IT security

Solutions to protect your business

Secure your data to protect your business


IT environments gets more complex every day. No matter what type of business, you're at risk of penetration from external forces such as hackers ('penetration points'), as well as leaks, losses and threats from malware. This is why Konica Minolta broadened its approach to IT security many years ago. Today, we bring you a complete service which spans people, processes and technology.

 

 

Technology alone cannot offer enough protection against cyber crime and other security threats. What's needed is a broad view that takes into account all the elements of your business: your people and the digital technology and processes they use each day. Our team brings you the benefit of 18 years of experience and can develop a strategic approach to your security. We'll make sure we add value and give you a transparent and sustainable service with fast response times.

 

 

Understand your security situation and needs

Wondering what needs protecting? Not sure what level of cyber security you already have in place? Our computer security services offer you a wide range of analyses, including the segmentation of your network, firewall policy, software, implementation of your printers and copiers, endpoint security and more. This kind of vulnerability analysis will give you a clear view of your security needs. 

 

 

'Crash test' your vulnerabilities 

We believe in checking your infrastructure with penetration tests. Like crash tests for cars, these cyber security tests give you a far higher level of certainty and verification. We can offer these 'pentests' in various packages to suit you. They may be outside your organisation or internal, in the shape of employees or visitors. We will give you a detailed report on your computer security situation, together with our recommendations.

 

 

The 'human factor' plays a major role in cybersecurity.

As data security measures become increasingly powerful, hackers are more often targeting the weak links that remain – employees. This is why social engineering methods that trick employees into unwittingly opening doors to malicious attacks are a growing threat. As a result, any effective data security strategy must factor employees and their behaviour into the equation. We'll help you to build awareness and understanding amongst your colleagues of information security issues. This may involve traditional training sessions about data security, live hacking talks, awareness campaigns using merchandising and other initiatives.

 

 

Make sure you are prepared

IT security image cybersecurity lack
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“It is no longer the question whether a company will be attacked, but when.”

 

Every company is at risk. What will you do when the moment comes? Our Incident Response Team will help you to identify, contain and forensically analyse penetration, including attacks by malware, ransomware or hackers. We want to keep you secure. 

European Cyber Security Month: Avoiding a cyber hostage crisis

Many small and medium sized businesses are considering tools and strategies to make remote work a permanent part of their business and whilst remote work brings new opportunities, it also brings new challenges.

A recent poll amongst IT decision makers in Europe shows the extent to which security threats have recently become a widespread challenge for businesses. Our handy eBook guides you through the main security factors to consider in digitally transforming your business.

Download our e-book now

Our close partnerships with information security specialists

Our close partnerships with information security specialists

We access a healthy mix of small providers with highly innovative approaches, as well as global players with strong portfolios. Our data security solutions team will help your organisation with every challenge, from proof of concept, implementation, rollout, support to training.

IT Security benefits


   

   

Technology feature icon

Readiness for Incident Response, Quick Check, Malware Hunting, Threat Hunting, Health Check, Digital Forensics

Productivity feature icon

Analysis of network segmentation, firewall policy check, security check on printers and copiers

Quality feature icon

Externally, Single Target on individual basis; internally, Black Team, incl. WLAN and OSINT; internally and externally, Red Team, incl. Social Engineering & OSINT

Manage all your campaigns in one portal

PoC – Implementation, Rollout and Support

Customization feature icon

Single scans and evaluations, Implementation Vulnerability Management process as a regular scan, and support in evaluation

Usability feature icon

USB sticks, mailshot campaigns, info-events and training sessions, merchandising, live hacking event

Use case IT Security/Information Security Consulting

Companies are now aware of the importance of information security and IT security – also due to numerous cyberattacks and data leaks in the media. IT security not only secures data, it also secures work processes, business secrets, reputations and trust.

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360-Degree Security

Comprehensive protection for your IT data, multifunctional and video security systems

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Data Protection and Data Security E-Book

Data security and compliance are paramount for all businesses. However, to meet these key objectives when managing content within an organisation, two factors must work in harmony: an information management system that provides a safe framework and a workforce that actually uses the system correctly.

