Practical Cyber Security for Northern Ireland Businesses

For laptops, desktops and servers, see managed endpoint security and patching.

What We Offer

Most growing businesses do not need overcomplicated enterprise security. They need the right foundations configured properly, monitored regularly, and explained clearly. Drakos Systems helps reduce the risk of phishing, malicious websites, weak settings, insecure routers and avoidable user mistakes.

We work with established and growing businesses, farms, professional offices and rural organisations across Northern Ireland. The approach is layered: block known threats at the network level, strengthen device security, configure email correctly, and help staff understand what to look out for.

Six Layers of Practical Protection

Security is more than antivirus. We look at six layers and match the tools to your business, its existing licences and the risks that matter to it.

1. Identity and Microsoft 365: MFA, administrator rights, suspicious sign-ins, risky sharing and email security. See our Microsoft 365 security review.
2. Devices: endpoint protection, detection and response where licensed, operating system and third-party patching, and encryption. See managed endpoint security.
3. Network: firewall hardening, IDS/IPS on supported equipment, traffic visibility, rules between separate networks, and secure remote access. See network segmentation.
4. Internet and email: DNS and web filtering, anti-phishing controls, and SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain.
5. Visibility and response: logs, reporting and escalation, with log-monitoring design where it is needed, and optional partner-delivered managed detection and response where contracted.
6. People: staff training, phishing simulations and knowing what to do when something looks wrong.

What Happens in a Security Review?

A review gives you a clear picture before you spend money on new tools.

1. We talk through how the business works, who uses what, and any worries or recent incidents.
2. We check the layers above that apply to you, using read-only or consented access wherever possible.
3. You get a plain-English summary of what we checked, what we found and a prioritised list of what to fix first.
4. Any changes are agreed with you before work begins, and they are scoped separately from the review.

Reviews suit accountants and other professional firms handling client records, retailers, offices and factories with mixed networks, and organisations with remote workers. No review or product can guarantee that every attack is stopped. The aim is to reduce risk in the places that matter most.

Security Logs and SIEM Readiness

A security event is much harder to investigate when firewall, device and cloud logs are scattered across separate consoles. Drakos Systems can assess how your systems record security activity and help design a practical logging and SIEM approach: which log sources matter, how long to keep them, who can see them and which alerts are worth acting on. Where managed monitoring is agreed, coverage, alert handling, retention and response arrangements are confirmed in the service scope.

Preparing for Cyber Essentials

We help businesses prepare for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. Cyber Essentials is the UK government-backed scheme from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Certificates are issued by independent certification bodies working with IASME, the NCSC's delivery partner for the scheme. Drakos Systems is not a certification body.

The scheme checks five technical controls: firewalls, secure configuration, security update management, user access control and malware protection. Cyber Essentials is a self-assessment questionnaire that a certification body assesses. Cyber Essentials Plus adds a hands-on technical audit of your systems.

Preparation means working through each control against your own setup:

• Which devices, users and cloud services are in scope
• Whether firewalls and routers are configured properly, with default passwords changed
• Whether operating systems and software are still supported and kept up to date
• Who has administrator rights, and whether multi-factor authentication is on for cloud services
• Whether malware protection is in place on every device in scope

We then help fix the gaps, so the questions can be answered honestly. We cannot guarantee a pass, and the answers and the declaration remain yours.

What the Service Covers

DNS-Level Threat Filtering

Every device on your network resolves DNS through a filtering service. Before a connection is made, the domain is checked against threat intelligence lists. Known malicious domains (phishing, malware, ransomware distribution, command-and-control servers) are blocked before anything loads.

This works without software installed on each device and covers everything from laptops to mobile phones on the office Wi-Fi. Known malicious domains on maintained third-party blocklists are blocked as standard.

Managed Firewall and Secure Router

A business-grade firewall router replaces a basic ISP router. This gives proper firewall controls, Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDS/IPS) on supported models, network segmentation, and remote management capability. See our firewalls and routers page for more detail.

