If P&C Insurance buys a complete solution for cybersecurity

For a major company like If that operates in the finance industry, comprehensive cybersecurity service is a necessity. We realize the challenge in obtaining, retaining and delivering the same level of cybersecurity services and know-how as in a specialized cybersecurity company — such as Nixu. When we buy the service from a partner, we can focus on our core competency, says Chief Information Security Officer Peter Granlund from If.

 

In autumn 2016 If started to look for a proactive and competent cybersecurity partner for preventive monitoring of threats, detection of intrusions in the company’s system environment and responding to information security incidents. The company wanted to be prepared for rapidly changing cybersecurity threats and have the ability and skills to quickly respond 24/7.

“We sent invitations to tender for several service providers in this field. After some rounds of tenders, we decided to proceed with Nixu. One reason for choosing Nixu was their solid experience in information security, another, the anticipated costs” says Granlund.

If chose Nixu to deliver a complete cybersecurity solution that covers prevention and monitoring of threats as well as incident response. The cooperation agreement includes the Nixu Cyber Defense Center (CDC) information security service, which provides real-time supervision of the digital environment, intrusion investigation, and snapshots of threats towards the organization’s web services.

Nixu CDC also conducts attack testing. It has real-time information on current cyber threats and the latest attack techniques all the time, and it can respond to these always using state-of-the-art technology.

“If has access to an agile 24/7 defense system that combines the latest cybersecurity technology and top-of-the-class expertise in the field,” says Nixu’s Director of Managed Security Services, Pietari Sarjakivi.

A reliable partner makes it easy to sleep at night

With Nixu’s CDC service If can detect sophisticated attacks early and mitigate them so that damage and interruptions for users are minimized. This makes the use of If’s digital services secure 24/7.

“We now use a SIEM tool that Nixu monitors, which consolidates data from various sources in our environment. When we are contacted by cybersecurity monitoring, we know that the matter really needs attention. Although it is not possible to achieve 100% security, the level of our security has constantly improved. This is thanks to both Nixu and the SIEM tool, which has produced a great amount of additional information and opportunities for us to learn more from the information security issues that we face. This has also helped us to develop our know-how. We now know our environment much better than before,” says Granlund.

At Nixu, services are developed together with the clients.

“The client does not need to invest in technology solutions that soon become obsolete or in developing expertise within their own organization, because Nixu is responsible for continuous development of the service as well as for administration of systems that require specialist knowledge. SOC services can be delivered from almost any geographic location, but in IR service it is a great benefit that expert help can arrive on site at a short notice”, says Sarjakivi from Nixu.

In the future, the partnership between Nixu and If can be expanded as needed to include a broad range of any cybersecurity services.

We wanted a reliable cybersecurity partner who monitors our environment around the clock. Everything has gone well and we are satisfied with Nixu’s service. When you can trust your partner, you sleep better at night, says Peter Granlund.