Unisys Launches Security-Consulting PracticeUnisys Launches Security-Consulting Practice

Unisys Corp. this week introduced a service designed to help businesses beef up security, casting it as a problem that goes beyond IT to affect the entire organization.

The company named 13-year Unisys veteran Sunil Misra chief security adviser to lead the worldwide consulting service to counsel customers on security best practices, with a staff of 1,500. The company also established four centers of excellence to deliver security services worldwide.

The service, called Zero-Gap Security Planning, is designed to help companies look at security as in issue that goes beyond IT to encompass a broad range of business processes, including operations, physical plant, and financial practices. The service is designed to help companies find vulnerabilities, assess their potential impact, and prioritize remediation.

The service includes strategic consulting, architecture and planning, design, implementation, and management services for business continuity, infrastructure, identity, collaboration, and privacy.

Unisys says it has already provided the service to organizations such as the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, Credit Suisse Group, the government of Malaysia, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Unisys says almost half of companies have significant security problems that warrant immediate or short-term attention. In many cases, security is underfunded and understaffed, and executive management has limited contact with security planning and issues. Two-thirds of companies offer few or no security-awareness programs for staff.

In a recent survey of business and operational execs at companies with an average of $17 billion annual revenue, less than a quarter indicated that their companies follow industry standards for security, Unisys says. Despite this, 84% feel very secure or somewhat secure.