12:17 PM, March 29, 2024

Is your cyber security strategy in place?

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The more we rely on digital to drive our businesses, the more sophisticated cyber crime is becoming – Allgeier IT Solutions outlines how to mitigate the threat

The increasing digitisation of business processes means that protected IT infrastructures, secure communication networks and secure data management systems have become essential to modern businesses. As a leading provider of IT security solutions, this is where Allgeier IT Solutions is already helping many businesses across Europe.

Cyber attacks are one of the greatest threats of the 21st century, for both private and public companies. Attacks on the European Medicines Agency, Carnival Corporation & plc (the largest cruise company in the world), and SolarWinds are just a few examples of incidents that have taken place in recent months.

What does this development mean for companies or public institutions? Do they fully understand the dangers posed by cyber criminals? And how can they best protect themselves against the increasing risk of attack.

The latest developments show that cyber criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are even networking with one another. Cyber crime services can be purchased on the Dark Net and deployed without great effort. Artificial intelligence is also increasingly being used as a means of attack. Attacks are being directed against companies of all sizes – neither international corporations nor medium-sized companies are immune.

Effective cyber security is all about a well executed strategy

The outcome of this rising threat is that companies are being forced to redesign their cyber security strategies – cyber security is integral to a businesses digital health, and therefore its success.

Regardless of whether we are talking about customer communication by email instead of letters, online meetings instead of business trips, or the merging of IT and OT within the framework of Industry 4.0. – digital processes are here to stay. They are indispensable when introducing new products and services to market and vital to survival in an ever-changing competitive environment.

Businesses require fast, flexible digital solutions to optimally position their companies. The issue of IT security is often neglected in this context. This is problematic, because an investment in effective cyber security measures not only offers protection against  attacks, but is also necessary for the integration of efficient digital business solutions. Cyber security should therefore also be understood as an important opportunity – the chance to gain a competitive advantage. Above all, more must be done in terms of raising awareness among employees about the many cyber risks

The cyber crime cost trap

The list of dangers is extensive: it ranges from the theft of digital identities and the illegal encryption of data to DDoS attacks (Distributed Denial of Service) – and new ones are constantly coming to the surface.

The increasing threat posed by cyber attacks means companies are exposed to ever-greater financial risks. These include costs that result from the shutdown of operations, with the corresponding loss of sales. Other examples are costs from extortion or ransom demands if IT systems are impaired or sensitive data has been stolen or locked.

Companies could also incur costs in the form of fines, for example, if cyber criminals have stolen sensitive, personal data. GDPR provides uniform principles in the processing of personal data at EU level and violations may result in penalties up to €20m or 4% of international group turnover.

And, don’t forget indirect costs in the form of image or reputational damage if successful cyber attacks or inadequate IT security are made public.

IT security must be a top priority

These examples demonstrate that IT security has a strong financial component. Especially when you add in the company’s credibility in the eyes of banks and insurance companies. The better your IT protection, the higher your credit rating and credit-worthiness.

This shows that IT security must be seen as a cross-company project. A cyber security strategy must be designed in such a way that it enables digital workflows as an accompanying process. IT security must therefore be a “top priority”. With this in mind, coordinated, easily implemented solutions are required to ward off the threats posed by hackers. The solutions must create holistic protection for IT infrastructures, digital communication and data. Allgeier IT Solutions offers a broad portfolio of high-performance products for this purpose. The following solutions are available to assist businesses with their IT security and compliance:

SCUDOS: For the security of network infrastructures

SCUDOS recognises, visualises and controls which devices are connected to its network. The aim is to create complete overviews of all the connected devices, prevent unauthorised access and react to security incidents in real-time, for example by quarantining unknown devices. In this way, SCUDOS transforms traditional networks into transparent, highly secure and visualised IT infrastructures.

julia mailoffice: For secure corporate communication

julia mailoffice contributes to increased communication security by enabling electronic encryption and decryption as well as digital signatures and signature verification for emails. A particular strength is that julia mailoffice can be seamlessly integrated into existing IT infrastructures, it is scalable for any size of company and enables secure communication even if the communication partners do not have suitable security mechanisms.

emily: For secure data storage and secure data exchange 

emily is a web-based system for secure document storage and secure document exchange. All data is encrypted within the system. emily also enables secure communication between partners by chat. Even the contents of the chat messages are securely stored and thus protected against external access.

Layer8: Layer8 for IT security awareness

Layer8 is an intuitive and practical platform for phishing simulations and online training to raise the security awareness of employees. Layer8 training is adapted to current events in modules: phishing simulations, for example, address the increased risk posed by cyber criminals and makes employees more aware of the current range of threats.

Through these high-performance solutions, Allgeier IT Solutions is the ideal partner for medium and large companies, and public institutions, looking to ensure their IT security is equal to the threat.

Further information

www.allgeier-it.de

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