A Haven of Hope

With the festive season upon us, our thoughts are turning to the annual Intersys Christmas charity appeal.

Haven House Children’s Hospice is a truly inspiring organisation that provides nursing care and emotional support to families with seriously ill babies and children. 

The charity is there for parents and children during the hardest times of their lives. Their round the clock assistance includes day care, home visits and bereavement support. Staff are also expert at providing activities that can improve children’s quality of life such as sensory play, music therapy and physiotherapy. 

Haven House holds a special place in our hearts at Intersys and this is the third Christmas we have supported them (previous Christmas appeals were in 2009 and 2021). Not only are we passionate about their cause, we are also proud to help a Woodford Green charity that is making a difference in the local community. 

We urge our clients and friends to give generously to Haven House so that they can continue their wonderful work. 

Donate today

Here’s Why Charities Loved Our Cyber Security Webinar

We recently invited a diverse group of charities to join a webinar on cyber security resilience aimed at the non-profit sector.

Non profits occupy a special place on the Intersys client list and over the years we have supported a wide range of voluntary organisations with their IT and cyber security.

We co-hosted the event  in association with our partners at Microsoft Tech for Social Impact, who provide significant discounts and grants on Microsoft software products to charitable organisations around the world.

Intersys’ own  Mark Kirby, Executive Director and IT Strategy Specialist, and Naveed Iqbal, Microsoft Tech for Social Impact’s UK Ambassador, jointly hosted the session.

Charities are Soft Targets

As cyber attacks continue to proliferate, the sad truth is that charities have become a prime target for hackers. 

Cyber criminals are focusing on them because they store a vast range of sensitive data including PII (personally identifiable information) and financial details, to name a few. 

The Kokoro cyber attack that exposed the donor data of over 40 UK charities, including the RSPCA recently, is a case in point.

An NCSC report shows that charities are the third most targeted vertical behind governments and financial institutions. 

They are often reluctant to spend funds on cyber security because they prioritise frontline work and feel the pressure to maximise the value of donations. 

However, the reputational damage of a cyber attack can be particularly damaging for organisations that rely on their donors’ trust and goodwill. 

The Dangers of Outdated Microsoft Software

All too often we have seen charities using end-of-life Microsoft software such as Office 365 instead of the newer Microsoft 365. The dangers of continuing to use outdated software are many and can have serious repercussions for IT systems. 

It’s simple  — when you run outdated software, you say goodbye to security updates, bug fixes, patches and monitoring.

Advice for Charities to Stay Cyber Secure

Mark Kirby, who began his IT career managing tech for a major UK charity, shared his top tips for non-profits to stay secure. 

He introduced attendees to Intersys’ hierarchy of cyber security needs —  a model for cyber security based on the internationally recognised NIST framework but simplified and streamlined for non-profits on a budget. He said it was a great way to get a baseline performance of a charity’s cyber security before starting to improve it.

“I understand what it means to deliver IT on a charity’s budget. Every pound you spend is a donation, so you have to maximise value from all your investments,” Mark said. 

Mark reassured attendees that while it wasn’t realistically possible to achieve every priority in the hierarchy, getting to the compliance level was a good aim. 

The hierarchy covered everything from the very basic requirements such as identity protection and email filtering all the way to more advanced controls such as continuous vulnerability scanning and a Red Team.

Fantastic Discounts on Microsoft Products

Microsoft Tech for Social Impact’s UK Ambassador Naveed Iqbal shared the various ways in which Microsoft has been helping non profits globally. 

This includes providing 3.2 billion in grants and discounted software services to charities last year alone and equipping 330,000 non-profits with secure and modern cloud services.

He shed further light on some headline offers available to non-profits such as grants and discounts on Microsoft 365, Power BI Desktop, Power Apps, Surface devices, Power BI Pro and Dynamics Sales Enterprise. 

An Informative Q&A

The webinar ended with a Q&A session packed with more tips and advice. 

Charity staff quizzed us about the latest tools and functionality available in Microsoft 365, suggestions on making hardware more secure and the importance of using complex passwords.

In a post-event feedback survey, 100% of attendees said that they found the webinar valuable.

