Security an afterthought as organisations move operations offshore

Financial benefits and legal issues are the first priorities in any offshore decision. Therefore, security risks are often not identified in time for them to be properly quantified and addressed. @stake cited one recent example where the security staff of an enterprise organisation was only told of an offshore location after it began operations, overlooking the need to evaluate their offshore risk profile and new security requirements. Companies planning overseas activities need to assess the digital risks and corporate dependencies associated with offshore initiatives. @stake has identified basic security steps to consider when making an offshore plan, these include: generating and communicating effective security policies for offshore third parties, defining corporate security requirements for offshore application development; conducting vulnerability assessments and penetration tests of both the network infrastructure and applications; and on-site audits to ensure that all environments comply with corporate security standards. @stake recommends that digital risks should be evaluated at the start of any offshoring decision so as to ensure an effective, holistic, security solution.