Iron Spear Information Security Management has your back
There are three certainties in life—death, taxes and cyber crime. No matter what precautions you take, either as a business or private citizen, it is not a matter of if—but when—you’ll be victimized.
“You will be breached,” says Drew Carmichael, Winnipeg-based vice-president of cyber security firm Iron Spear Information Security Inc. So, with the myth that you can somehow avoid the omnipresent hackers out of the way, it’s important to realize that your response is critical. If you respond in a professional way and are forthright, honest and respectful to your clients and other stakeholders, you’ll make it through.
“If you deny, deflect or blame others, you won’t recover,” Carmichael says. “We advise our clients that they can’t stop every attack but they can be prepared to respond and recover efficiently when a breach occurs.”
The heart of cyber security is data protection but there’s much more to it than that. If a hacker compromises your network, repairs can be made in short order. Damage control on your reputation with your clients, however, can be much more difficult and time consuming.
“Most companies are entrusted with some sort of data by their customers. When you fail to adequately protect that data, that trust is eroded and that’s where the real damage occurs. Some organizations never recover from the loss of trust,” he says.
For example, 60 per cent of small businesses that suffer a data breach or a ransomware attack are forced into bankruptcy within six months, often because their reputation has been damaged beyond repair, he says.
While data breaches that hit corporate giants generate all the headlines, every small and medium-sized business is in the same crosshairs. Unfortunately, they rarely have the skillset to deal with it. “Avoiding a cyber attack is similar to being chased by a bear—you don’t need to outrun the bear, you only need to outrun your competition. You need to ensure your cyber defenses are strong enough to delay, deter or detect the attacker, so they move on to the next target,” Carmichael says.
Iron Spear was founded in Vancouver by Jason Grimbeek in 2012. The cyber security veteran got his start in Cape Town, South Africa with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000. A mechanical engineer by training, Grimbeek spent six years developing his cyber skills, before being asked to relocate to British Columbia to expand the firm’s cyber practice in Canada. But after a few years, he became frustrated with the consulting model.
“It was sales driven instead of focused on solving problems for customers. We were coming back to the same customers each year, repeating the same story and generating the same reports that weren’t addressing their issues,” he says.
As Iron Spear grew, he brought on additional staff to keep up with demand and six years later, the company opened an office in Calgary. A year after that, he hung up a shingle in Regina. Then in March 2021, Carmichael left Canada Life after a 25-year career in IT and cyber security and joined Grimbeek to open Iron Spear’s Winnipeg office.
But their growth hasn’t been limited to Western Canada. They’ve also attracted clients in other provinces as well as south of the border in states such as Texas, California and New York.
It’s no surprise as cyber crime has become big business. In fact, Grimbeek says it’s now bigger than drugs and all other illicit trades combined, hitting USD$8 trillion last year.
“Organized crime has invested heavily in cyber. It’s a system that pays very well and it’s anonymous. They don’t need runners on the ground. They can breach your systems and hold your data ransom and their payment of choice is untraceable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.” he says.
It’s no secret that skilled practitioners in information technology are highly sought after but cyber security is a niche skill within IT that’s in even higher demand. To find the best and brightest, Iron Spear has partnered with local post-secondary institutions across Canada, including Red River College Polytechnic in Manitoba, to provide bursaries for groups that have been historically underrepresented in the cyber industry, such as women and Indigenous groups.
Another trait that sets Iron Spear apart from its competitors is its lack of sales staff. “Our most effective marketing tool is the quality of the work we deliver,” Grimbeek says. “If we provide good quality advice and solve problems for our customers, they’ll come back.”
Iron Spear Information Security
Suite #101 13B-360 Main St., Winnipeg
1.800.561.4007
ironspear.ca