We’d like to thank all the charities and other organisations who attended. A special thank you goes to Microsoft Tech for Social Impact for having faith in us as a trusted partner and sharing the fantastic offers available for non-profits.

We’re hoping to roll out these webinars more regularly, so watch this space in the New Year and do check out the full video on our YouTube channel.

Intersys Successfully Renews IS0 270001 Certification

Intersys’ laser focus on all things security was once more recognised recently at our ISO 27001 three-year recertification audit.

ISO 27001 Information Security Management is an internationally recognised standard for best practice for securely managing data and information assets. 

Having this standard shows that an organisation has taken concrete steps to strengthen its data security and is a huge trust signal for industries looking for a reliable IT and cyber security provider.

The auditor was completely satisfied with our Information Management System’s comprehensive nature and recommended us for recertification without finding any non-compliance.

As cyber and data security experts, it’s vital for us to demonstrate that we follow best practices when it comes to our own systems and processes. It’s why we have committed to the rigorous IS0 27001 information security standard for the past six years.

Catherine Geyman, Intersys’ Internal ISO 27001 Auditor and Director of Enterprise Risk Management said:

“Our successful recertification emphasises Intersys’ continued commitment to securely managing data and information systems to an internationally recognised standard. It’s also one of the reasons why highly regulated industries from financial and legal institutions to life sciences organisations choose to partner with us.”

Our extensive vigilance and ongoing security programme is the backbone of our operations and we are pleased to report our continued accreditation with this vital standard.

3 Ways We’re Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

For an SME, our reach is pretty wide. From providing IT support across Essex to serving clients with cyber security and MSP services right across the UK, we have an impact – and a responsibility.

We know how important it is for you to work with a provider that is environmentally responsible. That’s why we’re delivering this quick update about some concrete steps we’re taking to make a small but significant impact. 

We are always looking to find ways of reducing our environmental impact whether its embracing work from home policies or using energy efficient practices to lower our power consumption. 

In 2023, we are really excited to support carbon offsetting schemes that are making a global impact. 

Through a collaboration with our partners Co2e tech, we have pledged to support three transformative carbon offsetting schemes that are making a real difference around the world. They are:

We hope you agree that our support of these schemes underscores our commitment to an environmental policy based on solid action — not platitudes. For more details read our environmental policy.

Intersys Christmas Charity Appeal 2022 – Join Us in Donating to Cornwall Air Ambulance

At this time of year, many of us looking to the skies will think of a certain bearded figure in his sleigh. At Intersys, we’re also thinking of Cornwall Air Ambulance, our Christmas Charity for 2022.

This life-saving service in the far South West helps thousands of sick and injured residents and visitors in the county every year. Many parts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are either remote and inaccessible by road, or access is too slow in an emergency, which means the air ambulance is often the only way for patients to get the time-critical medical care they need.

It takes just 12 minutes from an initial 999 call for the air ambulance to reach people in trouble in mainland Cornwall and less than half an hour for the Isles of Scilly.

As part of its Christmas campaign this year, the charity has promised to double every donation made towards the first £75,000 thanks to its generous donors and patrons.

We’ll be donating and we’d be delighted if you would join us in helping to fund this essential service. Donate now.

Matthew Geyman, Managing Director, Intersys Ltd says, 

“I have called Cornwall my home for the best part of two decades and I know that the sight of an air ambulance helicopter in the skies can mean the difference between life and death for so many people. I surf and cycle with Head Paramedic and Air Operations Officer, Steve Garvey, a wonderful, hard-working guy, dedicated to helping people. Steve and his team have saved countless lives – people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life. It’s gratifying to know that we can all help to keep such an essential service running.”

High Altitude, High Tech

The air ambulance crew is equipped with the latest night vision technology for search and rescue in the dark

The crew at the air ambulance includes highly experienced doctors, critical care paramedics and pilots. They work out of a newly acquired state-of-the-art AW 169 helicopter with an expert Synthetic Vision System (which can help them fly in the dark), powerful searchlights, and advanced mapping systems which means they can be on call even in the dark, 365 days a year.

