Digitization of work processes brings many advantages. Switching is nice and fast, and it is relatively easy to implement. It all sounds like music to your ears. But... there are also dangers lurking.
With standard security protocols, it is a breeze for professional hackers to hack into systems. Guido Koolschijn, IT Manager at Kubo, presented to about 50 industry colleagues on what steps they have taken to make their digital environment secure.
Guido: "With 200 people working at Kubo worldwide, this is necessary. The whole process started with a piece of awareness. We were, we felt, making our internet use as secure as possible. We were adhering to basic security requirements. But was this enough? And how do you get everyone to be more active (and therefore better) about this?"
Kubo was aware that hacking is not very difficult. So why should it be difficult to better protect against attacks? They decided to move from prevention to active defense.
Analysis
Guido sought contact with Hunt and Hackett. They deal with preventing sophisticated cyber attacks and espionage. Together, they conducted the Gap analysis for Kubo. Where are the weaknesses? This gave them insight into their maturity level. Using a roadmap, they were soon able to take the first steps (and therefore scale up in security). Besides short-term actions, they also planned for the (medium-)long term.
Guido: "It was felt very quickly that our digital security was moving from intangible to tangible." Ultimately, Kubo made the choice of MDR. MDR stands for Managed Detection and Response. Think of the smoke detector. The notification of danger comes early; the fire can still be extinguished.
Looking back on this process, Guido is happy with the steps taken: "The stakes are too high not to protect access to Intellectual Property properly. We have adapted our processes and procedures." He concludes his story by saying, "We are a horticultural country. This issue is important for the whole sector. Don't brush it off. Give it attention. It deserves that."
Ronald Prins (Hunt and Hackett), Hugo Vijver (writes for De Volkskrant, NRC, Trouw, and AD, among others), and Guido Koolschijn (Kubo)
Hunt and Hackett
Ronald Prins from Hunt and Hackett was also one of the speakers at this meeting. He has seen many examples of companies where things have gone wrong: "Systems go down, critical digital infrastructure is broken, and extortion are the order of the day. Hunt and Hacket is constantly analyzing attackers: The top four countries where the attacks come from include: Russia, China, Iran, and Türkiye. Russia has mainly targeted financial institutions, and from China, they are mainly focused on high-tech companies. But it doesn't stop there. Attackers are not sitting still. It is a continuous process. We should always stay alert."
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