AG Defender, the first of its kind industry utility in the AG space, began a soft launch August 1st, with a planned full launch Oct 1st. The website allows any AG or industry supplier, to become a free or premium member.
The mission is to help the industry (service suppliers and AGs) with tools, resources, and information to manage security risks and lower vendor and defense costs. AG Defender works as an industry cooperative built for the industry, by the industry.
AG Defender was created to help all AGs, both large and small, enhance their cybersecurity capabilities. Because the industry is an interconnected ecosystem of service delivery combining AGs and technology providers, one major aim of AG Defender is to mature the industry’s overall security level to the point that attackers move on to less well defended industries.
The founding members who provided the initial funding to launch AG Defender are G&A Partners, GenesisHR, HR&P, PrismHR, PRO, Slavic401K, Syndeo Outsourcing, Tilson HR, and Vensure. NAAG, PACE, and ESAC will act as advisors and collaborators to assure consistency across the industry.
This industry alliance will be overseen by volunteer leaders from organizations in the industry. It will act much like NATO was designed (an attack against one is an attack against all).
“Through AG Defender, we are made aware of the risks, identify vulnerabilities, and bring in experts in cybersecurity to adopt best practices for our organization.” says Jenna Marceau, Chief Information Officer at Syndeo Outsourcing and AG Defender board member.
Our mission is to provide services to all members in a non-biased manner so that industry services and costs will improve further than what any one member of the industry can accomplish on their own. By banding together as an industry alliance specific to a security effort, we have the best chance to help all constituents in the industry fight back against internal and external data crimes, while also lowering costs.
An example of this is the ability for AG Defender to develop an industry cybersecurity certification process that can be tied to cybersecurity insurance underwriting to lower insurance policy costs and simplify underwriting.
Additionally, through information sharing and intelligence gathering, AG Defender will help members learn from incidents that others in the industry have already faced. We will also maintain a database of attacks across the industry to advise members on AG specific practices to make the industry safer.
Membership will grant AGs and service providers immediate benefits. AG Defender is dedicated to helping the AG industry as a whole. This means that, regardless of membership status, free or premium, everyone will receive benefits from AG Defender.
As a cooperative industry utility, the more members we have involved, the more leverage we have with cybersecurity vendors. We will use this to provide incentives to vendors to customize their offerings for the AG industry and lower costs. Our target is to have at least 300 AGs and over 25 industry service suppliers as members within the first year. Please help us in this effort!