As a value-added distributor, TechnoBind is committed to support its customers throughout this pandemic and provide continuity of service. Prashanth G J, CEO, TechnoBind explains why it is necessary for organisations to protect their devices to the highest possible level and save them from a cyber breach
As a security solution provider, how do you assess the current scenario and the lessons learned? What’s your preparedness to handle such unprecedented situation?
People across the globe are uncertain about their future as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has thrown almost everyone into an unprecedented crisis and most of the industries remain shut. The safety of our employees and customers is the logical requirement of our organisation during any crisis, particularly when the whole country is fighting the pandemic like the Coronavirus outbreak.
We have been fully functional while working from home, to ensure customers are satisfied with our support today and in the days to come. Our entire team has been very supportive in addressing the issues coming in from the customers. Most of the software issues are being handled by the technical team.
There are many things to learn from this pandemic situation, for example, this outbreak has forced us to go digital, as many service providers, including banks and telecom operators, etc. have significantly reduced their offline operation and are asking their customers to embrace the digital form for any assistance. This trend could possibly help in speeding up digital transformation in the long term. But the challenge is that not many customers are prepared for this drastic change.
Though the Digital India initiative was launched long way back, in the country like India most of the people in the rural area face problems like electricity, the internet, proper knowledge of technology, etc. The government should increase the availability of digital infrastructure in rural areas, leverage existing infrastructure, and improve digital awareness. Every situation teaches us some good and positive things and so does the current situation.
How are you safeguarding your customers’ assets / premises in order to ensure continuity of their business operations?
We are in the business of providing cloud computing, which we believe, is the key to practical business advantages including quick turnaround time and reduced cost. In times like the current pandemic, these solutions are acting as a saviour in terms of continuity of work. We – our customers and their customers – all conveniently doing work from remote locations, without hampering the productivity much. Our team has instituted the knowledge and skills to meet market disruption challenges across Data Storage, Data Backup & Recovery or Cyber Protection, with which they are supporting the customers well.
With the sudden rise in cyber threats and attacks during this period, how are you ensuring your customers’ data is safe and helping them mitigates risks?
COVID-19 has changed the habits and work routines of millions. Thanks to the tech developments and improved connectivity employees can work remotely from almost any part of the world. However, these tech developments are like a double-edged sword and come with cyber risks. Employees working remotely need to keep in mind that personal devices and home devices are not as secured as corporate networks. Organisations must track user access, email accounts, software, and any other programs that were downloaded or used in their IT assets.
For technology-related risks, we follow the best industry standards like end-to-end encryption, server endpoint security, and two-factor authentication. It requires a second form of identification after a password and can be used for all corporate devices to reduce the chance of hackers impersonating employees and infiltrating the network.
Some of the important points one can keep in mind while working remotely:
• Employees should be encouraged to log out from the corporate network at the end of every day or when they will be away from their computer for an extended period of time
• All remote workers should have automatic updates enabled on their systems and IT teams should ensure the internal environment is up to date, including security-critical items and systems that might remain unpatched because they run continuously
• When it comes to network and Wi-Fi, employees should be encouraged to be wary of the risks. For example, employees must turn off any file-sharing on their work system and ensure their home router or Wi-Fi access point has WPA2 security enabled. They should not to connect to an unsecured or open Wi-Fi access point that doesn’t require a security key.
During this time of total lockdown, how are you ensuring 24×7 service and support to your customers?
While everyone across the world continues to navigate the uncertainty of COVID-19, TechnoBind is committed to support its customers’ business throughout this pandemic and provide continuity of service at all times. We have been providing 24×7 support to our customers and continue to do so even today. Our online telephones are open, technical engineers are working with their set of customers, and resolving the issues.
Since we are in this business for years delivering mission- critical solutions across industries, this makes our framework strong enough to handle any operational issue virtually. Conference calls and system access applications are also a great help in these challenging times.
Highlight some of the challenges being faced in providing service or support to the customers during this period?
The opportunities for cloud computing are impossible to ignore. While we say that, at times if there are physical hardware technical issues, it may take some time than usual to address. We personally have not faced anything in particular as of now, but we are ready to tackle such situations.
Soon we will witness business models changing, wherein there will be far more remote workers in any organisation. In such scenario, what’s the best cyber security practices that your customers should adopt? How would you, as a security solution provider, compliment in such a scenario?
With each device that’s connected to a network representing a potential entry point for hackers, it is important to ensure that all devices are protected to the highest possible level in order to avoid damaging fallout from a cyber breach. Simple cyber security tips like avoiding pop-ups, unknown emails, links, use of strong password protection and two-factor authentication, connection with the secure Wi-Fi, and discussion with the IT department of the company about information security are the simple security practices that every employee should adopt.
What’s your message to customers so that they are assured of full support today and in the days to come?
All small and medium businesses have bigger aspirations. Whether a business is a sole proprietor providing financial service or a retail store that employs five or six people, it is important for all to capture or generate data. Since this data is of high importance, it needs to be secure and accessible from anywhere, anytime. In today’s world where technology is advancing at the rapid pace, what I believe is that each industry regulatory body should have a robust cyber security framework.
