Ujwal Ratra, Chief Operating Officer, Astra Security talks about the importance of regular security audits for the businesses
How Astra security is trying to make cybersecurity which is a complex subject for businesses easy and simple for its customers?
Our aim at Astra is to make security super simple for businesses. We understand that security is not the core for these businesses as we help them take care of it so that they can focus on what matters to them. All our solutions are simple to set up. These solutions can be operated easily by business owners and their developers. They don’t need to have a security team to be secure anymore.
Eg. With security audits, our aim is not just to uncover vulnerabilities in a customer’s system but to help them close those vulnerabilities. With Astra’s security scanner, customers get a vulnerability management dashboard where details about each vulnerability including its severity, possible business impact & steps to fix which are tailored. We understand that developers’ time is very precious for each organization, thus to ensure that their developers are able to fix the issues fast, we provide support right in the dashboard for each vulnerability instead of writing long emails.
Can you tell us about Astra’s cybersecurity solutions which start as low as $19?
Security is not the core for most businesses. They specialize in something else. And thus, security is not thought about until it’s too late. Security is also thought of as a very high expense. Well, it is not and it does not have to be. Just like the cost of securing your home/office depends on the size of your home, the cost of your business’s cybersecurity also depends on the size of your business. At Astra, we are democratizing cybersecurity by offering affordable solutions for SMBs. And our range of solutions scales with their business. This scaling is why Astra is also used by even large publicly listed companies.
How does Astra Security conduct cybersecurity audits for the companies and its importance?
The importance of regular security audits can’t be stressed enough. The idea here is that the businesses should hack themselves before anyone else does. Security audits focus on finding and fixing the security flaws and vulnerabilities in business applications and infrastructure. Astra’s approach to audits is very hacker style, we look at the target from an offensive eye and try to find all the areas that an attacker could exploit. Then we help our customers fix all the vulnerabilities identified. What better than a friend who could take a critical look at your preparations before you face an adversary.
What is Astra Security’s take on the rise in cybersecurity attacks in 2021 and how to curb them?
Due to the pandemic, everything came online almost instantly. It’s like a new city was formed and all these new citizens came to live in it. And with every new settlement comes new challenges including crimes and malicious actors. This is what has happened to the cyber world now. With more people coming online, the number and types of attacks have also gone up significantly. There is no one way to curb them but some good cyber hygiene practices will ensure that businesses and individuals stay safe.
Can you tell us about your existing customers in India?
Today we have customers across verticals from small to publicly listed companies. Our security audits, which are now part of Software Development Lifecycles in these organizations, ensure that every piece of code that goes into production is vulnerability-free. The infrastructure audits ensure that the information stored and flowing across the network is encrypted and safe. Some of our customers include NIIT, Gillette, Muthoot Finance, Lynas Corp, CarDekho, Gaadi, Carrier and Times Internet.
