March 27, 2023

Tadas Vilkas: Unmasking the “Monsters” Lurking in Business and How to Vanquish Them

The digital landscape, new technologies, and innovations present increasing challenges for businesses. Protecting strategically important information from external threats and internal factors, such as lost data due to untimely backups or data theft, is becoming more crucial than ever.

On March 24th, a remote Business News conference, #CYBERSECUREBUSINESS, took place where cybersecurity experts shared their experiences in helping businesses stay ahead of the curve on security issues. Among the speakers was Tadas Vilkas, Project Manager at Skaylink LT, who discussed effective methods for vanquishing “security monsters” and controlling costs.

Security concerns in companies often act as “monsters” or “ghosts”: businesses sense the threats, but other topics tend to overshadow cybersecurity discussions, and they get left in the dark. Understanding where to look, what to protect, which tools to use, and possible technological solutions without leaving gaps requires time and effort.

The most effective way to manage risks is to properly assess them, consider best practices in the market, analyze high-profile cases of data theft, and prepare security strategy guidelines. These will lead to modern, tailored solutions that are more cost-effective than existing ones, raising security to a whole new level.

Tadas Vilkas, a technology expert with over 15 years of experience in the field, specializes in the evaluation of IT effectiveness and maturity for organizations (ITEA). He points out that businesses often consider new technologies, cloud platforms, GDPR, and other restrictions and regulations as the main sources of security “monsters” or fears, with highly varying reactions to these concerns.

In the “Here and Now Scenario,” IT managers or specialists test their systems and increase capacities following a high-profile cybersecurity incident, rarely assessing the overall business security landscape in-depth. 

Upon presenting the budgets to the management, the threat of these security “monsters” looms so great there’s only one decision – of course, to invest more into security. Six months later, the IT manager is back to defend the budget, requiring more investments, while questions like “Are we even protecting anything?” multiply. Ultimately, the company becomes hostage to ongoing implementation and maintenance costs, and despite increasing expenses, there’s very little additional peace of mind.

As an example, Tadas highlights organizations’ desire to implement their own email systems, which later require additional security measures (anti-spam, anti-virus, MFA, access control, etc.). In other words, we have the service, but using it without added resources is risky.

Vilkas calls such solutions shortsighted; while they aren’t inherently bad, proactive and more comprehensive choices are more effective and beneficial for businesses.

Currently, one of the most popular security solutions on the market is BTT Armour, a configuration solution for Microsoft M365 licenses commonly used by businesses. This unique managed security service, recognized by Microsoft itself in the Baltic countries, significantly improves an organization’s security level without changing employees’ habits.

BTT Armour helps mitigate threats at an early stage, enables full incident monitoring, eliminates GDPR gaps, and is particularly relevant for those working with sensitive information. Many companies that started using BTT Armour have reviewed their security solution architecture since the software itself blocks numerous threats, reducing the need for additional investments in other solutions.

Tadas usually recommends that businesses first consult their IT department and/or managed service provider about their security solutions, their functions, and costs. At the same time, consult the managed service provider to prepare security infrastructure guidelines and a cost optimization plan. Questions like “Are we fully utilizing the configuration capabilities of the business licenses we have already acquired, and how?” can be a very significant indicator. 

Another key question that Tadas recommends for businesses to always ask is, “When was the last time a backup of the company’s strategic data was made, and has a test been performed to restore data from the backup?”

During the discussion that followed the presentation, the Skaylink LT project manager also revealed his own greatest fear – a forgotten password. This fear is mitigated for Tadas himself by well-prepared backup password recovery sources and password storage tools, which not only make it easy to generate a truly strong password but also securely access all of them in one place. Admittedly, remembering the main password is still necessary, but that is a relatively trivial task in comparison.

For more information on managed services and security solutions for businesses, visit www.skaylink.lt.

Learn more about BTT Armour at www.bttarmour.lt.