Endpoint Security

• Windows Defender configuration and tamper protection enabled
• Browser hardening (SmartScreen, HTTPS enforcement)
• Controlled Folder Access to reduce ransomware impact
• BitLocker encryption on business laptops
• SMBv1 disabled (the protocol exploited by WannaCry)
• MFA enforced on email and cloud accounts

Email Security

Email is the most common entry point for attacks. Properly configured email authentication reduces the chance of your domain being spoofed and helps catch inbound phishing attempts earlier.

• SPF record: specifies which servers can send mail for your domain
• DKIM: cryptographic signature on outbound email
• DMARC: policy enforcement so failed authentication results in rejection
• MFA on Microsoft 365 email accounts

Suspicious Activity Monitoring

Monitoring of DNS query logs and device activity. If a device starts making unusual requests at unusual times, that is worth investigating. Early visibility means faster response.

Security Awareness and Phishing Training

Technical controls alone are not enough. Staff training helps your team recognise phishing emails, fake login pages, invoice scams and social engineering tactics before they cause damage. See our phishing training page for what this involves.

Monthly Reporting

A regular summary of what has been blocked, any flagged activity, and what has been checked or updated. Plain English, not a wall of technical data.

Incident Response Guidance

If something goes wrong, having someone to call immediately matters. We provide guidance on what to do, help isolate the affected system, and support the recovery process.

Suitable For

• Small offices and professional services firms across Northern Ireland
• Businesses that have been hit by phishing or a security incident and want better protection
• Farms and rural businesses with office systems, cloud accounts or payment systems
• Businesses required to demonstrate basic cyber security posture for insurance or contracts

Frequently Asked Questions

What cyber security services do businesses in Northern Ireland actually need?

Most growing businesses need the basics done properly: a business-grade router with firewall controls, DNS-level filtering to block known malicious domains, endpoint security settings tightened on Windows devices, MFA on email and cloud accounts, and staff who know how to recognise a phishing email. The fundamentals, applied consistently, reduce the risk significantly.

Can you guarantee protection against cyber attacks?

No. No security provider can guarantee protection against every attack. What we can do is significantly reduce your risk by blocking known threats, strengthening your security settings, monitoring for suspicious activity and helping staff recognise common social engineering tactics. The goal is to make your business a harder target and to catch problems early.

What is DNS filtering and why does it matter?

DNS filtering checks every website request against lists of known malicious domains before the connection is made. If a device on your network tries to reach a phishing site, malware distribution server or command-and-control domain, the request is blocked before anything loads. This works across all devices on the network without needing software installed on each one.

What is the biggest cyber risk for growing businesses?

Phishing emails remain the most common starting point for cyber incidents affecting businesses. A staff member clicks a link, enters credentials on a fake login page, or opens a malicious attachment. The technical defences reduce the chance of this succeeding, but staff training is also important. The combination of good security settings and staff awareness is more effective than either on its own.

What is a SIEM, and does a small business need one?

A SIEM (security information and event management) system collects security logs from firewalls, devices and cloud services in one place, so events can be searched, linked together and alerted on. Many small businesses do not need one straight away: good logging on the firewall, Microsoft 365 and endpoint protection usually comes first. Drakos Systems offers a SIEM readiness review covering which logs you have, how long they are kept and which alerts are worth acting on. We do not run a 24/7 SIEM service. Optional managed detection and response, where a specialist partner security team monitors alerts around the clock for supported endpoints, is available only where it is included in the agreed plan.

Can Drakos Systems help us get Cyber Essentials?

We help businesses prepare for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. That means agreeing what is in scope, checking the five technical controls (firewalls, secure configuration, security update management, user access control and malware protection) against your setup, and fixing the gaps before you apply. Certification is carried out by an independent certification body, not by Drakos Systems, and nobody can guarantee a pass.