Download E-Book now
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Discover more about our security approach:

Contact us for IT security advice

Contact us for IT security advice

Contact us

Konica Minolta offers a full range of cyber security solutions, spanning access control, data security, network security and scanning security. Get in touch to find out how we can tailor the best solution to secure your data and your corporate environment.

Success story

ADP laboratoire - logo

ADP Laboratoire - Pharmacy: Cutting edge I.T. and world leading security to defy uncertainty​

ADP Laboratoire - Pharmacy: Cutting edge I.T. and world leading security to defy uncertainty​

We helped by installing Workplace Hub ‘Edge’, an all-in-one IT solution. This includes the world’s most advanced server technology from Hewlett Packard Enterprise as well as leading security services.​


 

SITUATION 

Following an initial crypto virus attack, ADP Laboratoire contacted Konica Minolta for help. Given ADP Laboratoire’s equipment was obsolete, the only guaranteed solution was to replace their entire IT system.

 

WHY WORKPLACE HUB 

  • Simple and manageable monthly payment packages that remove the burden of an upfront investment 
  • Predictable spend due to one vendor solution for the entire IT system 
  • World-leading security, hardware and software combined with proactive system monitoring that removes uncertainty and risk of future security threats 
  • A trusted managed IT partner 
  • Expertise in and seamless integration of existing accounting system 
  • Existing IT resources are freed up to focus on more strategic and value adding projects e.g. mobility 

Workplace Hub Case Study | Cutting edge IT and world leading security to defy uncertainty

Following an initial crypto virus attack, ADP Laboratoire contacted Konica Minolta for help. Given ADP Laboratoire’s equipment was obsolete, the only guaranteed solution was to replace their entire IT system. Konica Minolta installed Workplace Hub ‘Edge’, an all-in-one IT solution. This included the world’s most advanced server technology from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, providing leading security with Sophos XG Firewall.

Solution

Solution

 Konica Minolta installed Workplace Hub ‘Edge’, an all-in-one IT solution. This included the world’s most advanced server technology from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, providing leading security with Sophos XG Firewall. ADP Laboratoire was hit by a second cyber-attack that they resolved quickly without loss of data or disruption to work. As a result of this second attack, they decided to take advantage of Konica Minolta’s Managed IT Services. They now have a proactively managed IT service that automatically monitors the system and provides an additional level of security and reassurance.

Success story

DuoBad - made by nature logo

DuoBad - Furniture: A comprehensive state-of-the-art it solution for a small business​

DuoBad - Furniture: A comprehensive state-of-the-art it solution for a small business​

IT infrastructure was never in the centre of too much attention in DuoBad’s daily business. This changed, though, when the IT’s age and limitations started to become a constraint. Much of DuoBad’s IT infrastructure, software and support was reaching end-of-life. DuoBad was also seeking to modernise its IT in order keep up with its growing business. ​ Workplace Hub is now at the heart of DuoBad’s IT, integrating and maintaining all systems the company needs. Combined with Konica Minolta as a single point of contact, the company now has an enterprise quality ‘Intelligent Connected Workplace’ at its disposal, while being able to focus its investment in staff and skills needed for the core of their business.



A thriving rural business looking to upgrade its IT


As a small business, DuoBad focusses all of its resources on delivering exceptional products and customer ser­vice. This means, however, that its IT infrastructure was never in the centre of too much attention in the compa­ny’s daily business. This changed, though, when the IT’s age and limitations started to become a constraint. Much of DuoBad’s IT infrastructure and software was reaching end-of-life: support for the existing systems was running out. DuoBad was also seeking to modernise its IT in order keep up with its growing business. Further, it should provide its employees with a modern working environment – a truly digital workplace with easy and secure access to information from wherever and when­ever they needed it. The customer’s Microsoft Office solution was running towards its end-of-life as well and did not reflect those new needs anymore. For its e-mails, DuoBad was using one by its internet service provider and looking for a solution to integrate a mail server into its systems. At the same time, the company was search­ing for a solution that was easy to manage and able ensure protection against data loss with an automated, reliable backup solution in place.


