Cybersecurity

The protection of your organization’s data has never been more important, and the threats against it more present. Cyber and privacy breaches impact the reliability and availability of your systems and data, which can directly impact your bottom line, your reputation, and your brand.

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving. Hackers are well-funded, and they utilize advanced and emerging technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and advanced deepfakes to compromise data and financial security at organizations of all sizes and in all industries. In addition to targeting your technology, these bad actors go after one of the largest vulnerabilities in every organization – people.

Cherry Bekaert’s Information Assurance & Cybersecurity practice offers a wide range of cybersecurity services to help protect information systems and data from cyber threats. We can help identify relevant cyber and privacy risks and develop realistic solutions and plans to help minimize the likelihood and impact of your systems and data being impacted.

Our information professionals will work with you to right-size a solution of people, processes and technology based on your business requirements, industry, key stakeholders, compliance requirements and budget. Our flexible and scalable solutions allow us to fill the security gaps in your business through fully integrated technologies.

Why Choose Cherry Bekaert Cybersecurity Services?

• Decades of experience in rapidly responding to complex threats across a wide range of industries, systems and networks.
• Adept at identifying, deterring and mitigating advanced and persistent threats.
• Technology-enabled capabilities illuminate risk, track IP loss and assess the cost of remediation.

Contact Our Cybersecurity Services Team

Obtaining a Service Organization Controls (SOC) Report – or Other Attest Standards

As an independent CPA firm, we provide detailed, thorough, and efficient SOC attestations. These attest services may be used to provide assurance to applicable stakeholders that various controls can be relied upon for financial reporting (SOC 1) or in compliance with operational criteria (SOC 2, SOC 2 Plus, SOC 3, SOC for Cyber, SOC for Supply Chain) as specified by the AICPA Trust Service Criteria. Assurance may also be delivered in the form of other non-traditional attest services.

Assessing your Cyber Posture and Risk

Organizations need to know the ins and outs of their critical data – what types they have, where it is stored, where it travels, who can access it, and who can change it. To help you understand your organization’s security posture, a Cherry Bekaert Cyber Risk Assessment will identify, assess, and prioritize threats to your IT systems, applications, and operations. These may include security/privacy threats, fraud, and abuse exposures, and inefficient or ineffective operational vulnerabilities.

Penetration Testing your Networks and Systems

Cyber threats exist inside and outside an organization, and the risks that these threats pose cannot be fully quantified without detailed technical testing. A penetration test (also known as ethical hacking) is used to determine the feasibility of an attack as well as the impact should one of these attacks be successful. Our professionals perform tests to mimic how a real-world attacker exploits the security weaknesses across your IT landscape. Beyond just identifying vulnerabilities, we apply human expertise to exploring the effects of real-world attacks that link individual vulnerabilities in the context of your overall environment.

Monitoring for Cyber Threats

The time, expertise and technology required to build and manage a Security Operations Center is daunting. Stakeholders, regulators, and customers are demanding an enterprise-class cybersecurity organization, but the resources to invest in expensive infrastructure and labor are out of reach for many teams. We provide you regular security checks and tests of your IT environment, as well as the incident alerting and remediation you need to keep hackers at bay.

Fortifying System Resiliency and Continuity

Organizations are increasingly dependent on the operations of their sophisticated IT infrastructure, and everyday business processes are reliant on databases, customer information systems, production control servers, and transaction processing software to deliver goods and services to customers. The rise of ransomware attacks poses a significant threat to business operations, potentially leading to data loss, financial loss, and reputational damage. To mitigate the risk of ransomware attacks, organizations need robust detection and prevention measures – including advanced intrusion detection systems, email filtering systems, redundant systems, network segmentation, failover mechanisms, and regular backups of critical systems and data.

Establishing Governance over your Cyber Program

Organizations find it difficult to hire a qualified and experienced Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to oversee their information security program and related IT risk and compliance programs. Maintenance and enforcement of security policies and procedures are foundational elements of a cyber program, and leadership must also focus on assessing, prioritizing, managing, and monitoring their cyber risks, defining their risk tolerances, and complying with laws and regulations. We offer a Virtual CISO as a single point of contact to deliver the experienced and certified skills and knowledge, without a long-term investment needed to hire a full-time information security officer.

Reducing your Internal Audit Burden

Technology teams are burdened with numerous cyber requirements from regulators, customers, and internal stakeholders, and Internal Audit teams are stretched and challenged to conduct audits against a variety of complex and technical prescribed criteria. In the financial service sector alone, regulations such as FFIEC and NYDFS can seem daunting. And the challenges expand to every regulated industry. Cherry Bekaert can provide the technical audit experience that Internal Audit teams need, and can also act as facilitator, interpreter, and liaison between you, your external auditors, and your regulators.

Training your Workforce to be ‘Cyber-Ready’

Ransomware attacks are costly and pervasive. Building and maintaining a resilient technology platform relies on security policies, procedures and protocols being consistently applied and enforced. Security Awareness Training Programs are designed to empower your employees and contractors with appropriate guidance on how to fulfill their responsibilities to protect your information systems. Periodically assessing the knowledge and compliance of your insiders helps them identify and avoid potential social engineering threats like phishing scams.

Finding the Vulnerabilities in your IT Environment

Every IT environment has inherent vulnerabilities, and new ones are being discovered every day. Vulnerabilities result from a variety of issues; anything from vulnerable endpoints, mobile or web applications, databases, operating systems, cloud-based systems, or a small misconfiguration in a firewall or router can put your information at risk. When a hacker exploits these vulnerabilities, the impact is damaging. When organizations fall victim to a cyber-attack, usually the vulnerability could have been easily avoided.

Identifying Cyber Threats in your Business Transactions

Cyber breaches, and the risks they pose, are costly to any organization. They can drastically impact the value of a business deal, even after the transaction has closed. Astute investors assess the health, safety, and location of an organization’s data prior to committing a substantial investment. Sellers can benefit by performing due diligence to demonstrate a mature security posture prior to engaging in a transaction. Cherry Bekaert professionals produce third party reports on cybersecurity maturity, which can increase investor confidence and expedite the closing of a deal. We assess across all elements of an organization’s cyber posture – all levels of governance, regulatory compliance, vulnerability, threat exposure, administrative, technical, and physical controls – can and should be assessed before any merger or acquisition.

Complying with DoD Cyber Requirements

Government contractors play a critical role in securing and protecting our nation’s data. Achieving cyber compliance is a necessary step in the Department of Defense’s procurement process, and certification is required prior to bidding on certain contracts or supporting contractors.

Understanding the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements and diligent preparation is key to undergoing a successful certification assessment. Cherry Bekaert is an authorized CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) and certified Registered Provider Organization (RPO) by the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Accreditation Body, Inc. (The Cyber AB). Our certified assessors and professionals understand the intricacies and demands of transforming your cyber program to achieve certification.