Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 51 | Page 57

CASE STUDY What kind of unique cyberthreats does your business face? How far has the system future proofed your organisation? The threat landscape continues to change on a daily basis – volumes are predicted to rise by the experts. This has affected all businesses. Whoever has valuable data is at risk. Sophos solutions has helped in effectively dealing with security challenges, addressing our hardware stability issues, providing our team with daily security updates through a central source, securing devices and protecting corporate data from potential vulnerabilities with employee devices and establishing an in-depth view of the online activities of employees to protect them from threats and underlying hidden risks. Right now, we see ransomware and phishing as two significant attack vectors. Why did you select Sophos’ solution? We were looking for a solution that could be controlled from a single console, secure the network and protect users from unknown malware, exploits and ransomware. After evaluating several products, we decided to go ahead with Sophos Intercept X Advanced and Sophos XG Firewall. to incidents on the network, strengthening Al Majed Group’s network. Return on Investment. Sophos solutions have been cost-effective and simple to use. They have provided the visibility that Al Majed Group’s IT team needed to increase operational efficiency. The reliable, accurate and timely updates have helped the team in making better decisions. We asked Nishanth Menon, IT Systems Manager, Al Majed Group, further questions about the solutions. Can you give us an overview of Al Majed’s core business objectives? Al Majed Group is a family-owned luxury retail business with the highest standards of corporate governance, professionalism and operational standards. We maintain a premium status as a leading Qatari business conglomerate while forging lifelong partnerships of world class calibre. The core business values include integrity, excellence, quality and commitment. We aim for market leadership by achieving prosperity through our partners and through measurably contributing to the growth and profitability of our customers. www.intelligentcio.com The team was particularly impressed with Sophos Synchronised Security. In addition, using a single unified console to manage endpoints from the portal itself was convenient and improved efficiency. Beyond the quality of the solutions themselves, having great support from Sophos Partner Network Plus Data Solutions was an added advantage. How did employees find the new solution? The team was particularly impressed with Sophos Synchronised Security. The team found the solutions easy to use, reliable and accurate. The updates provided have helped us in making better decisions and increase operational efficiency. Best practice for other organisations in improving their security strategy? Cybersecurity is now a critical consideration for every organisation. Whatever their size and sector, it is important to get the basics right. Even well-resourced companies are still falling victim to cyberattacks. To ensure the highest level of cybersecurity, here are some of the best practices that must be followed by organisations: • Make IT security a corporate priority • Establish an effective comprehensive layered approach; starting with two key pillars of endpoint security and network security. Your IT security should work as a system. And look for solutions that keep it simple and manageable • Stay current; keep them patched and fully up-to-date • Educate users on the threats and the proper safeguards and behaviours they should employ. n THE IT TEAM AT AL MAJID GROUP WAS LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION THAT COULD BE CONTROLLED FROM A SINGLE CONSOLE, SECURE THE NETWORK AND PROTECT USERS FROM UNKNOWN MALWARE, EXPLOITS AND RANSOMWARE. INTELLIGENTCIO 57