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Switch to Home Office Creates Opportunities in Cybersecurity

Erik Villalpando - wizlynx group
Managing Director

STORY INLINE POST

Alicia Arizpe By Alicia Arizpe | Senior Writer - Tue, 07/14/2020 - 14:00

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Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected demand for wizlynx group service?

A: When the pandemic came to Mexico, it appeared that many of our clients would shut down their operations. This was not the case. Most of our clients are medium-sized, international companies that simply switched to home office. As an IT services and cybersecurity company, this helped us to grow. Over the past few weeks, demand for our services has greatly increased. Many of our clients are pharmaceutical companies for which we administer infrastructure that allows employees to connect to their companies remotely. This type of work has doubled or tripled since the pandemic reached Mexico. Another area that has grown significantly is cybersecurity. With many companies now holding virtual meetings through Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other platforms, they want solutions to ensure the security of their infrastructure. Employees working from home need to use their own modems, which grants them less protection than they would get using the company’s network. For that reason, companies are asking us to evaluate their infrastructure to identify vulnerability points where a hacker might enter and steal their information.

 

Q: What measures need to be implemented to ensure that the user’s information is safe?

A: Beyond software and hardware, it is also necessary to develop user protocols that allow employees to maintain a secure connection with the company. Instead of an open connection where their information would be visible to the entire web, users need to use a secure channel. We develop a series of procedures tailored to the customer’s needs after studying their infrastructure and hardware. Clients do not need to alter their entire infrastructure because we develop our services according to their current hardware.

Even if a user uses a firewall, antivirus and other protective software or hardware, they are vulnerable to attacks if they have failed to properly identify all risks and the information they want to protect. One of our clients was a large company that had invested significantly in state-of-the-art software to protect its information. During our security assessment, we found it fully impossible to hack into its system. But it took a single phone call from someone pretending to be from the support desk for the user to click a link that would allow hackers to access the company.

 

Q: What cybersecurity threats have you identified since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak?

A: Over the past few weeks, phishing has grown enormously among the general public and this trend has also affected some of our clients. This threat has many shapes but oftentimes it consists of emails sent by criminals posing as banks, clients or other trusted third parties requesting private information. Once opened, these emails install malware leaving a door that allows a cybercriminal to steal information.

Sadly, companies in Mexico are not too interested in cybersecurity because they prioritize sales. This disregard for cybersecurity has become more prominent during the last seven years. We built our cybersecurity area as we perceived a growing interest in it, but this interest is mainly from medium and international companies.

 

Q: What differentiates wizlynx group from other cybersecurity companies?

A: In our 10 years of operations, clients have observed the strength of our international team, which includes many experts from the Switzerland, US, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore and Malaysia. Our global network has allowed us to offer clients a broad range of services that local companies are not able to provide. We are often able to find more vulnerabilities than our competitors, while offering competitive prices, high-quality services and clear, targeted information to address any problems we find.

In accordance with regulations, we also perform two to three process revisions every year. We perform a comprehensive assessment of every area they want to protect to identify potential breaches. Many of our clients already own a security solution but have not properly implemented it. It is common in Mexico and Latin America to establish good protocols but fail to implement them. Hackers can pose significant risks to companies, stopping their production and costing them millions of dollars. We work with many pharmaceutical companies, thanks in part to our headquarters in Switzerland. In Mexico, we have worked with different companies like pharmaceuticals, insurers, banks, retailer, energy companies, hospitals, financial services, but our services can be offered to any industry that requires protection of his information and infrastructure from cyberattacks.

 

Q: How is wizlynx group promoting Mexico’s technological development and what are your expectations for the country?

A: Last year, we began hosting hackathons in Mexico named “PwnTillDawn” with public and private university students to identify the most talented local hackers, as it is hard and expensive to find such a profile. We also hosted an event for professionals. Our goal was to hold another event this year but we had to cancel it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we are now hosting an online global ethical hacking event.

Based on growth of over 50 percent in the last few years, wizlynx group bought new offices in Mexico City at the end of 2019. Our goal is to grow by 50-100 percent by the end of the year and we have the knowledge and infrastructure to do it. We retain most of our clients, so growth will come from new clients.

 

 

wizlynx group is a global cybersecurity company headquartered in Switzerland. It has operated for 10 years in Mexico, identifying risks and vulnerabilities to protect client information

Photo by:   wizlynx group

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