Secora Consulting was set up to assist businesses with their cyber security requirements. Founded by Phil Graham and Phillip Close, the business works with clients throughout Ireland and the UK from its head office in Stranorlar.

As remote working becomes the new normal, more businesses are turning to Secora Consulting to minimise cyber security risks. The Trading Online Voucher Scheme from the Local Enterprise Office has also seen record numbers of businesses developing e-commerce websites in Donegal, and Secora Consulting has been working with local companies to ensure their new websites are secure.

“Global cybercrime is estimated to cost around €350 billion each year” says Phil, “It results in up to 150,000 job losses in Europe alone – roughly 0.6% of the total unemployed population – and Ireland is not immune. Cyber incidents and attacks are increasing exponentially, and research from IBM this year found the average cost of a breach is $3.86 million.”

“We help our clients identify issues that they may not know they have, and work to resolve and remediate all misconfigurations to tighten their security controls. By preparing for the worst and increasing your security posture you can become less susceptible to attack. Our goal is to improve the cyber security operations of our clients, providing peace of mind in an ever-evolving threat landscape”.

“We have been in the fortunate position to have been founded as a remote company” Phil added. “With our head office in Stranorlar, the majority of our team are in Donegal, but we also have employees located throughout Ireland. As such, we have large scale knowledge of how to securely implement multiple cloud-based applications and solutions for clients and have been offering this service throughout lockdown to help organisations move online and work remotely seamlessly.”

Secora Consulting also used the time during lockdown to undergo a complete rebrand and repackage of its service offerings. The business also worked closely with the E-commerce Association of Ireland (eCAI) throughout the pandemic: “As part of our services, we undertook a penetration test of the eCAI website” says Phil, “and we will be releasing a case study shortly on their positive experience and the benefits of testing to increase awareness of the importance of ensuring websites are secure.”

“Securing your website not only reduces your exposure to cyberattacks, it also helps you recover quicker if you are targeted” says Phil. “Raising security awareness with your employees can greatly improve your resilience to cyber-attacks. Often people are targeted via phishing attacks, so ensuring your employees do not open malicious emails or click on attachments or links is critical to tightening your security controls. Hackers can also use your website to spread malware, so by securing your website, you can reduce its exploitability to cyberattacks therefore reducing the exposure of your clients. Finally, poor security controls can negatively affect your revenue; if your website is taken offline due to a cyberattack this could reduce your ability to generate revenue, so our job is to work with clients to minimise the risk of that happening”.

Along with a Priming Grant, Secora Consulting availed of a Technical Assistance for Micro Exporter’s Grant (TAME) from Local Enterprise Office Donegal to help expand the business.