Forward Security, an innovative Cybersecurity services provider
In the increasing battle against cyber-attacks, experts are working hard to find new ways in order to meet the demand from companies to secure their systems.
In this context, Farshad Abasi, a technologist and leader with over twenty years of expertise in security, software, as well as systems design and development, decided to follow his passion in cybersecurity and launch Forward Security Inc. in 2018. Getting its start in British Columbia, the company has now expanded the team to Toronto, serving clients across Canada and parts of US.
With focus on application and cloud security, the team provides services to mid-sized organizations in the Finance, Health, E-commerce, and Technology sectors. A strong believer in improving Canada’s Cybersecurity posture, Forward runs a mentorship program to train the next generation of application and cloud security experts.
A straightforward winning approach
As Farshad affirms, “We work in close partnership with our clients to provide advice and services that are relevant to their business in order to reduce risk and increase revenue. In addition, we leverage standards and best practices to create innovative, repeatable, and systematic processes that result in fewer missed issues and better results. Having prior experience building software and infrastructure, our team has a fundamental understanding of IT systems allowing them to take a more in-depth approach when delivering security solutions. These factors differentiate us from our competition and help Forward stand-out among Cybersecurity service providers.”
The shift in the threat landscape towards the application
Farshad notes that “43% of breaches were related to web app attacks over the last year and as cyber-attacks increasingly shift focus to applications and away from networks, it becomes necessary for organizations to ensure a strong application security program is in place.” He adds that the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) organization provides many resources such as the Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM), and the Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) that help organizations develop software with security in mind and avoid costly fixes. Forward aligns its services to these open standards, and contributes to their improvement.
With respect to innovation which is at the core of the company, Farshad mentions that “Forward Security has developed an orchestration tool to address the challenges involved with deployment, integration, and configuration of the many scanners required to cover different aspects of security across the build and deployment stages. “
Furthermore, the technology is offered as part of Forward’s Eureka DevSecOps service along with the people and processes required to add security to all stages of Agile and DevOps practices. This is particularly attractive to organizations with DevOps teams who do not need full-time security personnel and want access to top subject matter experts across multiple domains.
Expectations as a member of In-Sec-M
According to Farshad, “as a member of In-Sec-M, we look forward to joining other Canadian cybersecurity providers and our government to elevate the security posture of our country and organizations through innovation and collaboration. It would be great to see the spotlight shine on Canada as a leader in this space, and we are excited to contribute to making that happen.”
Final words ?
“Everyone should protect their digital assets just as they do with their physical assets. Businesses often fail to apply appropriate access control or monitoring of their digital assets, resulting in breaches. Would you leave a bag of money in your store without a door lock or an alarm system? Then why don’t you ensure your digital assets have the right access control in place and are monitored?”