'SMEs' Cybersecurity Landscape A Low Hanging Fruit For Cyber Attacks'

Cybersecurity is a critical but most ignored subject among SMEs. Many SMEs treat cybersecurity as a cost rather than as a benefit and hence they are not much encouraged to invest in a cyber defence system. In a candid interview with Mr Sanjit Chatterjee, CEO of REVE Antivirus , Faiz Askari of SMEStreet explored new and cutting edge cyber security trends and threats specially considering the SME segment’s IT landscape. Here are the edited excerpts:

Faiz Askari: What are the challenges faced by SMEs in India on the cyber front?

Sanjit Chatterjee: Today SMEs mainly face challenges to implement a foolproof security system to remain prepared from cyber-attacks due to several reasons starting from budget issue to lack of awareness. Most enterprises do not allocate the budget to adopt a cybersecurity solution due to which they remain vulnerable to threats. Also, Many SMEs treat cybersecurity as a cost rather than as a benefit and hence they are not much encouraged to invest in a cyber defence system.

Faiz Askari: Last few years, Cyber Attacks have become far more complex and advanced, what according to you are the key trends driving such change?

Sanjit Chatterjee: Cyber-attacks on reputed companies have proven the fact that nowadays cybercriminals are far more advanced. They adopt techniques, which are sophisticated and can damage their targets to the extreme level. Most cybercriminals monitor their targets close to find out the vulnerable areas and utilizes those to launch attacks.

Faiz Askari: How does end-point security help in mitigating the threats from external and internal sources?

Sanjit Chatterjee: Endpoint Security should be an integral part of every organization’s security system. Here I am talking about digital security, which is very crucial. An endpoint protection software will not only prevent external threats but also keeps data safe and sure from internal rouge employees. A very important feature is Data Loss Prevention that restricts data transfer through both hardware and software applications. Advanced policy management empowers central admin of any company to allow permissions at the micro level.

Endpoint security software is much more advanced than normal antivirus software, which has multi-layer security to minimize any type of cyber-attack.

Faiz Askari: Tell us about the new features rolled out by REVE Antivirus.

Sanjit Chatterjee: We have added many new features in both Retail and Enterprise products. In the retail products, we have introduced Vulnerability Scan, Firewall and Data Backup features. While vulnerability scan enables REVE Antivirus to check the blind spots in a PC that may invite a cyber-attack, Firewall acts as a defence against external threats. Data Backup feature is very important in today’s environment where a Ransomware attack can be at any point in time, which may create disaster both for organizations and individuals.

Enterprise product REVE Endpoint Security is now enhanced with Data Loss Prevention that safeguards leakage of data through any kind of data transfer channels. We have Employee monitoring that helps the organization increase the productivity level of its staff.

Faiz Askari: What is your channel strategy?

Sanjit Chatterjee: Channel partners are very important for our business operations across India and across the globe. We have appointed our partners in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 Cities, who takes care of distributing our entire range of IT Security Suite, comprising retail & enterprise products. We provide required support to our partners with sales collaterals, training and workshops. Apart from this, we also introduce new schemes for our partners to keep them motivated.

Faiz Askari: From which vertical does most of your clients on the enterprise end come from?

Sanjit Chatterjee: There is no particular sector from which clients come most. Cybersecurity is important for every business which uses computers. We have our clients from the Technology, Education, Retail, E-commerce, Data Analytics, and Manufacturing sectors.

Faiz Askari: Tell us about your pricing strategy for the consumer end and enterprise end.

Sanjit Chatterjee: We are cost-effective compared to several other brands when it comes to the Total Cost of Ownership.  We have placed our retail product in 3 price point; Antivirus being the lowest followed by Internet Security and Total; Security.  About pricing for enterprises, I would like to mention that we definitely quote them better price according to volume.

Faiz Askari: Where does REVE stand in the market?

Sanjit Chatterjee: We have started late in the field of cybersecurity but yes within a short span of time, we have been able to enhance our market image. Our strong point lies in our product quality and level of customization that we do, based on clients feedback. We have expanded our distribution not only in Tier 1 cities but also in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities of India. In the year 2018, we have added Chhattisgarh, Western UP, West Bengal, Pune and Raipur.  We have also added new partners in New Delhi, Faridabad, Dehradun, and Kolkata.

Faiz Askari: What are the difficulties faced in the Indian market?

Sanjit Chatterjee: Although the IT security market in India is growing, there are still many challenges which need to be addressed. In the urban areas, people are becoming aware of the importance of using Antivirus software but many users are not clear about their requirements. They often choose the wrong products, which are inferior in quality. Due to limited regulation in the cyber security industry, substandard products also float the market, which often confuses average PC user.

Faiz Askari: How has your market strategy helped in the pan-India expansion?

Sanjit Chatterjee: India is a very important market, which has huge potential, so we have adopted a well-balanced market strategy when it comes to pan-India expansion. We are progressing steadily in India adding new territories under our distribution belt. Once we have attained a certain level of maturity in a specific market, we go for next.

Faiz Askari: What is the future road-map for REVE?

Sanjit Chatterjee: We are now almost in the mid of 2019 and until now it has been quite a satisfactory year in terms of product development and market expansion.  Our roadmap also focuses on these two areas. We will be adding many new features in our entire line of security suite comprising of both retail & enterprise.

Our enterprise product REVE Endpoint Security Solution, which is currently for Windows will be soon compatible with Mac & Linux operating systems.  We will add features like advanced Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Data Backup features in our Endpoint Security Solution.