By Steve Hittle
Chief Information Officer, ECS
By 2021, the estimated cost of cybercrime worldwide will be $6 trillion, with $109 billion in the United States alone. 68 percent of business leaders feel cybersecurity risks are increasing, and it’s true: phishing, spearfishing, malware attacks are rising in both frequency and sophistication. Without the necessary expertise and institutional adaptability, companies are vulnerable to data breaches, ransomware attacks, other consequences of cyberattack.
To solve this problem, we created the Cyber Center of Excellence (Cyber CoE). Part classroom, part laboratory, part knowledge incubator, the Cyber CoE ensures that ECS always remains at the forefront of technology and that our employees, partners, and customers are equipped with the best tools to thwart cyberattacks. Through thought leadership, training, and a continued analysis of ECS’ operational practices, the Cyber CoE delivers industry-leading managed security solutions that help our customers enhance their security postures and protect their digital assets.
Thought Leadership
The Cyber Center of Excellence is organized, built, and run by subject matter experts (SMEs) from each of ECS’ business units, each of whom brings specialized cybersecurity expertise, from threat intelligence to security information and event management (SIEM) and CMMC compliance. Like the Cloud Center of Excellence, this panel of experts is tasked with creating, maintaining, and sharing the company’s institutional knowledge generated by ECS’ over 3,000 employees.
At ECS, knowledge is never siloed; one project team’s discovery may inspire another’s solution. Through case studies, roundtable sessions, webinars, and ongoing engagement, the Cyber CoE ensures that ECS always leverages our collective cyber expertise in the design, deployment, and management of custom-tailored cybersecurity solutions.
Ongoing Analysis
Through this formalized system of knowledge sharing, the experts of the Cyber CoE innovate ECS’ capabilities, build secure solutions, and defend our customers’ data against the latest cyber threats. To achieve operational excellence in each of these areas, the Cyber CoE continually analyzes operations and workflow to align with leading industry methodologies and solutions.
As a result, ECS’ expertise is wide-ranging. It encompasses:
- Current State Threats
- Containment
- Cyber Analytics
- Continuous Monitoring
- Vulnerability Management
- Cloud Security
- Defensive Network and Host Security
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
At ECS, we pride ourselves on a vendor-agnostic approach to cybersecurity solutions. We currently incorporate 63 technology vendors into our suite of cyber offerings. No single provider reigns supreme, as our experts craft innovative solution sets in the Cyber Range and Cyber Lab—environments in which experts can whiteboard, test, and evaluate emerging technologies.
Training
The Cyber Range and Cyber Lab provide a virtual sandbox for ECS team members to test and train on new technologies, as well as a continuous learning environment in which employees can experiment outside of their normal skillsets under the tutelage of industry experts.
ECS offers hands-on-keyboard training and certification support for our employees to pursue new skills and advance their career growth. For cyber professionals, the Cyber CoE provides the opportunity to broaden one’s skill set across multiple systems and technologies.
For enterprise organizations, the potential financial and reputational damage associated with a data breach has never been higher. As business assets and personal data become increasingly digitized, this risk will only continue to grow.
The Cyber CoE empowers ECS’ employees, partners, and customers with the technology, training, and knowledge to defend against every form of cyberattack. As cyberthreat tactics and practices evolve, our experts are poised at the forefront of cybersecurity technology, driving the innovation and knowledge share to build a better, more secure future.
