AKATI Consulting: Proactive Risk Management Approach for Information Security

As suggested by Gartner research, the increasing adoption of mobile, cloud, social media is going to change the dynamics of new security technology and services in near future. Such technologies and services will be needed to address the potential cyber threats that are increasingly explosive due to various factors like the escalating use of mobile data, cloud computing, advent of Internet of Things (IoT) and digitization. The unremitting evolution of the threats and increasingly stringent government regulations are compelling organizations to focus more on cyber security than ever before. Threats to information security are increasing in scale and pace, putting some of the most trusted organizations in danger of losing their reputation. Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly organized and the perpetrators are using highly sophisticated malware to get past even the most expensive and well established security controls. It has in fact turned into a mafia.

In light of this change, every sector is weighing its cyber security requirements. No market is safe from the dark side of the cyber-world. It's no longer a matter of 'if' but of 'when' an organisation will be attacked. Emerging economies like China, India and Southeast Asia are starting to experience many incidents involving cyber espionage by cyber criminal gangs, which calls for the attention of all enterprises big or small, to harden their networks. As a result, Asia-Pacific is rapidly emerging as a potential market for cyber security solution providers. However, in most cases, security consultants find it difficult to understand and respond to factors that may lead to a failure in the confidentiality, integrity or availability of an information system. In other words, consultants often fail to think in terms of Risk Management.

AKATI Consulting, headquartered in Hong Kong, takes on information security challenges with a risk management approach by comprehending the risk and applying risk assessment methodology to efficiently and effectively create a secure computing environment. AKATI Consulting holds a partnership with ITU-IMPACT, which is the first comprehensive public-private global association against cyber threats.

“We guide our clients to first understand the issues they are faced with and then we provide them with possible solutions. Our service delivery is focused on Risk Management and we always think of issues from the Risk Management perspective,” says Krishna Rajagopal, CEO, AKATI Consulting. “As an information security vendor, we strive to excel in every consulting task we undertake for our clients for two reasons: providing superior value for customers and taking proactive steps towards the ultimate goal of a safer cyber space for all.”

The AKATI group now goes beyond the service sector with AKATI Academy which is the first boutique Professional Development Academy within the region that specifically caters for Information Security specialists. The AKATI Academy offers a broad range of specialised Information Security courses, including approved trainings from power houses like ISC2 and EC-Council. With the rapid growth of Cyber threats and security concerns, there is a great demand for highly qualified, trained and competent Information security professionals to effectively defend networks and enable the business operations to remain resilient. Through internationally recognised courses conducted by world-class trainers, AKATI Academy aspires to develop the capacity of IT professionals and executives of all levels to narrow the knowledge gap in the industry.

Assessing, Guiding and Protecting
AKATI Consulting provides a range of services to help enterprises overcome information security challenges and mitigate the risks involved. The company is positioned as a pure-play, highly technical security-focused consulting firm providing services specializing in Information Security and Information Forensics. It operates primarily in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Central Asia and Africa with over 350 clients from various industries. AKATI Consulting has earned its reputation as the Trusted Security Advisor for many top banks, military and organizations in the most hostile environments across the world because of its ability to provide reliable, practical and affordable security solutions for organizations of all scales.

The company has extensive experience and expertise in security consulting, forensics investigation and training.

Understanding CXOs today requires a consulting firm to be able to translate the business risk of an associated technical vulnerability to layman's terms and in relation to business consequences. AKATI Consulting leverages its strength of having highly technical and business savvy professional consultants to meet the expectations of the top managements of enterprises.

AKATI Consulting services are mainly divided into a unique catalogue of offerings under three phases - Assess, Guide and Protect. The company provides a range of security consulting services including ISO 27001 Readiness, Security Architecture Review, Risk Analysis, Security Code Review and Hybrid-PT Penetration Testing Services. It also conducts Computer Forensic investigations for both private organisations and government agencies. AKATI Consulting's focus is on providing boutique style custom tailored information security services as per client's requirements.

“Not all clients are the same. They differ in size, location, business case and principles. We always make sure all these customers feel welcome to receive our high quality boutique security services, and we go the extra mile to customize our services according to the region, type and size of the client,” Krishna added.

Proactive Hybrid Penetration Testing
AKATI Consulting is well known for its unique Hybrid-PT® service. The company fulfills the huge demand from global enterprises for effective penetration testing service. AKATI Consulting encourages its clients to get their networks tested simply because that is one of the main proactive measures to protect their information assets which of course is highly significant in most industries. While many current businesses define penetration testing as the application of automated network vulnerability scanners to an operational site, true penetration testing is much more than that. The main objective of a penetration test is to identify vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by an intruder possibly incurring a large cost to the organisation.

The unique Hybrid-PT® Penetration testing service by AKATI is predominantly manual testing conducted without the use of any automated tools or VA toolsthus enabling most of the issues that exist in the organisations’ ICT Infrastructure and Applications to be unveiled. The Hybrid-PT service is designed to simulate the very real dangers of an intelligent human being actively attacking the systems and trying to bypass an organization’s countermeasures. Consultants at AKATI Consulting are capable of identifying systems, services and configurations and all possible attack vectors, leading to the discovery of every vulnerability of the system.

AKATI Consulting has received high praise for its penetration testing services from organizations around the world. The real reason behind such rave reviews is the fact that it differentiates itself from rest of the information security market-players by offering a unique Hybrid-PT® methodology that is predominantly manual while guaranteeing zero false positives and results.

“I would not hesitate to say that the Hybrid-PT solution by AKATI Consulting is the only reliable method to ensure that all your web applications and systems are hardened and protected against attacks and compromise. Over 350 medium and large organizations have benefitted greatly by entrusting us as their Trusted Security Advisor,” says Krishna.

Becoming a disruptive security technology vendor
AKATI Consulting is currently involved in developing innovative techniques in the areas of Business continuity and disaster recovery, Network Security, Digital forensics and Cybercrime, Secure coding / Malware Reverse Engineering /Exploit development. The company has an independent unit called the AlphaCERT (ACERT) that carries out Research &Development work. It is also looking into creating a new channel for Capacity Building and Recruitment.

The business focus of AKATI Consulting in the future is to provide total enterprise information security solutions with research and development activities strong to its core. With the growing demand and awareness of the need for reliable security to safeguard digital properties and assets against increasing computer crimes, AKATI Consulting aims to build strong research and development capabilities.
One of the products the company is planning to roll out in the near future is an innovative iSOC solution which is expected to revolutionize the Security Operations Centre(SOC) as we know it today. Therefore, AKATI Consulting has the scale to position itself as not just a Security Consulting Service provider but a disruptive technology vendor in the security space.