your organisation, sign up here. You can also visit the Lenovo booth at GovWare 2024 to learn more.