Life-Saving Response by Road

The air ambulance also has two rapid-response vehicles that can get to patients by road during no-fly conditions due to bad weather. The vehicles have the same special equipment found in a hospital A&E. Paramedics can thus bring the hospital to the patient when time is of the essence.

We urge our friends and partners to also give generously to this essential service.

For more information, see our Christmas Charity Appeal page.

To DONATE NOW, visit the Cornwall Air Ambulance website.

Liiba Webinar Panel: Operational Resilience is More Than Just Compliance

Insurance brokers and carriers must treat operational resilience as an integral part of business strategy rather than simply a compliance issue. That was the clear message from the panel at our recently concluded webinar on operational risk and resilience in association with the London & International Insurance Brokers Association.

The discussion explored the issues brokers, carriers, and companies face — with threats ranging from significant claims losses, to ransomware and outdated IT. Intersys Director, Enterprise Risk Management Catherine Geyman and Managing Director Matthew Geyman led the discussion and James Livett, Associate Director of Liiba, hosted the session. This was the second webinar in our ongoing series which aims to explain the five basic principles of cyber security. 

Intersys cyber security principles in a shield graphic
The five basic principles of a good cyber security framework

What is Operational Resilience?

Catherine Geyman said that while the concept has a broad definition in the market, operational resilience ultimately comes down to allowing businesses to continue to function when unexpected events arise.

“(Operational resilience) means very different things to different people. It’s a very broad church, but the bottom line is it’s not just about compliance. It’s about being able to keep your business running regardless of what the world throws at you,” Geyman said.

“A beautifully complicated and operationally resilient broker or insurer is one that can encounter, stand, mitigate, recover and learn from the impact of a broad range of events that have the potential to disrupt the normal course of business.”

She added that ensuring staff are well-equipped to deal with adverse scenarios was one of the most important factors which could determine whether an event can have a serious and detrimental impact.

“Quite simply, it’s about protecting your business – the longevity, the long-term profitability and health of your business. But it’s also about protecting your staff,” she said.

“If your team isn’t trained and prepared to deal with the worst scenarios, then this can make very impactful scenarios even more stressful when they happen. So act as if something’s going to happen. Plan for something to happen. That’s the advice given by the Financial Conduct Authority.”

IT Failures & Cyber Attacks are a Top Concern

The top ten business interruption scenarios for insurers according to ORIC International

The possibility of cyberattacks and the threats these pose to operational continuity also continue to rank high among the concerns highlighted by brokers and insurers, Intersys Managing Director Matthew Geyman said.

While a survey found that larger firms feel they are more prepared for incidents such as ransomware attacks, medium-sized and small firms ranked system failures and cyberattacks as among their top concerns.

Geyman highlighted that a significant proportion of the market uses out-of-date IT systems which could be potentially exploited, while the insurance sector as a whole remains a top target for ransomware.

“GCHQ’s 2021 survey says 8% of the insurance sector uses out of date computers that are vulnerable,” he said.

“A Black Kite survey said 18% of the top 99 insurance carriers have a high rate of vulnerability to ransomware.”

The move to remote working during the pandemic also increased the risks that companies face, with management having poor visibility over exactly who accesses what systems and when.

“Carriers and brokers were top targets during the pandemic. A lot of companies opened up their systems to make them more accessible from home, which is great for agile working, but in a lot of cases that decreases the visibility of the IT estate on who’s accessing what,” he said.

“So that’s another good reason to do data audits, data mapping to understand what sensitive information is where.”

Preparation is Key

The three pillars of operational resilience

Overall, the key message for companies remains about ‘planning and preparation’ Catherine Geyman said, with a well-defined structure throughout the organisation to support operational resilience.

“It’s all about planning and preparation. At the top of the tree, we have an overarching framework of operational resilience, and at the next stage down business continuity management is about management of the crisis, of how the management team manages the crisis,” she said.

“And then beneath that we’ve got a DR team that are the technical response team that are going to sort the problem out.”

“All those elements need to be in place. For a sound operational resilience program.”

The webinar was a great opportunity for us to share our knowledge with the insurance sector and we were thrilled to have such good participation from Liiba members. We would also like to thank our partners Oric International for providing some brand new data around real risk events form their membership which added some very relevant insights for our audience. 