With regard to connectivity, DuoBad struggled with an additional challenge small and medium-sized business outside larger metropolitan areas face in particular: “Our location initially didn’t have a local fibre connection. We therefore were very reliant on having a local IT infra­structure in place,” explains DuoBad CTO Rikard Karls­son. Poor connectivity could otherwise translate to interrupted, unreliable workflows, if significant amounts of data would have to be quickly accessed from clouds systems, for example. “We were relying on a local HP server, running with Microsoft Windows Server. Both hardware and software were approaching end of life, however”, says Karlsson.


With only one team member dedicated to maintaining the IT of the business, having one partner taking over responsibility for the IT and providing a fully functional, holistic solution was key for DuoBad. “We are a small, specialised company and appreciate a strong IT partner with a local service team and shared values,” says DuoBad CEO, Niklas Hult. Having a single point of contact was also important to the company as they wanted responsibilities to be bundled in one place.


A big partner with an all-in-one solution for a specialised business


The company was an existing customer of Konica Minolta, working with bizhub MFP devices for over 14 years. It was a positive relationship that had endured through much of the company’s history. During this time a strong founda­tion of trust and mutual respect had grown. “We have an Account Manager at Konica Minolta that we know and trust. He knows us, too, and understands our business very well”, says Niklas Hult, who also appreciated that Konica Minolta shares his company’s deep commitment to sustainability. “Konica Minolta has done a great job during time we have cooperated in the past. It is impor­tant to have this local knowledge on hand when we need to address our technical challenges.” So, when it came to finding the right partner for the implementation of the new IT solution, DuoBad relied on its existing partner Konica Minolta.


“From a day to day perspective, the technician I work with has a lot of knowledge and I have a lot of trust in him,” explains CTO Rikard Karlsson. “As he’s part of Konica Minolta, I also know that my contact can draw on this wider pool of skills and experience whenever needed and will always get back to me quickly with solutions.”


Konica Minolta was able to provide exactly what DuoBad was searching for: The IT services expert proposed Workplace Hub Advanced as a modern and future-proof all-in-one digital workplace solution that would be an ideal fit for DuoBad’s needs. By integrating the previous­ly separate server, software, and MFP, this Workplace Hub implementation provides DuoBad with a digital workplace solution – from a single trusted supplier, just as DuoBad was aiming for. “If we encounter a challenge or have a question, I instantly know who to call,” Karls­son points out.


Following further consultation with Konica Minolta, DuoBad agreed to proceed with the implementation at the end of 2019. The solution runs a Windows Server 2019 installation to fulfil File/Print/AD server roles. In terms of security and resilience, the solution also includes Konica Minolta Remote Care Antivirus and the Acronis Backup Service. The project started at beginning of 2020 and moved into its final phase within three months.


As DuoBad faced the challenge of not yet having a fibre connection, the hybrid nature of Workplace Hub helped to address this challenge: With a hybrid solution, data that needs to be quickly and reliably accessed locally is stored on-site. At the same time, a connection to the cloud makes external access to information possible, for example from a vendor’s or supplier’s office. This is a quite common scenario for many businesses that do not have broadband connectivity. DuoBad’s situation exemplifies how many SMEs can use a hybrid solution – not forcing them to choose either an on-site or a cloud solution. In DuoBad’s case, the mission critical GARP business system, which incorporates ERP, CRM and ECM functions, remains on premise. The same goes for the company’s file and print functions.


DuoBad photo of CEO Niklas Hult
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As a company we have a dedication to only choosing the best vendors, otherwise how can we provide our customers with the best? So when it came to upgrading our IT, quality was of the upmost importance to us. Konica Minolta’s Workplace Hub was the perfect solution for our needs: a simplified but robust architecture that will continue to evolve with us.

