DAWGEN Global, which offers cybersecurity services throughout the Caribbean through member firm Dawgen USA Inc, is introducing a new “plug and play” product powered by Ostra which is described as a data protection source for small and mid-market businesses.

According to the executive chairman of Dawgen Global, Dr Dawkins Brown, the firm’s entry into cybersecurity services is an expansion of its risk advisory practice.

The new product is described as a next-generation MSSP, which combines proprietary technology backed by IT talent to deliver “Fortune 100-level” protection for businesses of all sizes.

MSSPs provide cybersecurity monitoring and management, which may include virus and spam blocking, intrusion detection, firewalls and virtual private network (VPN) management. MSSPs also handle matters such as system changes, modifications and upgrades. The investment cost in the product was not shared.

Dawgen Global is an integrated, multidisciplinary firm providing services including: audit, advisory, tax, legal and compliance, technology, and risk. The firm is organised in business units to better serve clients under Dawgen Auditors, Dawgen Advisors, Dawgen Finance, Dawgen Media, Dawgen Tech, Dawgen HR Solutions, Cybersecurity and Dawgen Legal and Compliance.

The company’s cybersecurity services, Dawkins outlines, focus on the entire spectrum of increasing and emerging risks — including disruption due to innovation, cyber threats, geopolitical instability, and other trends — and helping clients create more value for their organisations through intelligent risk-management strategies.

The Caribbean-wide network utilises 30 IT professionals across the region.

“Ostra is excited to work with Dawgen Global as a trusted partner,” said Mike Barlow, director of Strategic Partnerships at Ostra, in a company release. The IT company operates from St Louis, Missouri, in the United States.

With the addition of Ostra’s software, the company head pointed out, Dawgen will provide affordable data security solutions to businesses who are experiencing significant change in their virtual workforces, expanding their IT infrastructure, and navigating an ever-increasing number of data security regulations.

He outlined, “The need to maintain appropriate levels of cybersecurity and data privacy is critical to society at large, and its importance is growing daily. Rapid advancements in technology have resulted in a large-scale integration of computing, communication, and information technologies into virtually every aspect of our society.”

He said the technologies are at the heart of emerging advancements in transportation, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, utilities, recreation, financial, social media, and many other domains.”

Dawkins said, “Dawgen is focused on adding value to our clients— and we see it as part of our duty to integrate relevant products and services that help them deal with the realities of the current threat landscape, which includes significant cybersecurity risks to organizations of every size.”

“Responding to growing cybersecurity risks. Cybersecurity is essential for the community of small businesses and medium-sized companies to address.”

According to Small Business Trends and the Verizon Business 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (2020 DBIR), nearly one-third of data breaches in 2020 involved small businesses.

The company, with its new Ostra solution, proposes to provide data security solutions to businesses who are experiencing change in their virtual workforces, expanding their IT infrastructure, and navigating an ever-increasing number of data security regulations.

Advancements in technology have resulted in a large-scale integration of computing, communication, and information technologies. The industry impact is wide and varied.

Dawkins noted, “These technologies are at the heart of emerging advancements in transportation, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, utilities, recreation, financial, social media, and many other domains.”

He noted that there are also opportunities for expansion in the changes underway. He outlined, “The incorporation of cyber technologies into a wide array of industries is tearing down barriers as information is gathered and shared in order to facilitate previously unimaginable improvements in capabilities, efficiency, and cost.”

At the same time, risks are reduced. Dawkins cited episodes of ransomware attack or data breach, noting that in such cases, the damage is rarely confined to one company, region, or industry.

Further, an attack designed to impact one network may inadvertently or deliberately infect, impair or disable any other systems that are associated with it, he said.

The head of Dawgen Global stated, “Small companies are often targeted because hackers want access to their clients’ customer lists, proprietary technology, credit card records, or employees’ personal information — all of which can open up additional avenues for financial exploitation. Cyberattacks also blur the lines between state-versus-state “warfare” activities, state-sponsored intelligence activities, and criminal activities.”