Siniša Staničić, A1: We Provide Complete Protection for the Safe Operations of Our Users

Even the largest companies such as Vodafone, Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung, Ubisoft, and A1 Croatia have experienced security attacks despite daily checks. For this reason, Siniša Staničić, Director of the ICT Sales and Solutions Department at A1 Croatia, emphasizes that they are extremely focused on educating and securing their employees and business users. They regularly hold educational and informational meetings with business users, assist their administrators and cybersecurity experts, and respond exceptionally quickly to security and other difficulties 365 days a year.

What are the biggest cybersecurity threats for business users?

– Cybersecurity threats are now daily occurrences, and all large companies encounter them regularly. Among the biggest threats are DDOS (engl. distributed denial of service – distributed denial of service) attacks, ransomware (ransomware attack) and malware (malicious attack), obsolescence and lack of infrastructure maintenance, patch management, risk management, legacy systems, and the absence or inadequacy of the company’s security policy.

There are also phishing and other social engineering techniques that rely on human error, most often employees and their carelessness or lack of information. There is a noticeable increase in the number of mobile devices that are often unprotected because the company lacks a system to manage their security, and numerous applications such as Dropbox and similar ones that may contain harmful files are accessible via mobile devices.

In the last two years, the corona crisis, hybrid work methods, and working from home have only increased the possibility of potential security incidents as part of the business has moved outside the company. Some companies were not prepared for such a drastic leap in terms of security. Laptops, desktops, and mobile phones were particularly vulnerable due to the lack of adequate security policies. DDOS attacks have also increased with Croatia’s entry into the European Union. Even small users have become targets of such attacks.

What protection and solutions do you provide?

– We know how essential it is to continuously invest in employee education, the protection of company systems, and the security infrastructure of the company. A1 Croatia provides complete protection for both internal and external perimeters. As part of its services, we can offer advanced DDOS protection for A1 links, penetration testing, security checks for infrastructure exposed to the internet, advanced EDR/XDR solutions, firewall solutions, as well as protection at the DNS (engl. domain name system – system of internet servers) level.

For mobile device users, we offer monitoring and management of the device fleet through MDM (engl. mobile device management) solutions. A comprehensive security solution starts with a snapshot of the state where we identify system vulnerabilities, through in-depth controls and infrastructure upgrades to provide the user with a complete picture of the security status. We are also available to our users when it comes to education to reduce the number of attacks and minimize damage to acceptable levels.

How to raise awareness among business users about the importance of cybersecurity?

– The starting point is the aforementioned security check of the infrastructure and penetration testing. At such security consultations, the user receives a quality report that shows the real state of the company’s infrastructure from a security perspective and detects possible vulnerabilities. We also include steps for remediation in the reports, and A1 consultants are available to the user when finding the optimal solution for improving security.

In offering these services, we rely not only on local expertise but also on the expert team within A1 Digital and, as needed, on our partners. The technology we use monitors system operations and, in the event of new types of attacks, informs users about them and detects and alerts in case of new vulnerabilities.

What are the most common business targets for hackers?

– Systems exposed to the online world and, of course, employees of companies. Some business systems in Croatia are outdated and of very questionable security. These are systems that were most likely security-compliant when they were created, but they struggle to withstand modern times and increasingly sophisticated attacks. Another part consists of applications that were not developed according to professional standards.

There are also applications that simply should not be exposed to the internet, such as databases with direct access. I mentioned that employees are often a favorite target for attacks via email or SMS. Sometimes one of them opens a link or file they receive in their email without checking, and that ‘opens the security doors’. It is enough for the sender’s address to look similar to some previous email. Therefore, educating every person within the company is extremely important.

*Content provided by A1 Croatia