Intro
Private equity firms are popular targets for cybercriminals.
Their infrastructure holds a wealth of valuable and sensitive financial, personal, and insider information. They are also responsible for large funds transfers as well as the storage of these fundsCybercriminals prioritise private equity firms as a target due to the ability to extract ransoms via targeted ransomware, malware, or other social engineering attacks.
This creates a situation where it is easy to leverage operational disruption for ransoms in the form of data or fundsFraudulent funds transfers are also a key consideration for private equity firms. As another form of social engineering, these attacks can lead to great monetary loss for the firm and damage their reputation there are a variety of cyber security services that can alleviate these challenges. A comprehensive managed extended detection and response (XDR) solution provides 24x7x365 protection, reducing the threat of ransomware and malware attacks, as well as effective threat detection and response capabilities. Combined with services such as ISO 27001 certification, regular penetration testing, and cyber security reviews, private equity firms can effectively and efficiently protect themselves against emerging cyber threats
Challenge
Firstly, the private equity firm wanted to improve their cyber security protection but wanted to focus on insider attacks especially. They wanted to achieve this cost-effectively whilst also dramatically improving their security capabilities
Secondly, they required a solution that could give them 24x7x365 monitoring without having to build an expensive in-house security team. This solution needed to work seamlessly alongside their existing IT partner to ensure complete protection
Finally, they wanted any solution put in place to maintain and improve their relationship with their existing IT partner. The solution needed to complement their services and work alongside them without disrupting either partner
Solution
To secure the private equity firm’s infrastructure and provide 24x7x365 monitoring, we put a managed extended detection and response (XDR) solution in place. Powered by Microsoft Sentinel and utilising the wider Microsoft Security Stack, XDR provides comprehensive protection for their entire infrastructure, offering endpoint protection, network protection, and SIEM capabilitiesAs a fully managed solution, XDR also removed the need for the firm to build an in-house security team. This reduced their cyber security overheads and provided them with the cyber security expertise and capabilities they needed to properly protect themselves against insider and internal cyber attacksWe were also able to integrate XDR seamlessly into their existing solutions, particularly any solutions utilised by their existing IT partnerThe Results
- Reduced impact of internal and insider cyber-attacks
- 24x7x365 protection, eliminating any out-of-hours weaknesses
- Reduced cyber security overheads
- Improved Microsoft Sentinel and Defender environment effectiveness
- Removed the need for an in-house security team
- Constant contact and reporting via XDR provide opportunities for future cyber security improvement