Niklas Hult

CEO, DuoBad AB, Sweden


A refresh of the company’s outdated mail system as well as Microsoft Office solution is delivered as a second phase of the project. The cloud-based Office 365 Busi­ness Premium solution that is rolled out once the fibre connection has been installed at the company premises, providing DuoBad’s team with the modern work tools the team needs in its daily work. It further runs the company’s mail servers, integrating them seamlessly with the other applications in place and replacing the mailboxes at the internet service provider. The migration to Office 365 will also give DuoBad’s employees access to improved remote working and collaborative possibili­ties. “Mobile access is certainly vital, as it is important to be able to work offsite and still use our main systems remotely,” explained Niklas Hult. This capability could also prove transformational. DuoBad is keen to explore new ways of working made possible by modern collabo­ration solutions such as Microsoft Teams.


Recognising the possibilities offered by Workplace Hub, DuoBad expanded the initial scope of the project to also include a remote desktop solution to empower system administrators and to facilitate offsite working. With the installation of fibre, the company is also able implement the Arconis Backup Service: a cloud-based disaster recovery solution – and a very important step for DuoBad. “Thankfully, we did not suffer a catastrophic data loss in our company’s history, yet. However, our design files, our customer, logistics, supplier and stock – all this data is absolutely business critical for us, and we simply cannot afford to lose it in case of a fire, for exam­ple,” explains Karlsson. With the disaster recovery system in place, an automated process will generate a regular backup of this critical information, making quickly accessible, if the original data is lost.


Further, thanks to Konica Minolta’s 24-hour managed IT services, the company now has a dependable solution at its disposal, ensuring smooth operations around the clock. With only one team member responsible for IT at DuoBad, this provides considerable peace of mind and greatly increases the company’s resilience. Similarly, the ability to pay for leading edge services on demand via Workplace Hub allows DuoBad to access Sophos XG Firewall as part of a monthly subscription. This world-class solution has stepped up the company’s security, minimising risks as the company’s sales force connect remotely via VPN. Threats and hidden risks can quickly be identified and neutralised, infected systems are automatically and instantaneously isolated.


Workplace Hub is now at the heart of DuoBad’s IT, integrating and maintaining all systems the company needs. Combined with Konica Minolta as a single point of contact, the company is now has an enterprise quality ‘Intelligent Connected Workplace’ at its disposal, while being able to focus its investment in staff and skills needed for the core of their business. “We are very excited to further explore the full potential of Workplace Hub,” concludes Niklas Hult.


Advantages

Advantages
  • A trusted managed IT services partner providing rapid 24/7 support to ensure continual operations
  • An all-in-one, consolidated IT solution with hardware, infrastructure, software and IT support
  • Single point of contact: One bill, one number to call for support
  • Strong IT foundation for growth with well-designed hardware, user interfaces, dashboards and service support
  • All data is protected and securely stored

Challenge

Challenge
  • Replacing several IT systems reaching end-of-life:
    • A ML350p server hardware from Hewlett Packard Enterprise running towards end-of-life
    • A Windows Server software from Microsoft running towards end-of-life
    • Microsoft Office client software running towards end-of-life
  • Provide an easy to manage all-in-one system that can grow with DuoBad’s business
  • Provide a cloud-ready infrastructure and Office solution including a replacement the old e-mail server hosted by the internet service provider

Solution

Solution
  • Implementation of Konica Minolta’s Workplace Hub Advanced hybrid IT solution
  • Integration of previously separate server, software, and MFP systems with an all-in-one solution
  • One Windows Server 2019 Standard Edition VPS running the File/Print/AD server roles and other applications
  • Continuous managed IT support
  • Konica Minolta security services including Sophos XG Firewall, delivered via monthly subscription and Konica Minolta Remote Care Antivirus
  • Acronis Backup Service for disaster recovery and securing business critical data
  • A single point of contact for all IT needs

Get in touch

Success story

Sporrong Eriksson success story logo

A truly digital workplace IT solution that makes remote work seamless and secure, and it more efficient

A truly digital workplace IT solution that makes remote work seamless and secure, and it more efficient

With its 17 experienced and highly skilled employees, Sporrong & Eriksson Revisionsbyrå AB is an auditing firm based in Kalmar, Sweden. Deeply rooted in this southeastern region, the company is proud to provide its more than 600 small and medium-sized business customers with the highest level of professional auditing services – always combined with a personal, individual customer approach. Using the possibilities digitalisation provides in the service of their customers has been a key goal for Sporrong & Eriksson from early on, winning the firm the ‘Future Agency of the Year 2017’ award. Together with Konica Minolta, the company decided to take a new, bold step on the path towards becoming truly digital.



