Hydra: Plugging the Unnoticed Hole in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has emerged as a critical concern for businesses, yet an essential aspect frequently goes unnoticed. The widespread adoption of SaaS platforms by organisations exposes them to risks of espionage, sabotage, and GDPR breaches. Hydra has been introduced to mitigate these risks.

As businesses venture online, they become vulnerable to various threats. External entities like agencies, consultants, and third-party applications often gain access to a company’s communication, marketing, and analytics tools. While many operate to benefit the brand, the management of this access is neglected, potentially leaving businesses susceptible to threats from both external sources and their own employees. Unmonitored access can lead to reputational damage, data breaches, and unauthorized expenditures.

Hydra offers a solution by providing a unified platform for managing access to all major external social and advertising platforms, such as Google, Meta, and LinkedIn. This centralised system not only simplifies access management but also serves as a single source of truth, allowing businesses to monitor user permissions and conduct efficient audits.

Despite reliance on Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Privileged Access Management (PAM) systems, the complexity of phishing attacks and the human factor contributing to 95% of cybersecurity threats leave businesses vulnerable, especially in outsourced operations. With social media hacks surging by 1,000% to 1.4 billion accounts in 2023, securing external platforms has never been more critical.

For agencies, Hydra enhances security standards and streamlines client onboarding, ensuring secure access and accountability from the start with minimal effort.

Justin Thorne, co-founder of Hydra, comments: “While organisations protect their super user and admin accounts on internal systems as a top priority, external platforms are largely overlooked. Because they are used primarily for marketing, they are often not viewed as a security risk. But these external channels are ripe for hacking. And while they may not hold the damage potential of an organisation’s in-house systems, they still carry a significant risk.

“Hydra enables the simple monitoring and management of a potentially complex array of external business channels. When you can see precisely who has access to what – and whether they need it – you regain control of your company’s reputation, protecting your brand against disgruntled ex-employees, commercial espionage, and others with malicious intent.”