Column: Hawaiian Tel creates center to help manage cybersecurity

In response to the ever- increasing risks of cybersecurity attacks that target both residents and businesses, Hawaiian Telcom recently created a new security operations center. SOCs encompass a team of cybersecurity analysts who are dedicated to monitoring and responding to threats 24/7. SOCs have become integral to preventing, detecting and analyzing cyber­- security threats, as well as supporting the team’s ability to smoothly pivot to triage, response and recovery when incidents occur.

In the 1970s, SOCs were primarily maintained by defense and government agencies. Today many large companies such as banks, utility companies and hospitals might maintain their own SOCs, and this is expected to continue increasing over time. Gartner, an information technology serv­ice management company, predicts that “by 2022, 50% of all SOCs will transform into modern centers with integrated incident response, threat intelligence and threat hunting capabilities, up from less than 10% in 2015.” However, SOC serv­ices are often outsourced due to costs and lack of physical space.

As one of the largest managed security providers in the state, our SOC helps us to leverage people, processes and technology to reduce network and security risks and provide improved security across our entire organization and to our customers throughout the state.

Why is this important? As virtual work or working from home continues for many business professionals in Hawaii, network traffic has increased exponen­- tially. The good news is that our digital economy continues to grow, but it also means that cybersecurity providers need to ramp up to effectively protect their networks and their customers’ networks. This is another reason why an asset like a SOC is so critically important. Our SOC is a central hub where our team of experts can manage the vast threat landscape, which is filled with highly organized bad actors armed with tactics and techniques that constantly change in order to evade detection.

During a time when uncertainty is abundant, creating more peace of mind for clients and yourself through managed security practices is a major advantage. As the technology landscape evolves dramatically every day, we continue to adapt how we can best be of serv­ice to our customers, and encourage others to do the same within their own business strategies.

Matt Freeman is director of service delivery at CBTS | Hawaiian Telcom, overseeing the information security programs. Reach him at matt.freeman@hawaiiantel.com.