When business is personal, time is money, and security is paramount

Since its foundation in 2000, Sporrong & Eriksson has grown to become Kalmar’s leading accounting firm. It has achieved this by providing its customers with uncompromising pro­fessionalism in its work – and by setting itself apart from its competitors with a highly personal level of service. Being there for – and with – its customers is a key component of the company’s strategy for success. Hence, the firm’s employees spend a significant part of their work outside the office at their customers’ premises, or on the way to them. An IT enabling remote work is therefore not just ‘nice to have’ for Sporrong & Eriksson, but a vital factor for its business model.


For a business whose single product is its employees’ time, the IT solution enabling this has to work seamlessly and be absolutely reliable. At the same time, due to the sensitive and confidential nature of the data they process, this solution needs to ensure the highest levels of data security. Håkan Sporrong, one of the firm’s four owners, explains: “Both our own and our clients’ time is very valuable, so we needed a system that supported how we work. We needed to be agile but at the same time heavily protected.”


Setting up a care-free, reliable and secure IT infrastructure

Having been a dedicated and trusted long-term partner of Sporrong & Eriksson since 2011, Konica Minolta first provided a deep analysis and consultation for finding the best-suited solution to take this next step in its partner’s digitalisation process. The previous on-premises solution did not live up to Sporrong & Eriksson’s expectations anymore. They were look­ing for an IT system that is always up-to-date – from server to workstations – with the highest level of security and 24/7 reliability. At the same time, this solution should relieve internal resources as best as possible from any IT tasks. In the past, Sporrong & Eriksson staff had to manually perform back-ups after working hours. With regard to optimised work processes, when working from outside the office with customer data, Sporrong & Eriksson employees first needed to check out the relevant files from the local system and then afterwards check them back in again. This process made teamwork on these documents highly difficult and cumbersome, particularly from different locations. Last but not least, Sporrong & Eriksson was also looking for a partner to provide external help desk support and new workstation equipment.

To meet these requirements, Konica Minolta identified the im­plementation of its one-stop solution Remote Care Workplace Premium as the perfect fit. At the backend, the servers now run from Konica Minolta’s high-security data centre, ensuring maximum reliability and access from anywhere. Backups are now performed automatically and periodically, minimising the threat of any data loss and relieving the firm’s staff of this ar­duous, repetitive – and non-billable – task. Antivirus protection is also at the highest level and always up-to-date. New laptops were provided for the employees, with Konica Minolta ensur­ing that operating systems and applications always run with the latest versions. Furthermore, this package includes a 24/7 helpdesk with experienced Konica Minolta experts always ready to provide support and quickly resolve any issue that may arise. Ultimately, the goal was for Konica Minolta to take over the role of the firm’s external IT department.


Mastering a challenging environment and starting point

For Sporrong & Eriksson, it was absolutely crucial for its employees to be able to continue their work for their demand­ing customers without interruption despite the migration to the new system. In addition, as an auditing firm, the company works with a number of highly industry-specific applications. Konica Minolta had to ensure that they would integrate seam­lessly into the new IT system and provide all the remote work capabilities required of them.

Konica Minolta’s experts’ high dedication, commitment and expertise were crucial for turning this project into a success. “The service people who ran the implementation were very professional and we felt that they were highly skilled. When­ever there were issues or problems, Konica Minolta handled them quickly and with great respect for the process,” Håkan Sporrong explains. He is highly satisfied with the result and Konica Minolta’s support: “Now, it doesn’t matter if we´re at our office, at home or at the clients. We have the same pos­sibility to access all of the programs, files and applications that we need to do our job. We are very happy with the service that Konica Minolta delivers.”


