Business Worldwide Magazine

VigiTrust – Vigilance in a cyber threatened world

malware or ransomware attack concept padlock with money, clipping path, 3d illustration

Enabling organisations to keep pace with security threats in cyberspace is an extremely challenging task. We feature Mathieu Gorge, CEO and Founder of VigiTrust, winner of IT/Technology CEO of the Year – Ireland, and Most Innovative CEO of the Year – Ireland,’ highlighting both his personal and corporate achievements.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, VigiTrust is a GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) SaaS service provider enabling organisations to achieve, maintain and continuously monitor compliance with industry standards & laws such as PCI DSS, Vendor Risk Management, Third Party Assurance, EU GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001 etc. Importantly, VigiTrust’s GRC offering also includes eLearning programs and prides a portfolio of over 50+ titles.

The company, founded in 2003 by current CEO, Mathieu Gorge, was established as a result of Mathieu having the foresight to identify a particular gap in the market – that of providing strategic services & solutions around key legal aspects of corporate security and promoting security awareness.  Today, less than 15 years since its inception, VigiTrust now has a dedicated office in New York as well as European headquarters in France.  The company has seen extensive growth and provides its SaaS GRC platforms, eLearning and strategic services to a diverse range of international clients across healthcare, financial services and government sectors in more than 100 countries.

Mathieu Gorge – specialist security expertise, international speaker and entrepreneur 

Mathieu is an industry renowned authority on IT security, risk management, information governance and compliance with extensive experience across Europe, the United States and Australia.  He has achieved a solid reputation as an international speaker, focusing on security, compliance and block-chain issues at prestigious international security conferences such as RSA, ENISA and ISACA and as the brainchild behind the PCI DSS European Roadshow and regular writer for industry specific journals and magazines, his entrepreneurial acumen is both highly regarded and sought after.

Mathieu has also been able to successfully transfer his rich linguistic skills and expertise into the workplace.  A bilingual French citizen with a Masters in Business Studies with Language, he is the Vice President (incoming 2018 President) for the Ireland France Chamber of Commerce and Information Security Officer, Chairman of Infosecurity Ireland and an Official Reviewer for ANSI.  It is this broad sector based knowledge and expertise which has clearly established VigiTrust as a pioneer in the concept of continuous compliance and an industry leader in the eLearning for Security and information Governance, especially around the European General Data protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Payment Car Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) space.

Cyber related threats and challenges

The ability to secure cyberspace is an extremely difficult and ongoing task since the very purpose of the Internet is to promote connectivity. Although layers of anti-virus programmes and firewalls have been added in an attempt to keep threats at bay, data breaches are not only increasing in number, but also becoming far more sophisticated.   Recent examples of governmental bodies such as the NHS and the Houses of Parliament having fallen prey to cyber attack highlights the extent and complexity of this widespread issue.

Research and advisory firm, Gartner, global specialists in providing IT and business related insights, predict that the 2017 spend on cyber security will reach $90 billion; in real terms more than a seven per cent year on year expansion. By 2020 this figure is estimated to rise to more than $113 billion. As a result the market has needed to respond by creating new approaches to security end point detection and response solutions.

VigiTrust – Security Solutions    

Mathieu echoes this view when reflecting on the continual challenges and threats facing the workplace. “In today’s world attacks are global and unfortunately most of them are either state sponsored or driven by hard core criminal groups. This means that the industry ecosystem – large enterprises, security subject matter experts, law enforcement agencies and security associations – must work as a team to combat threats,” he states.  Recognising and responding to the enormity of the task ahead, Mathieu continues “We must embrace the new market opportunities whilst adding value to the overall security and compliance market.”

This is indeed a phenomenal task, but one which Mathieu has been successful in tackling. VigiTrust has grown significantly since its early days in 2003, more than doubling its workforce with year on year expansion and increasing its products and services to address ongoing security threats.  VigiTrust’s elearning platform includes a comprehensive range of security and information governance courses in multiple languages. These have been specifically created to enable organisations to effectively train their staff on security and compliance issues based on the company’s own ‘Five Pillars of Security framework.’

The Five Pillars of Security

The company provide a comprehensive selection of SaaS tools and strategic services which address a framework personally devised by Mathieu and known collectively as ‘The Five Pillars of Security.’ This method provides a customised means of responding to specific customer requirements which are fully compliant with both legal and industry frameworks and encompass all likely threats and dangers under the following sections:  Physical (Assets, IT Hardware and Vehicles) – People (Personnel, Partners, Third Party personnel and visitors) – Data (Customer and employee data, organisation specific confidential secrets, and general databases – Infrastructure (Networks, Remote sites and users, website/intranet) – and Crisis Management (Documentation, works procedures, emergency response plans, business continuity plans, disaster recovery plans).

Building on Success

The challenges of combating cyber security threats will always require astute expertise and skills.  Mathieu realises the importance of constantly promoting security awareness across all organisational functions rather than merely targeting IT departments.  His objective going forward is to build on the values and reputation he and his team have secured and to continue to deliver to the high standards demanded within sectors dealing in multiple currencies with substantial card transactions and / or extensive customer databases.

Innovation in an increasingly evolving market will undoubtedly be key to further success, and VigiTrust will focus its attention on adding new modules to its GRC and elearning portfolio, incorporating new regulations and frameworks, such as GDPR, in order to consolidate its position as an industry leader.

Future trends and ongoing responsibility

VigiTrust hosts regional Advisory Boards every 6-8 weeks in Paris, New York, San Francisco and London. The members of these Advisory Boards regroup in Dublin yearly at the Global Advisory Board to continue their discussions on current Cyber Security threats and trends from around the globe.

The original idea was to get feedback from security and risk professionals to influence VigiTrust’s solution and services roadmap. Now it has evolved into a think-tank in its own right – with Information Sharing being the prime objective. Members are volunteers who benefit from direct engagement with C-level security and risk management peers, the opportunity to influence VigiTrust’s security R & D and improve global cyber resilience efforts.

Further information on VigiTrust and its comprehensive range of products and services can be found at http://vigitrust.com/

 

 

 

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