All content provided by October SVOM; DNSFilter

Most ordinary people who need cyber solutions are not being served. It is like a pharmacy only delivering “prescription medicines” when most of the world needs “over-the-counter medicine.”

By focusing on themselves, cybersecurity professionals are creating a talent shortage. It’s not efficient or practical to have cybersecurity tools so highly sophisticated that it requires years of experience to operate them. This puts small businesses in particular at a huge disadvantage, and opens them up to higher security risks. It also creates a higher barrier to entry for cybersecurity jobs, hence the unintentionally manufactured skills shortage. This talent shortage is only real because cybersecurity vendors are creating it as they continue to deliver solutions that require experts (doctors and pharmacists of cybersecurity). 

This post will walk through what it takes to reach most of the world with a defensive cyber solution that is safe and simple to operate—an over-the-counter cyber solution.

A Remedy for Balanced Cybersecurity

The current reality for the cybersecurity industry is that they require expert operations and administration for a simple headache when a straightforward over-the-counter solution could suffice.

The concept of over-the-counter is simple: It is available without an expert. You can essentially use it as directed and it will deliver a safe and effective solution.

There is also a case to be made that well-designed, simple-to-operate cybersecurity solutions that target the non-expert are also well-positioned for Managed Service Providers (MSP) and Value-Added Resellers (VARS) in the same way that Drug Stores sell both prescription and over-the-counter solutions.

What Over-the-Counter Cyber Defense Looks Like

What we’re seeing in cybersecurity right now is to get simple pain relief (or in this case, threat protection), we need to jump through a large set of hoops and wind up with something that covers our basic, fundamental needs. It is often far more powerful than we need it to be, at a higher price tag, and will require more upkeep. You’re going to need to keep filling that prescription, as you’re bound to get more headaches. And to fill that prescription, you’ll need a doctor and pharmacist (your cybersecurity experts) on-staff.

Think of a cybersecurity solution that covers precisely what you need that you’re able to trial, demo, and pay for all on your own. It’s easy to get access, deploy, and manage (minus the experts)—that’s over-the-counter cyber defense. If you’re stuck on if a solution is “over-the-counter” or “prescription,” here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

• Is the skill you require to set up your device enough to set up this cybersecurity solution?
• If it does detect a threat, can it act on that threat and protect me without me having to be familiar with cybersecurity?
• Would I feel confident recommending this solution to a non-technical friend or family member?

If you answer “yes” to all of these, you’ve found an over-the-counter solution!

DNSFilter’s purpose is to “Make everyone’s digital environment safe to work, live, and play.” To be true to this, they must deliver solutions that are “over-the-counter.”

Think of all we can do: Use the #OverTheCounterCybersecurity tag to raise awareness & start a consortium of vendors who believe in this over-the-counter movement, or start a conference that hosts only over-the-counter cybersecurity solutions.