Why you should offer cybersecurity services to your clients

October 23, 2019

Why you should offer cybersecurity services to your clients (and an easy way to start)

Cyber security, and the loss of important client data, is a global threat. We caught up with Doron Rozenblum, Managing Partner, Kreston EYR, to find out more about the solution he offers to protect against cyber threats, and how you, as a Kreston firm, can offer this solution to your clients.

Kreston: Before we get into details of your solution, can you touch on what risks companies open themselves up to without cybersecurity?

Doron: Absolutely. Say you receive a spam email and someone clicks the link, that simple action of clicking the link opens your entire system up to hacking.

And with client and other data wiped from your system, you risk being unable to run your company properly until your backup servers kick in – which may take up to several days.

During that time, you, can’t reach client information and your employees can’t access the system – resulting in potentially thousands in lost revenue, huge reduction in productivity, and worst of all a potential loss of trust from clients.

You may even receive a message from the hacker asking for a fee to get your data back. It’s a huge and unwanted disruption to your business.

Kreston: Many companies aren’t alerted to cyber threats until it’s too late. How do you convince companies to invest in cybersecurity before they have experienced a breach or crisis?

Doron: Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a breach to their system to trigger them to invest in cyber security. Others will hear about threats at a conference and this is their trigger. But in this day and age, cybersecurity should be top-of-mind for everyone.

In the US alone¹, over $12bn was lost in 2018 due to email fraud and in 2017, 37% of businesses in Britain experienced a cyber security threat.

With the added regulation around GDPR in Europe, companies must have a cyber security solution in place to keep client data safe, so now it’s not just an option, it’s a MUST.

Kreston: It’s clear this is a big threat – so what’s your your cybersecurity solution?

Doron: We have two key solutions in place… The first is the digital version of a security guard and security cameras. It monitors your system and alerts you to any threats without touching your data or emails. It is simply an alert tool, a first line of defence.

The second solution detects threats (like spam emails with links that, when clicked, will infiltrate your system) and alerts you on what actions to take. As a second line of defence, our security team will also guide you on how to stabilise your system if a breach happens.

Both are simple and easy solutions to deploy and you don’t need any additional systems or software upgrades – best of all, they are fully outsourced solutions.

They can be used by any company in terms of size and industry, and everyone receives the same level of outstanding service.

Kreston: What is unique about your solutions compared to others on the market?

Doron: First, they are low-cost and second, as I mentioned, you don’t need to invest in additional software upgrades.

Other solutions have a long lead time to fix issues, which increases risk. Because we have people monitoring your system 24/7, we see and address issues as they arise. When there’s a breach, we work directly with your IT team in real time to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

With most other solutions, your IT team receives multiple alerts a day, which means it’s easy to become complacent about them. We work with your system to minimise them so that you only see the important alerts. It’s very efficient.

Kreston: This isn’t just a solution for Kreston firms – it’s a service that Kreston firms can potentially sell to their own clients. So how does this fit in with the typical offering of an accountancy firm?

Doron: This is a great additional service to offer along with auditing and risk assessment services. When assessing the risk of cyber threats, this is a very obvious solution to offer them.
And because your clients trust you as an advisor, they will take recommendations from you seriously due to that trust, so this solution practically sells itself

Kreston: What does the solution costs?

Doron: The monthly fee depends on the number of machines, or end-points, being monitored. That will be unique to each client. This ranges from $15-$25/month per machine.

Kreston firms receive a revenue share, from 10% – 15%, depending on the value of each sale. So this should be something that’s discussed with every single client, first because it’s just so vital in terms of your clients’ security and building trust, and also because of the additional revenue it can provide your firm.

Kreston: So if a Kreston member does decide to sell your solution to their clients, how does that process work?

Doron: I manage the entire process between the Kreston firm and my team. To find out more, please get in touch with me and we’ll schedule a time to go over all the details!