The tricky thing about cybercrime is that the types of attack are constantly changing. As much as a company may think it is safe after an attack has been successfully fended off, the risk of facing an unknown threat in the next attack remains high. Christian Grusemann, Business Manager Security at Bechtle, is therefore constantly working to guarantee customers the best possible protection for complex challenges.

Are German companies adequately prepared for potential cyber attacks and are their protective measures sufficient?

Grusemann: There is no such thing as one hundred percent security, but there is a sensible approach. Because every company has different protection requirements. This results in correspondingly different protective measures. They range from awareness measures - i.e. creating and sustainably strengthening awareness of the rapidly changing framework conditions - to selecting the right security architecture.

Regardless of the budget, which three security measures should companies implement to protect themselves against cyber attacks?

Grusemann: Instead of individual measures, I would talk about three elementary steps: It starts with the right advice in order to develop the right concepts according to the company's individual protection requirements. This is followed by prioritizing which measures should be implemented first - both organizationally and technically. This is followed by the question of whether the selected solutions can and should be operated externally or internally. On this basis, companies can then establish a robust security model.

Keyword security as a service: Should the manufacturing and process industry consider managed security services?

Grusemann: The manufacturing industry has been working with external IT service providers for a long time in order to exploit know-how and efficiency advantages. As in office IT, the operation of security infrastructures is often outsourced. This is simply due to the insufficient availability of human resources within the company to operate the various security solutions and technologies in production. At the same time, it ensures the ability to keep up with IT progress, which a specialized service provider provides as part of its service.