Continuing together on the path to digital everyday work

Implementing Remote Care Workplace Premium has thereby helped Sporrong & Eriksson make a big leap forward in turning their bold vision for digitalising their business into reality. And it doesn’t stop here: future projects together with Konica Minolta for achieving a truly paperless office and workflows with the customers, for example, are already underway.

Håkan Sporrong
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We felt the need to make a digital transformation and for that Konica Minolta was, and is, the perfect partner. The solution they presented to us was exactly what we were looking for: a modern cuttingedge digital solution with a total focus on flexibility and security.

Håkan Sporrong

Firm Owner, Sporrong & Eriksson Revisionsbyrå AB

Sporrong & Eriksson - A truly digital Workplace IT solution

Using the possibilities digitalisation provides in the service of their customers has been a key goal for Sporrong & Eriksson from early on, winning the firm the ‘Future Agency of the Year 2017’ award. Together with Konica Minolta, the company decided to take a new, bold step on the path towards becoming truly digital.

Advantages

Advantages
  • State-of-the-art IT infrastructure with data securely stored in Konica Minolta’s high security data centre
  • One-stop IT solution and service with 24/7 support by Konica Minolta
  • Seamless remote work and file access for employees independent of their location

Advantages

Advantages
  • State-of-the-art IT infrastructure with data securely stored in Konica Minolta’s high security data centre
  • One-stop IT solution and service with 24/7 support by Konica Minolta
  • Seamless remote work and file access for employees independent of their location

Challenge

Challenge
  • Establishment of a new IT infrastructure that meets the highest security and reliability requirements while enabling remote work with seamless access to a high number of dedicated, specialist auditing applications
  • Unburdening the team of administrative IT tasks and increasing efficiency

Challenge

Challenge
  • Establishment of a new IT infrastructure that meets the highest security and reliability requirements while enabling remote work with seamless access to a high number of dedicated, specialist auditing applications
  • Unburdening the team of administrative IT tasks and increasing efficiency

Solution

Solution
  • Konica Minolta’s Remote Care Workplace Premium, including workstations, virtual server, antivirus protection and automated backups as well as a remote service desk

Solution

Solution
  • Konica Minolta’s Remote Care Workplace Premium, including workstations, virtual server, antivirus protection and automated backups as well as a remote service desk

Success story

Varri Logo

Norwegian importer and distributor varri outgrew Its existing server and chose a cloud solution from Konica Minolta to guarantee stability and security

Norwegian importer and distributor varri outgrew Its existing server and chose a cloud solution from Konica Minolta to guarantee stability and security

Varri imports and distributes climbing and outdoor equipment, with customers in the sports industry, rescue industry and building industry. The company has a wealth of expertise in climbing and fall protection equipment but its original three employees had to depend on a more restricted source of IT knowledge when the company was founded in 2008. “A friend helped me to set up our own server and I was responsible for operating and maintaining it. It was housed in a toilet and a cupboard at various points”, explains founder and owner Marius Olsen. This solution worked fine for many years. The company’s data backup routine consisted of taking a copy home on an external hard drive at somewhat irregular intervals. However, the setup was not without its challenges, particularly as Olsen alone was responsible for all IT operations. “I remember one day when I had finally taken some time off to do a bit of climbing but I had to go back into work to fix the server because it had stopped working. That time the power supply was the problem; another time it was the CMOS battery.” Olsen explains that a new start-up company can probably get away with more than an established organisation. However, as the company grew and employed more people, supplied more products and worked with more suppliers and customers, there came a point when finding more professional IT solutions became necessary.



Choosing HydraCloud from Konica Minolta


“We had to choose between building on our existing setup, investing in better equipment and perhaps employing an IT consultant to operate it, or we could outsource the work to professionals who could guarantee stability and security. We chose a cloud solution from Konica Minolta called HydraCloud. We’ve now been working with it for seven years”, says Olsen.


The HydraCloud solution allows the company’s order systems, accounting systems and everything else to run on servers located in Konica Minolta’s ISO certified data centres in Norway. Varri employees log into these systems via a remote desktop. Varri no longer operates its own servers, and the only IT equipment left in the cupboard is a firewall and network switches provided by Konica Minolta as part of the cloud agreement.


