A rise in price is a fall in security

We’re seeing incidences of it with disturbing regularity these days as businesses move from the high street to the cloud. With DDoS attacks and DNS tampering making headlines, it is evident that without adequate security measures in place, e-commerce businesses are almost certain to experience a breach and encounter some form of data loss. Unfortunately, as these crimes have become more prevalent, some companies have chosen to take advantage of the situation by hiking up the prices of security features such as firewalls. 

UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones has bucked this trend, viewing it as a disappointing example of hosting providers cashing in on the fears of other business owners. In response, he has put aside £1m to launch BASEfund, an initiative that aims to help the companies struggling with the inflated cost of security features. BASE stands for ‘building a safer environment’ and provides grants of up to £5,000 for qualifying businesses so that they can bolster the security of their solution. The fund provides industry-leading anti-virus, backup systems, safety protocols and 24-hour monitoring at no extra cost. 

Of the significance of rising security pricing, Jones has commented: “There are still a number of online shops hosted on networks and environments that aren’t behind a firewall. Why? Because the prices for security features like this are becoming prohibitive. Businesses are being forced to upgrade their firewalls and pay excessive costs for a basic safeguard. It’s wrong. British businesses should not be held to ransom on this and forced to operate without the fundamental protective measures simply because of cost!” 

The entrepreneur’s passion for protecting businesses is rooted in experience. Jones recalls business owners contacting him for help when cybercriminal activity has cost them their data. Of these experiences, Jones has said: “These kinds of problems can bring a business to its knees. We see it all; business people who have lost everything. If we can save one person from the despair that I have been unfortunate to witness in the past then it’s worth the investment. We want to make it easy for our clients to be secure. It’s a small price to pay when you consider how much faith they invest in us by entrusting us with their business data.” 

With their clients’ business welfare under threat, it seems logical that hosting companies would make it simple and affordable for them to protect themselves but unfortunately this is not the case across the industry. Perhaps, as cyber-attacks become more sophisticated, more hosting companies will follow suit and stop focussing so much on profits and more on investing in their customers’ security and peace of mind. 

Emma McClelland is a features writer for UKFast.

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