We look forward to hosting our next session in our series due next year. 

If your organisation needs help with its operational resilience, get in touch with us. 

Contact us

October Webinar: Identifying Cyber Risks

To mark Cyber Security Month in October, we recently kicked off a series of webinars to help businesses and organisations get to grip with the five basic principles of cyber security. 

This fundamental framework was devised by NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce and is universally acknowledged as being the blue print for a sound cyber security strategy. It also forms the basis of Intersys’ cyber security approach. 

We had a fantastic response for the first event — Identifying Cyber Risk. The session was led by Intersys’ Executive Director Mark Kirby and Joh Clarke, CTO of Cyban Technologies. 

Attendees were given a top-level overview of how to use the NIST framework on Identifying Cyber Risk and apply it to their own organisations. Key questions covered were:

What are you protecting? 

What are your risks? 

The session then looked at important areas that were relevant to the Identify theme from asset management and business environment to risk assessment and governance to name a few. 

It also underlined the importance of establishing a security baseline to benchmark existing security practices within an organisation. 

For the second half of the webinar, Cyban’s CTO John Clarke, did a deep dive into his AI-powered tool that has been helping businesses see their entire cyber risk profile on an easy-to-read dashboard.

He demonstrated how simple Cyban makes it to understand how much a data breach would cost an organisation as well as put a value on cyber health with a cyber score . This is extremely beneficial for non-technical executives who can then use this information to formulate strategies for staying compliant. 

The webinar closed with a Q&A where attendees were able to get more insights into devising robust cyber security strategies. 

We were extremely grateful to have the opportunity to share our knowledge this way and look forward to seeing more participants for the rest of the series. 

Watch the full webinar video 

Cyber Security Audit STILL on the To-Do List? Here’s How to Get it Done Now

We get it. While cyber security is definitely on your radar, you’re busy with strategic-level decision-making for your organisation. Meanwhile, you don’t realise that your in-house team simply doesn’t have the skills and resource needed for the job…

‘Slip’, ‘through’ and ‘gaps’ are words that come to mind here. And this scenario is not uncommon, because auditing corporate networks for cyber risk exposure is time intensive, expensive and requires a unique skill set, one that most IT departments don’t have.

Intersys can take this burden off your organisation and deliver a detailed CyberSec audit which also uses powerful artificial intelligence monitoring tools.

A Comprehensive Review of Your Security Infrastructure

An Intersys cyber security audit will investigate every element of your organisation’s infrastructure, highlight any security gaps, and suggest ways to harden your cyber architecture.

In terms of output, you get a detailed and actionable cyber security threat matrix and report that highlights risks within your systems. We then go one step further by assigning monetary value to each specific risk, so that decision-makers can see what the potential cost of each vulnerability could be for the business. Our report also suggests immediate steps for remediation, to ensure your security matches the recommended industry benchmark.

With our Information Security audit you’ll be able to:

We’ll systematically review all your endpoints, networks, cloud servers and applications, and highlight specific InfoSec gaps that need plugging.

You will also be alerted to any urgent actions required to rectify critical issues. At the end of our investigation, we deliver an actionable threat matrix report with details of each risk in a register with suggested remediation. This ‘living document’ can help you track and mitigate risk and can be updated regularly.

We make it easy to understand the potential cost of a data breach to your organisation by showing you the value at risk associated with each vulnerability. 

We calculate the cost of a breach as a live measure of the potential cost to your business. This includes reputational as well as business interruption risks. Our assessment will look at the likelihood and impact of each risk, giving stakeholders a clear priority list to work with.

You’ll be able to see the overall health of your organisation’s cyber security through a simple cyber score from 0 to 100%. This is a particularly valuable insight for non-technical decision-makers. Think of it like a credit score, but for your cyber security.

The score is calculated by condensing data from all critical aspects of your IT infrastructure such as ransomware risks, GDPR data/PII, technical vulnerabilities, outdated software and more. This information can be invaluable when you need to focus on the most important areas at risk as part of your information security review at governance and board levels.

