Amnesty International Finland Chooses F-Secure to Defend its Network
November 2016 by Marc Jacob
Amnesty International Finland has chosen F-Secure to help defend itself from advanced threats. The nonprofit organization is taking into use F-Secure Rapid Detection Service, which detects and responds to advanced attacks in an organization’s network. The managed detection and response service combines the best of human and machine intelligence with a promise to alert the customer within just 30 minutes of a breach detection.
Non-government organizations (NGOs) are prime targets for cyber attacks due to their active role in exposing government and corporate malpractices as well as criminal structures. NGOs sometimes work in high-risk environments that can expose their staff and information sources to active attacks. Typically equipped with only light organizational support, NGOs are often perceived as soft targets. Attacker motivations could range from hacktivists trying to make a statement, to nation states engaging in espionage or coercion, to criminals after money or influence. With attackers known to lurk inside networks for weeks, months and even years siphoning data, quick detection and response is key. It is only natural for an NGO to begin from an assumption that they have been breached or are being actively targeted.
F-Secure Rapid Detection Service leverages the strengths of both human and machine intelligence to provide an all-in-one intrusion detection and response service that’s easy to deploy and ready to go immediately. The service consists of three major components: Endpoint and network decoy sensors that collect data about events and activities; F-Secure’s threat intelligence and behavioral analytics, which analyze the data to identify anomalies; and the Rapid Detection Center, which is staffed 24/7 by a team of cyber security experts who identify and handle incidents. When a breach is detected, an expert from the Rapid Detection Center will contact the customer within just 30 minutes with actionable data and to offer optional onsite investigative services if needed.
“We’re very glad to be working with F-Secure to defend our networks,” says Jukka Vallisto, IT Specialist at Amnesty International Finland. “The people we help and work with around the world, as well as our donors and partners, depend on our ability to protect their sensitive data. Partnering with F-Secure helps us considerably in watching for and handling possible advanced attacks.”
“F-Secure is pleased to provide our service to Amnesty International,” says Pekka Usva, VP, Advanced Threat Protection at F-Secure. “Politics and cyberspace are increasingly enmeshing and directly influencing one another, even as we’ve seen in recent months. In this climate, it’s important for organizations like Amnesty to have the right network defenses in place so they can continue to focus on carrying out their core mission, fighting for human rights.”