Ron Palin (Akubra Hats)
Akubra Hats has utilised managed services provider (MSP) C3 Group to help it with its ongoing cyber security systems refresh and to deal with up to 500 unsuccessful cyber security intrusion attempts per month.
As part of the refresh, which dates back to November 2018, C3 first introduced a firewall appliance and a Wi-Fi access point on a trial basis to mitigate the 400 to 500 intrusion attempts per month on its server connection and unreliable Wi-Fi infrastructure.
Before the MSP was on board, basic anti-virus packages on rack-mounted servers were used, with the servers themselves supporting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and office-based applications, as well as Webroot being utilised.
Today, C3 has deployed five Wi-Fi access points that are in place, with more to be scheduled during the rest of the year, as well as cyber security vendor WatchGuard’s Panda product to be deployed in December to handle endpoint security.
These solutions are being implemented to soften the blow of the constant intrusion attempts, which were exacerbated by staff signing up with third-party organisations, according to Akubra general manager of operations Ron Palin.
“In some cases, those organisations had been compromised and email addresses had been stolen. This, in turn, led to our staff becoming targets for cyber criminals,” he said.
With the new systems in place, threat numbers are down, WatchGuard claimed, thereby reducing the likelihood of security breaches.
“We have essentially eliminated the ... daily attacks we were getting against our Lenovo server,” said Palin. “For some staff, this has translated into a saving of between two and three hours each day because of the dramatic reduction in the volume of spam email they have to deal with.”
The Wi-Fi access points have also provided more stable and secure connections across both its factory and warehouse.
Additionally, C3 sends a weekly report to all users of the system to provide details on the types of threats that have been detected, and what steps were taken to neutralise them.
“You can waste a lot of time on IT and these changes mean I am able to focus my attention on the areas that will add most value to the business," Palin added.
“We now have in place a level of security that will support the company as it continues to grow in the months and years ahead. I no longer have to worry about our security. It has changed from being a constant concern to something I only have to think about once a month.”
