How Qualys has redefined cyber security at scale

As digital transformation initiatives across the globe go into overdrive, cyber security is no longer viewed as an afterthought but as a vital tool to help organisations shift gears digitally. Small wonder that today, cyber security is among the most important subjects that occupies the minds of business leaders within and outside India. Sumedh Thakar, President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualys, a leading provider of cloud-based IT, security and compliance solutions joined CNBC TV18 to talk about cyber security’s importance in today’s day and age.

The pandemic acted as a catalyst to accelerate digital transformation with application of advanced technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. With people getting used to being catered to from within their homes, said Mr Thakar, “there was a big shift in moving towards cloud and mobile technology to connect with the customer”. The new remote and now hybrid work environments also have made companies offer their tools from the comfort of the employees’ homes.

This has increased “the attack surface”, according to Mr Thakar. “So security teams have to figure out ways to have an environment where they can secure that digital transformation, no matter whether it's in the cloud, whether it is on prem, or whether it is a remote workforce. And I think that's been the biggest dramatic shift”, he added.

There is a lot in it for cybercriminals to hatch plots against enterprises for a big financial gain. “The value that these attackers get from selling data

Unlike an anti-virus, a relic of the past, today, a comprehensive platform for cyber security has a compelling reason to exist. “What we are able to do is take various areas such as devices, on-prem, cloud environments that you could be attacked in and then provide a capability that is seamless on a single platform. Customers can see all their cloud, non cloud, remote, everything in one place, and then actually be able to take a remediation action”, stressed Mr Thakar.

For all the efforts that the cyber security teams put in, it is also important to translate those to the top management in a language that they understand. For instance, according to Mr Thakar, whereas CISOs have found a seat at the board table, it is still a challenge for them to convey the return on investment of various cyber-security measures. Such efforts need to be quantified. “So if we cannot boil it down to something meaningful, then we're just giving updates of hundreds of things we're doing”, added Mr Thakar.

At the end of the day, it will be the speed at which organisations move to apply new patches or upgrade their systems that will determine if they can safeguard themselves from online miscreants. This is especially true of India which has embraced digital transformation like few other countries. Cyber crooks will always lurk on the web to snag vital information. The alacrity with which outfits can stay ahead of the game will differentiate the great companies from the good ones.