Intersys’ highly skilled security consultants will present these key findings to the leadership team along with recommendations for next steps to complete the process of security hardening. 

Information security is a core pillar of our service and as ISO 27001-certified security specialists, we will work with your team to ensure your systems and procedures are closely aligned with the benchmark for your industry.

All Your Cyber Threats in One Dashboard: AI-Powered Cyber Threat Monitoring

We believe that our comprehensive analysis of your cyber threats is what sets us apart from other cyber security providers in the market today.

Cyber security vulnerabilities are scattered across devices and networks and, often, finding all the information in one place can be a challenge. Not only can Intersys present this data centrally, but we also provide you with business-level insights such as a cyber score and value-at-risk, which can make auditing so much easier. You will get a never-before-seen- view of your cyber exposure spanning all systems and endpoints.

We do all this with the help of our state-of-the art monitoring tool Cyban, which is powered by AI and also quantifies the Value at Risk.

Says Intersys’ Professional Services Director Mark Kirby, “Cyban has given us visibility over our users’ devices (some of which we might never see in the office, thanks to WFH and international office setups). Cyban combines all risk analysis into an easy-to-read dashboard which helps us zero in on our clients’ security vulnerabilities and protect their sensitive data.”

Benefits of Our Cyber Security Audit

Our security audits routinely help our clients identify:

Broad Areas Covered by Our Cyber Security Audit

Call us now to discuss how we can help your organisation improve its cyber security.

We’re Dedicated to Providing You with Excellent Customer Service

Here at Intersys, we’re not only at the forefront of IT management and cybersecurity innovation — we’re also dedicated to you, our customers! So here’s a little post about how our Essex-based IT company is serving the whole of the UK with a level of dedication that is refreshingly different from much you’re going to find in the industry.

Starting in 1996 (the dawn of the internet, the era of tech revolution), Matthew Geyman (CEO) formed Intersys built upon 3 pillar principles: innovation, integrity, and accountability. These values manifest in our day-to-day running and how we interact with you. We’ve all had run-ins with customer service phone operators that have essentially ruined our day and added to the stress of trying to fix a simple glitch- we hate it too. 

Some of the Intersys team at head office for their one-day training course in customer service.

The Friendly IT Company

Picture the scene: An imminent deadline looming over you, the impending hand-in of a massive project- the finish line is within reach but horror strikes! Your PC has shut down and won’t restart? Everything is frozen? You can’t access your cloud storage? What now? 

In these moments of frustration, we not only vow to resolve the issue at hand but also conduct ourselves in a way that goes above and beyond in terms of customer service. You’re stressed out, we don’t need to add to that! We regularly undergo customer service training so that our outsourced IT services team handle your tech issues with the utmost efficiency and customer care. 

Our staff participating in workshops in person and via Zoom. 

Professional Service Skills Training for Technical Support 

Our most recent staff training day, saw the team come together in the office (some chiming in via Teams) for a day of customer service training, to further ensure you receive the best care possible.

Our studious team hard at work during the training session!

Staff completed a one-day course for Exceptional Service Skills for Technical Support with leading corporate training providers Hamilton Mercer and passed with flying colours.

It was a fantastic opportunity to refresh our knowledge of the principles of customer service using a standardised, industry-approved methodology and approach. We also explored areas such as dissecting the power of tone, voice, and the intricacy of language and how they align with our company values to ensure exceptional customer care. The team found that learning from professional trainers as well as their peers further enhanced and expanded their technical support and customer service skillset.

The team thrilled with their certificates after a day of training. 

We aim to provide a hassle-free experience with every customer interaction: efficient, seamless, and friendly resolution of issues from start to finish.

Our training day was hosted in our head office, bringing all our staff together after the infamous era of remote working through Covid; solidifying the team and strengthening bonds within our organisation and elevating the collaborative spirit between staff. Whilst you’re patiently waiting for your tech troubles to be fixed, our team are working behind the scenes to do everything they can to collectively to make this happen for you.

Mark Kirby (Exec Director) on call with Richard Geyman (Technical Director). Next to Mark is Jake Ives, Senior Consultant. 
The team at head office for their training day. 

Warm regards from the Intersys team, we look forward to working with you!