Keep cybercriminals out of your organisation: ensure that you have a secure network

Our society is rapidly going digital, and the chances are so is your organisation or institution. This brings a lot of benefits – but also risks. Security risks, for example. Now more than ever, cybercriminals are an ever-present threat. As we are all sending more and more data to one another and storing more and more data in the cloud or externally in data centres, and as more and more of our devices are connected to the internet (the Internet of Things), they see more and more opportunities to strike.

That they are taking these opportunities is amply demonstrated by last year’s cybercrime figures. 2019 saw the highest number of recorded digital leaks and data hacks to date. (Sources: AP (figures) and Computable).

So it’s not really any surprise that security is high on your organisation or institution’s agenda this year. Cyber security has to be an area of intense focus, and the measures you take to provide this must be (and remain) up-to-date.

In this blog, you can read about how to protect your organisation against cybercrime by setting up a secure, reliable IT network using Dark Fibre connections, and how best to secure these connections.

Cybercrime and its consequences for you and third parties

Cybercriminals are out to steal information, to disrupt information flows or to sabotage or extort from businesses or institutions.

They don’t particularly care whether they target an individual or, for example, a whole hospital. And although of course being hacked is never a good experience, the consequences can be more far-reaching for some organisations that for others.

Consequences for clients, users, patients or students.

• In the worst cases, hospitals can be put out of action, appointments cannot be made and patient information or information about medication may be temporarily unavailable.
• Schools are unable to carry out digital teaching – which is often part of the curriculum these days.
• Highly sensitive data can end up in the public domain. The latter can have disastrous consequences not only for hospitals and educational establishments, but also for (clients of), for example, government bodies and organisations within the financial sector.

Financial consequences

And then there are financial consequences for your organisation itself. The cost of a cybercriminal ‘breaking in’ can be very high. The leak has to be immediately sealed by experts, the cause of the leak has to be found and you have to ensure that all your systems are working properly again. On top of all this, there is the risk of you having to pay a sizeable fine if you fail to report the incident within 72 hours. This has been compulsory since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018. Finally, there is the risk of damage to your reputation. Clients can lose confidence, or may even make claims for damages. And if they then look elsewhere or stop purchasing from you, this can hit your turnover. In short: the financial consequences can be extremely serious.

Protecting your organisation against cybercriminals

Of course you want to prevent the consequences described above – for yourself, but certainly also for your clients. So your organisation needs the best possible protection against cybercriminals. How can this be achieved? This will also involve a certain level of awareness of the dangers and consequences of cybercrime among your employees who make use of your various ICT solutions. Ensure that the security risks are clear and that the people concerned will actually avoid these risks.

In addition, your data storage must be sound and secure. Are you using external storage? Choose a well-secured data centre. High-quality, stable connections are at least as important as safe data storage. Because more and more data is being transported all the time, this needs to take place in the most secure way possible. As you will understand, your entire IT infrastructure has to be reliable and secure.

How to create such a secure network?

Using Dark Fibre: unilluminated fibre optics, with the user itself providing the equipment and services. This is a connection that is not shared with others. A private connection, completely under your own management. As a Dark Fibre network is illuminated using your own equipment – and you yourself decide on the services to be carried by this connection – you have (greater) control of the security of your connection.

You can read all about Dark Fibre and the opportunities and benefits this offers to your organisation in our blog.

Dark Fibre and encryption

Dark Fibre therefore has advantages over rented and own fibre-optic connections in terms of security as the equipment used to illuminate the cable is in your hands. Nevertheless, there is still a small risk of cybercriminals gaining access. To minimise this risk even further, you can add an extra layer of security to your Dark Fibre connection by using encryption at fibre-optic level. In this case, the base layer – the fibre optic cable itself – is completely secured. Data can be sent with complete confidence and no more security is needed in the services provided at the higher levels. You can find more information in our blog on encryption.

Relined Fiber Network

Relined Fiber Network supplies Dark Fibre. We have more than 30,000 km of high-quality fibre-optic infrastructure, resulting in a fine-meshed Dark Fibre network providing nationwide cover. With this network many locations, such as data centres, offices and care providers can be reached.

We will be happy to look with you at effective solutions for the establishment of a reliable and future-oriented network infrastructure. With Relined, you are choosing reliability (ISO 27001), flexibility, ‘a deal is a deal’ and high quality (ISO 9001).

Is it essential or desirable for your organisation to use encryption? Relined can help you implement your own Dark Fibre connection and the best security. To achieve this, we work with partners including Fujitsu, Arcadiz and ADVA, who have the most appropriate security solutions for your data and data traffic.