North East IT expertise has been pivotal in testing the online security of a firm that provides nationwide transcription services for the public and private healthcare, insurance and legal sector.
Calibre Secured Networks Ltd has been commissioned to undertake detailed penetration testing work for St. Helens-based Accuro, which manages a national network of more than 400 professional transcribers.
Using Accuro’s secure hub, customers ranging from NHS and private hospital operators to national legal and insurance firms, can safely submit dictation for transcribing and once it has been transcribed, the document is then uploaded back to the hub where it can be securely accessed.
The undisclosed contract saw Calibre’s Marcus Watson, a cyber security and qualified ethical hacker, undertake comprehensive risk and compliance testing of Accuro’s website and provide a report detailing recommendations for improvements.
Following implementation of these recommendations, Calibre completed a final phase of testing before certifying the system, supplementing Accuro’s ISO27001 accreditation.
This is an information security standard and it is important that Accuro’s systems are accredited to confirm that its technology is as safe and secure from attacks as possible.
Gordon Healiss, commercial director for Accuro, said testing was critical to ensuring customers have confidence in the company’s attitude to data security and Calibre’s work had contributed significantly to achieving this.
“It’s important that our customers have the utmost confidence that our website is completely safe and as secure as possible, including the dangers and risks of hacking and cyber-attacks.
“Marcus and his team have provided an extremely good service. They clearly showed that they possessed the highest technical capabilities and professional expertise to test the integrity and security of our system to the utmost limits.”
Hundreds of thousands of businesses face risks from deliberate attacks or ‘gaps’ in their systems, with attacks on computers and IT communications systems estimated to cost the UK economy billions of pounds a year in losses and damage to reputation.
Organised cyber-crime is an industry in itself, said Marcus Watson, with attackers showing staggering sophistication.
“This is driving the need for more investment in resources, security systems and processes, similar to those at Accuro,” he added.
“Protecting customer data is an integral part of the Accuro business and we are delighted to have put their website to the test. More and more companies need to be investing in similar penetration testing to ensure they are working in a compliant and secure environment.
“This will help to protect reputations, improve productivity, save money and provide peace of mind.”
Calibre aims to use the latest know-how, advanced technology and software systems from the likes of Cisco to design and develop integrated and bespoke security solutions, protecting systems that operate and control email accounts, IT and internet equipment, Voice over IP and other services from cyber-attacks.
As well as being a certified ethical hacker and offensive security professional, Marcus Watson has over 20 years’ professional software development expertise, enabling Calibre to assist its customer development teams in the remediation of security issues.