Olsen is especially pleased that this setup has freed up a lot of his time to focus on the core business instead of on technical IT solutions. “I now have more time to focus on our suppliers, customers and markets, and I sleep well at night knowing that all of our IT equipment works properly at all times,” says Olsen.


Marius Olsen, founder and owner, Varri, Norway
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“A friend helped me to set up our own server and I was responsible for operating and maintaining it. When our company grew, we had to choose between building on our existing setup, investing in better equipment and perhaps employing an IT consultant to operate it, or we could outsource the work to professionals who could guarantee stability and security. We chose a cloud solution from Konica Minolta called HydraCloud. I now have more time to focus on our suppliers, customers and markets, and I sleep well at night knowing that all of our IT equipment works properly at all times.”

Marius Olsen

Founder and owner, Varri, Norway

Well-prepared when the company was targeted


Varri has actually experienced first hand how important it is to have a secure setup: It is one of a very large number of companies to be attacked by ransomware in recent years. One Monday morning, the employees discovered that the systems had been hacked. All systems had been locked down and encrypted, and on the printer there was a ransom note from the hackers demanding a hefty amount for unlocking everything again.


“The incident was not too much of a problem for us because a data backup every night is part of the service from Konica Minolta. We were able to roll back to a backup from just a few hours earlier so we were up and running again as normal in just a few hours”, says Olsen.


The incident was a good reminder of how vulnerable Varri was when it was running its own server in a cupboard with an old backup lying around at home on an external hard drive.


“I hardly dare to think about what would have happened if the ransomware attack had happened before we moved to the cloud solution. The backup could have been two weeks old”, he says.

Varri: Outsourcing IT operations to Konica Minolta

The Norwegian company Varri imports and distributes climbing and outdoor equipment and has customers in the sports industry, rescue industry and building industry. The company, which was founded in 2008, has wealth of expertise in climbing and fall protection equipment, but restricted in IT. When the company was founded, a fried of company owner Marius Olsen helped him setting up the server, which was housed in a toilet and a cupboard at various points, and Olsen was subsequently responsible for its operation and maintenance.

Advantages

Advantages
  • Company owner has freed up a lot of his time to focus on the core business instead of on technical IT solutions
  • Varri experienced an attack by ransomware in recent years, but the incident was not too much of a problem because an automatic data backup is done every night

Challenge

Challenge
  • With restricted source of IT knowledge company owner alone was responsible for all IT operations: has to set up their own server and was responsible for operating and maintaining it incl. fixing the server on their own when problems arose
  • Data backup had to be done manually: by taking a copy home on an external hard drive at irregular intervals
  • As the company grew a more professional IT solutions became necessary

Solution

Solution
  • HydraCloud solution:
    • Varri’s order systems, accounting systems and everything else run on servers located in Konica Minolta’s ISO certified data centres in Norway
    • Varri employees log into these systems via a remote desktop
    • No longer operation of own server

Success story

Wilkri Etiketten logo

Outsourcing IT Services to focus on core business

Outsourcing IT Services to focus on core business

Wilkri-Etiketten G. Hoss KG is a medium-sized company that produces a wide range of labels for products from various industries, from personalised and multilayered designs to sealing labels and label rolls and many more. The 75 employees at the company’s site in Reutlingen, Germany, use a customised IT infrastructure as well as Smart Managed Services from Konica Minolta. Even a sudden Trojan malware attack did not cause any outages at the company, and the issue was fixed within a few hours. Although the direct point of contact on the customer side was not available at the time of the attack, the seamless mechanisms of Smart Managed Services from Konica Minolta ensured that the attack could be repelled immediately.



Trojan malware attack increases ticket volume


Shortly after 2 pm on a normal working day in September 2019, experts from Smart Managed Services at Konica Minolta noticed a large ticket volume at label manufacturer Wilkri, based in Reutlingen. At 2:44 pm, the team received the message «Services not running». Three minutes later, tickets began to be processed at the first level, which includes checking the services and summarising the tickets. At 3:28 pm, the incident was confirmed to be a Trojan malware attack.


