Melbourne's Cythera achieves ISO 27001 security certification

Melbourne headquartered cybersecurity service provider Cythera has announced its achievement of ISO 27001 certification, demonstrating its commitment to stringent information security management standards.

The company has also unveiled significant improvements to its managed detection and response (MDR) service, offering enhanced protection against evolving cyber threats.

Craig Joyce, Cythera's director, said the company's customers demand the ISO certification and have a low tolerance for security providers and technologies that experience product faults or cybersecurity breaches.

The ISO certification process involved a comprehensive analysis of Cythera's entire business operations.

Everything the company does was put in scope of the certification analysis, including sales, technology, tools, and platforms.

Ben Cuthbert, co-founder and services director, highlighted the challenges of the certification process, noting, "The real challenge lies in getting the whole organisation's tooling, people, processes, and controls up to the same standard".

The ISO 27001 certification is expected to provide numerous benefits to Cythera's customers, including continually uplifted security standards and consistency in security response.

Alongside the certification, Cythera has made significant investments in its MDR service, introducing major advancements in automation capabilities.

These enhancements enable streamlined operations and faster incident response, powered by an onshore team of Australian-based cybersecurity experts.

"We've opened up our automation capabilities to our customers," Cuthbert explained.

"If we detect a threat, we can now take immediate action, such as disabling an account, containing a machine while we do forensics, or reaching out to firewalls to block IP ranges," he added.

Cythera's MDR service distinguishes itself from standard MDR technology products through its personalised approach and human expertise.

"Our service is entirely onshore staffed, not outsourced," Joyce said.

"Each account has a named lead analyst, providing a personal touch and demonstrating deep domain knowledge," he added.

The service offers complete transparency, allowing customers to see their 24/7 security operation live and report to their executive team in real-time.

"Everything is recorded, and there's nowhere to hide, and we serve up security information to our customers' key stakeholders at a moment's notice," Tim Sank, co-founder and sales director, said.

The Cythera MDR service has already helped numerous customers overcome significant security challenges, particularly those struggling with complex tools like Microsoft Sentinel.

"We've seen organisations turn on tools like Microsoft Sentinel and realise it's far more complex than they imagined and that they are at the behest of an offshore inexperienced and rotating support team," Cuthbert said.