As we seek to complete the “transition back towards normality,” Paul Scott, Comelit-PAC Area Sales Manager discusses the growing number of cyber threats faced by organisations who have to ensure data integrity of both their systems and the sensitive data information stored.
Paul looks at the increasingly digital, connected world in Councils and Social Housing providers, as a result of the repercussions of the pandemic, and suggests it’s time to step up and implement a cyber security strategy that is futureproof. This is for the benefit of residents, visitors and staff, alongside ensuring significant cost savings and safe data storage.
Setting the Scene
As we all had to adapt to new long-term ways of hybrid-working, Councils and social housing institutions have not been exempt from the rise in cyber-attacks over the past few years, compounded by the impact of the pandemic.
This is especially the case as many housing providers have aimed to make improvement in their adoption of digital services to account for the increasingly digital footprint of modern society.
There has been a shift to access control databases to store information typically about named users, their roles, their locations and even sensitive information such as age, contact details and even car registration.
Unfortunately, as digital delivery of services increases, so does the increase in impact that cyber-attacks can have in this sector.
The delivery of housing services relies upon a wide range of public and private sector partners and if there is disruption in the network, that can have a knock on effect bringing gridlock to critical services: new applications to join the housing waiting list, repair reporting, updating register records, rent and service charge payments. There are examples of such services being interrupted for months as a result of cyber-attacks.
Recently, this has been intensified by an increase in the number of publicly acknowledged ransomware attacks committed against the housing sector, to the extent it is recognised by many as one of the top current threats in cybersecurity.
Unfortunately, in the past two years, ransomware attacks have been commonly accompanied by data exfiltration and a threat to publish personal and resident data if the ransom is not paid.
The threat of data publication is often more impactful for organisations such as housing associations. The sector is already well served by a healthy claimant legal community, and a data breach arising out of a cyber-attack can expose organisations to a significant legal cost exposure from claims.
Cloud Based Solutions
To resolve this safely, there is now a clear push to “strengthen resilience at national and organisational levels to prepare for, respond to and recover from cyber-attacks.”
One of the core steps is to consider a more agile and robust approach to IT security to secure organisational and resident data. Cloud-based storage and systems can solve many issues, particularly as more and more providers implement hybrid working policies. There are many benefits of the Cloud. Firstly, there are huge cost savings involved as it alleviates the need to house large servers. Secondly, cloud software is scalable and convenient; and thirdly, most cloud-based tools provide encryption and enhanced security measures.
The recent launch of Comelit-PAC’s cloud-based data centre: The Bunker, is utilised for PAC Access Control hosted solutions, and has secured an ISO27001 accreditation and has been adopted by some of the UK’s largest banks, insurance companies and healthcare facilities.
Many organisations that were concerned with cyber and ransomware attacks and data issues have chosen to move to PAC Cloud to ensure their systems are ready to combat threats, large or small. By migrating all systems into a secure data centre, the need for expensive servers or any additional server software is removed. This means, organisations no longer need to rely on data backup procedures, or mange their Operating System (OS) and security patching for their Access Control – this ultimately frees up IT resources and reduces costs.
In addition, operating within the cloud, there is no longer a need for laptop-based security protection. And essentially, the worry of losing data is eliminated. A further benefit of PAC Cloud is that systems can be managed from anywhere, with an internet connection, simply by logging in using securely protected usernames and passwords. Users can control their systems using a standard PC, tablet or smartphone.
A cloud-based software will alleviate the pressure on IT teams and enable them to manage tasks and time far better, responding to resident requirements quickly and efficiently. It’s worth pointing out however, that such pressure caused by a varying workload and unclear objectives was present before the pandemic.
The events of the last two years have only exacerbated IT teams’ concerns. In 2019, it was reported that the biggest roadblocks in maintaining and improving cybersecurity were “competing priorities (71%), followed by budget constraints (67%) and a lack of manpower (59%).”3 The primary concern here is that IT teams have not been getting the support they need. In fact, “9% of organisations had not invested in employee training for the whole organisation around cybersecurity, and 15% had not invested in additional employee training for the IT team.” There is a real demand for affordable, simple and scalable systems.
Remote Access
With Comelit-PAC’s support, our cloud-based data centre will provide IT teams with a central, flexible, ultra-secure hosting system that can be accessed and managed from any location at any time. With remote connectivity, all asset or system management tasks can be undertaken without the need to be in an office. Plus, with a simple to use browser interface, all day-to-day tasks can be recorded clearly, enabling IT teams to manage their workflow more easily.
Make a difference
In summary, the reactionary state of organisations brought about by the pandemic is arguably over. But there is still the continued threats and concerns across all sectors, especially social housing providers and councils that hold such sensitive resident data, and must consider the impact of a cyber security attack.
To put this into perspective, the average cost of ransomware attacks in the UK is just under £2million, 13% of organisations paid this ransom.4 It’s time for organisations to act and adopt a smart, cloud-based approach to cyber security.
Investment is being made, for example the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is advertising a £1.3m contract for a team to support local authorities to improve their cyber health and reduce their risk from malware and ransomware earlier this month.
This is certainly a welcome step but only time will tell if it is enough. And in the meantime, support such as Comelit-PAC solutions are available to ensure small steps can be taken to make a significant difference.
Credit: Paul Scott – Area Sales Manager
For more information, please contact us : [email protected] or +44 (0) 161 406 3400