Although the virus protection software in use at Wilkri had already intervened, it could not undertake a complete clean-up of the IT system. The Trojan malware continued to attempt to download malicious files. But Konica Minolta experts had now identified the malware more specifically, allowing it to be removed from the system manually.


“Although I was in a customer meeting at the time of the attack and therefore not reachable, Konica Minolta managed to completely resolve the attack on the same day it happened so that no damage was caused to our system” says Stefan Nedele, Sales Manager at Wilkri and direct point of contact for Konica Minolta at the company. “When I returned to our headquarters the next day, everything was running as usual. If I hadn’t been informed about the incident in the meantime, I wouldn’t have noticed anything had happened.”


At 7:44 pm, the entire infrastructure – comprising 17 virtual servers, three Hyper-V hosts and around 30 PC workstations – was successfully cleaned up and completely under control. As part of this process, the relevant files had to be manually deleted from affected environments. Konica Minolta completed this task using remote maintenance. The Trojan malware infected a third of the PCs and various servers in a very short space of time.


“Trojan malware attacks are not uncommon and usually affect larger companies – although small- and medium-sized companies are not immune to them. Anti-virus software alone is not enough to prevent attacks or find and close all security gaps – comprehensive monitoring is actually required to detect suspicious network behaviour,” says Rosaline Braun, Account Manager IT-Infrastructure at Konica Minolta and main point of contact for Wilkri.


Rapid intervention prevents outages


As the Trojan malware was identified and dealt with very quickly, there were no disruptions to daily business. Cleaning up the system so rapidly meant that data theft and days of downtime for the entire company could be avoided – these have often been the results of other Trojan malware attacks at companies and organisations that took longer to detect the problem. Such attacks often require backups and time-consuming system reinstallations.


“In order to avoid such outages and focus on our core business rather than IT, we decided several years ago to outsource the control and support for our IT landscape to Konica Minolta,” says Nedele, who particularly appreciates the reliability of Konica Minolta: “We consider Konica Minolta to be our partner that always resolves issues quickly and does not leave us out in the cold as a customer.”


Smart Managed Services provide IT support


Smart Managed Services monitor the Wilkri IT landscape 24/7 and provide real-time alerts and quick error detection – a system that has been proven to be valuable during this Trojan malware attack. Proactive monitoring and preventive IT maintenance ensure that this service is effective, and performance data can also be used to find and eliminate bottlenecks. Customers pick the dedicated services to suit their requirements and only pay for what they actually use.


Smart Managed Services is tailored to the needs and requirements of the customer. This also includes notification rules, including the ability to define representatives, as is the case at Wilkri.


If a problem occurs, measures can be taken quickly to eliminate faults and prevent system outages that could affect the entire process chain. One cause of this can be, as Wilkri discovered, an employee accidentally downloading the wrong file.

Stefan Nedele
Sales Manager, Wilkri Etiketten KG, Germany
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“We were impressed by the way that our IT systems were immediately analysed and cleaned up after the Trojan malware attack, proving how reliable and effective Smart Managed Services from Konica Minolta is. Thanks to the great dedication of the Konica Minolta employees, Wilkri did not suffer any damage or outages.”

Stefan Nedele

Sales Manager, Wilkri Etiketten KG, Germany

Benefits

Benefits
  • Wilkri did not have to worry about detecting and resolving the Trojan malware attack
  • The clean-up measures did not interrupt daily work 
  • Damage and outages were completely avoided
  • Smart Managed Services allows Wilkri employees to mainly focus on their core business

Challenge

Challenge
  • Trojan malware attack at Wilkri caused by downloading a file
  • Rapidly detecting the problem and analysing it properly
  • Direct point of contact for IT questions was not reachable

Solution

Solution
  • By monitoring the Wilkri IT infrastructure as part of Smart Managed Services, Konica Minolta experts quickly detected the immediate threat
  • As communication channels had previously been agreed, the plan of action was agreed with the defined representative for IT
  • The system clean-up measures could be started straight away