"Viruses, today, are smart and it is very difficult to be up to date and safe"

Aitor Jerez, commercial director of Sarenet.

Sarenet has organized the First Week of Cybersecurity, composed of two days of 'webinars' and two days of face-to-face sessions in Madrid and Bilbao. Talks and workshops with which one of the veteran technology companies in the Basque Country has wanted to reclaim its space in cybersecurity, presenting its complete portfolio of solutions and its expert team of professionals. Its commercial director, Aitor Jerez, explains in more detail Sarenet's vision of cybersecurity.

With the experience of Sarenet, one of the oldest companies in the market, what would you say is the current situation of cybersecurity in the Basque company?

Much progress has been made in awareness. Until not long ago, there was not this awareness of the threats in the networks. The professionals connected their equipment without any protection. It was beginning to talk about antivirus, but they were very modest and simple tools, that all they did was to see if any file had been modified. These programs have become sophisticated at a dizzying pace. At present it is very complicated to know where an attack is going to come from. Viruses are intelligent, they learn, they listen, they encyst ... it is very complicated to keep up and safe. The first viruses that were seen on the Internet were 'white hat' programs. They did not intend to harm, there was no talk of data hijacking as we do today. But it is also true that companies were less dependent on the internet.

Then the digital transformation is driving the attacks, and these in turn, the cybersecurity.

The digital transformation involves connecting more devices, which in many cases are not even computers but devices with proprietary operating systems, or very limited, that are not within the normal antivirus cycles of a PC, so keep them up to date, or know that are being attacked, it's very complicated. It is not strange that nowadays a printer is attacked for from it, to be able to jump to the servers. In a Las Vegas casino they entered through a fish tank control system.

Would you say then that attacks on companies are increasing?

Yes. They are also quite painful because they not only attack SMEs, but also companies with critical infrastructures. The Port of Barcelona, ​​for example, suffered an attack last year in which not only encrypted computers but also backup copies. The rescues for decryption are very high and can reach between 30,000 and 50,000 euros. This last month Incibe has announced that a 'malware' Triton has hacked other critical infrastructure.

How is Sarenet's offer evolving in this matter?

In Sarenet we have been incorporating pieces of the puzzle. In cybersecurity, there is not a single site in which to offer an element of security, it is necessary to offer it in layers, as has been stated in one of the workshops of the day. The layers are covering from the most external part, closest to the internet, to the user. It is useless to mount a firewall if a user is running a program, tricked by a message of 'fishing', and lawfully entering a virus on your computer.

What is the objective of the day and to whom is it directed?

The objective of the day is to change the external image of Sarenet. Our brand is very linked to communications. And although some clients already know us in the cybersecurity part, we want to present our portfolio and our expert team of professionals so that cybersecurity is another pillar in the association to the brand. In the 1st Cybersecurity Week we have made two webinars and one face-to-face event, both in Bilbao and in Madrid, which have been carried out by technicians of the company or companies with which we collaborate, among them Fortinet, Sophos, Tenable. multinationals with which we have been able to design our portfolio. And we target customers and distributors who complement their portfolio with our solutions.

What are the objectives of Sarenet for 2019 in the cybersecurity part?

We have a team of professionals dedicated to cybersecurity and we want this department to be consolidated within the company, as well as the portfolio of solutions that we have complemented and that our image is associated with cybersecurity. We also have another handicap, which is cybersecurity in industrial matters. Sarenet was born in the Basque Country, with a very powerful industrial business framework, and the Basque Government is greatly facilitating the implementation of security measures in all production plants seeking the competitiveness of companies.

Does Sarenet collaborate with the Basque Cybersecurity Center?

We collaborate with the Basque Cybersecurity Center and with the Incibe and we approach companies giving them the opportunity to implement those solutions that the Basque Government understands that will enhance their competitiveness. To this end, in addition, through SPRI, has designed a comprehensive program of aid.