Origin unveils dedicated security practice

Michael Russell - CEO, Origin

Origin has launched a dedicated IT security practice targeting mid-market and enterprise businesses in New Zealand, leveraging the expertise of specialist subsidiary Optinet.

The new service taps into the security and networking capabilities of Optinet, which was acquired by the Auckland-based business in 2015.

As a result, Optinet has rebranded to Origin Security to introduce an end-to-end consulting and fully managed security offering.

“Optinet has deep experience in network and security consulting, delivery and support, working with large customers, and Origin’s heritage is in developing managed IT services,” Origin CEO Michael Russell said.

“We saw an opportunity to create a more potent service offering and a single brand to meet the evolving needs of the market to protect IP, people and reputations. Origin Security leverages the very best parts of both businesses to create something that we think is unrivalled in the market.

“With data breach notification legislation coming into force soon, it’s become even more urgent for New Zealand businesses to make sure they’re giving themselves the best possible chance against security threats.”

From a technology perspective, Origin Security will house one of the country’s largest security teams, advising customers through the introduction of a virtual chief information security officer (CISO), designed to strengthen governance, policy and processes.

Delivered through a fixed-cost pricing for managed security based on end-points, core services include the review and testing of current risks, alongside the building out of strategies through planning and road-mapping.

Delving deeper, the new practice will also provide technical, governance and process remediation, backed up by 24/7 threat detection, prevention, response and CISO-as-a-service.

“Attracting and retaining top security analysts is incredibly costly and the tools and systems needed to provide the intelligence and threat detection capabilities are expensive and probably beyond the reach of all but the largest companies,” added Craig Burston, former general manager of Optinet, now general manager group sales at Origin.

“It’s an increasingly specialist area and one where we’ll start to see a trend to outsourcing as companies begin to realise the time and cost to do it well and the risks involved in attempting to manage it without a specialist dedicated security operations centre.

“Data security is not something that you do once, tick the box and move on. It’s about constant vigilance and improvement.”

Looking ahead, Russell said Origin Security will help organisations “navigate the fragmented security landscape” in New Zealand, as organisations seek external guidance and advice in the context of protection.

“Many New Zealand companies have their heads in the sand when it comes to security and don’t understand they probably already have issues,” Russell explained. “They just don’t know about it because they don’t have full visibility into their network.

“New Zealand’s move towards mandatory reporting of data breaches puts added focus and expectation on organisations to lift the standard of their information security to be more in line with our major trading partners.

“The responsibility for managing these risks, which are growing in number and severity, needs to be elevated. Data security is not a technology problem; it’s a business risk that needs to be acknowledged and resourced at the highest level. It really should be right at the forefront of board conversations.”