A good part of the activities of companies and citizens today take place in fully digital environments. Cybersecurity is now no longer an optional issue, but a priority for most companies, which are increasingly aware of the need to evaluate their level of exposure and degree of vulnerability to take the most appropriate solutions.
Today, cybercrime already exceeds 1% of global GDP. Cyber attacks on companies increase around the world; also in Spain, which is one of the most affected countries in all of Europe. For this reason, in the month of February, the Government presented a strategic plan to combat cybercrime, through a public awareness and sensitization campaign.
Currently, one in five crimes is committed through cybercrime-related procedures. Among those that have increased the most in the last seven years, we find computer scams (which have reached 442.9%) and computer forgery (up to 374.1%), followed by illicit access and interception (93 .6%) and threats and coercion (50.6%).
Indeed, cyber threats have increased exponentially in recent times, but, fortunately, so have prevention tools. Infoself-Parlem Empreses, a company that offers communication, management software and cloud solutions, has worked hard to provide appropriate cybersecurity tools for organizations and companies of all types. As David Ayats, general director of Infoself-Parlem Empreses, explains, “cybercrime is increasingly aggressive and sophisticated. Artificial intelligence tools are already being used for attacks. Likewise, cybersecurity evolves very quickly to meet the challenges we face.”
Francesc Xavier Vendrell, senior cybersecurity analyst at Infoself-Parlem Empreses, for his part, points out that protection must be effective, without affecting business activity. Sometimes, cybersecurity demands “may not go along very well with productivity criteria. We help companies to be safer, but without affecting their operation and productivity. And all this at a reasonable cost.”
Vendrell highlights four types of especially common threats: those that affect the integrity of data and the modification or alteration of files; those related to confidentiality (such as theft of passwords, personal data, corporate information or intellectual property); those that disrupt the continuity of a business (such as the denial of service of a website or application, or the corruption of computer equipment); and to the public image of companies that have received some type of cyber attack, a trend that, as we have seen in recent times, is increasingly frequent.
As Jordi Bartés, sales manager of the IT Area, points out, “the impact of certain cyberattacks on important sectors and public administrations, as well as companies of any sector and size, has generated a kind of general state of alarm in the professional field, where there is increasing awareness about the need to have proper protection and contingency plans.” However, adds Bartés, even after events such as those mentioned, “cybersecurity is not always valued as an investment,” but in some cases it is still seen as an expense, which means that “it is often invested after an incident.” ”.
In their company, they have solutions to largely avoid cyberattacks, thanks to joint work with WatchGuard, a world-class company, of which Infoself-Parlem Empreses is the only platinum partner in Spain and Portugal. Its proposal is based on offering specific security equipment and solutions; perform configuration reviews and parameterizations of computer environments; and offer cybersecurity training to all employees of the organizations they work for, from the CEO and management to each of the employees, including the IT department.
Prevention (which includes the so-called “digital cyber hygiene”, which serves to keep the IT infrastructure updated and secure), protection with the best tools in the sector (such as EDR and XDR solutions for equipment protection, perimeter security or access control), and the creation of contingency plans (with on-premise solutions and through the cloud environment, to always maintain backups safe and protected) are, without a doubt, key aspects.
In addition, new SOC (Security Operations Center) tools will soon be made available to small and medium-sized companies, a type of service until now available for larger companies.
To promote awareness of the aspects of digital threat prevention, Infoself-Parlem Empreses has developed a complete cybersecurity guide for companies and organizations that includes a catalog of good practices, and in which they address essential issues in this area such as detection of virtual traps or phishing; protection against malicious software; security on mobile devices; the limitation on access to information or the use of external memories.
Likewise, Infoself-Parlem Empreses offers help to all organizations that may have doubts about the cybersecurity of their digital environment, offering an initial review to understand the situation and propose solutions to possible vulnerabilities.
Infoself-Parlem Empreses offers a comprehensive service to ensure that any business has proactive protection and a solid reaction plan in the event of a possible IT disaster. There is no doubt: investing in cybersecurity is today one of the best ways to protect a company, and, in particular, its most important assets: information and employees.
Infoself-Parlem Empreses is part of Parlem grup, the first large telecommunications group of Catalan origin founded in 2014 by the company's president, Ernest Pérez-Mas.
