By Bruce Van Nice, Akamai
Today people depend on the Internet for just about everything: transacting, interacting, learning, traveling, and a multitude of other activities. The Internet also allows businesses of all sizes to reach new and larger markets and provides opportunities to work more efficiently by using digital tools that are increasingly economical and targeted at organizations with limited technical expertise. One of the downsides is theft of digital assets has become commonplace and for many organizations it represents a greater threat than physical theft.
Remote work challenges that began in 2020 continue as cybercriminals take advantage of elevated stress and unprecedented focus on topics related to the pandemic to maximize the value of their exploits. They saw a good opportunity to launch attacks and profit from dependence on the internet and technology.
They used phishing and other kinds of internet-enabled fraud to target everyone from workers searching for personal protective equipment to families looking for information about help paying bills, and many others.
For ISPs there are opportunities to help subscribers navigate the always changing security landscape with new services that deter internet threats and are easy to use. This paper will talk about the product development process behind a security service targeted at Small Midsize Businesses (SMB) that was launched across a major North American cable network. It will:
- Summarize the threats internet users face which motivated product teams to evaluate potential services
- Outline a service strategy developed to help small and midsize businesses deter internet threats
- Offer perspectives on the threat intelligence used to support the new security service
- Discuss go to market to build awareness of security services and extend the value proposition of reliable high speed internet access