Since 2002, our subsidiary Exaprobe, digital transformation architects, has been working on improving IT systems security by promoting better use of technologies an approach called augmented security. Presented during the international cybersecurity forum (FIC) in Lille in January 2017, the concept aims to focus IT security processes on human expertise and skills. We found out more from Jean-Philippe Melet, Managing Director of Exaprobe.
Your keynote at the FIC was on augmented security. What exactly is it?
It’s an IT security approach that has a similar logic to augmented reality, which draws the user’s attention to the most relevant information in their environment, when they need it. We like to compare it to the new head-up display windscreens that project the travel information the driver needs directly onto the windscreen: we’ve applied the same logic to security. The volume of information on IT systems is increasing all the time, meaning the risk is also bigger than ever: it’s our job to identify and secure the most relevant information for the client at a given time, without a technology overkill.
With augmented security, security systems are built on human expertise – and this is the very expertise that will enable us to get the most out of the technologies.
There is something very appealing about technologies, but what our clients need most of all is to learn how to use them better so they can get the best out of the technologies they have, rather than constantly investing in new ones.
That’s our vision of security: there’s no ideal solution – you just have to be pragmatic!
How do you deploy this augmented security for your clients?
We build up a partnership and implement a modular service contract with guaranteed results. We start by conducting an audit of the security equipment, which we gradually take over via an external service centre.
The contract may change depending on the technological limits or maturity and go from partial monitoring to a complete outsourced security solution, meaning the customer hands over the entire monitoring of their equipment.
We don’t have a holistic approach to the IT system, but an iterative one. At Exaprobe, we like to see ourselves as the external co-pilot for our clients’ security, working non-stop.
What obstacles have you identified where IT security is concerned? How do you help your clients overcome them?
Security is a very technological field, which changes constantly, and although it’s subject to a lot of norms, there are no real standards, and there’s an acute shortage of human resources. So, the first obstacle is lack of expertise, and the second one is financial.
Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of clients who were put off investing in IT security by the cost of investing in the technologies, especially as this technology has a very high obsolescence rate.
We are convinced that by basing security systems more on human skills, we can delay this obsolescence by getting the most out of existing technologies.
By choosing one of Exaprobe’s 200 experts as their co-pilot, the client kills two birds with one stone: they benefit from genuine security expertise and keep their budget under control! And that’s how we speed up the digital transformation of our client companies.