Public administration is undergoing a technological revolution. Processes and information are all being digitalized, and more and more services and procedures are being offered online in order to make them more agile. All of which is, of course, contributing to the exponential growth in the amount of confidential data that is being created, stored, and managed. And this data needs to be protected. But, while public administrations have been adopting new technologies, they have also become more exposed to new kinds of attacks.

This has therefore led to new demands on administrations in terms of prevention and security legislation. The reality, however, is that many of this institutions are charging ahead with new technologies, while cybersecurity becomes something of an afterthought, if it is considered at all. This of course carries with it certain risks, perhaps overlooking the fact that local governments are a popular target for cyberattackers. And the stats back this up:

In the UK, there were a total of 98 million attempted cyberattacks on local governments between 2013 and 2017 – the equivalent of 37 attempts every minute. In that time, 29% of local governments experienced a successful cyberincident.

At the start of this year, employees in the city hall of Del Rio, Texas, suffered a ransomware attack that forced the organization to turn off all the computers on their IT network and carry out their work using pen and paper.

Among the most frequent attacks on public administration are:

  • Data theft. Governments of all types manage vast quantities of personal data, which makes them popular targets for cybercriminals.
  • Insider attacks. Disgruntled or malicious employees with access to privileged information can cause even more damage than external attackers – as can former employees who still have access credentials.
  • Politically motivated attacks. Cyberattacks aren’t always necessarily carried out for financial gain; governments are seriously exposed to attacks that seek to stop them from running properly.

Case study: the City Council of Alcúdia

The City Council of Alcúdia, in the north of the island of Majorca, is all too aware of the consequences that a cybersecurity incident can have. The City Council was searching for a proactive tool that provided tough
protection against IT attacks and other potential security problems that could possibly threaten the management of the corporation.

One of the challenges that they faced was the fact that they needed to have information about the status of the protections in their IT network, something that the security solution that they were using at the time didn’t offer. What’s more, even with their old antivirus completely updated, the organization had suffered three different Cryptolocker infections. Something clearly had to change.

The City Council needed a solution that offered a high level of protection against zero-day attacks, along with complete control and supervision over its installations.

Evaluation of cybersecurity solutions

Naturally, the City Council of Alcúdia wanted the best solution possible to protect their IT network. With that in mind, it evaluated different options on the market. Panda Adaptive Defense 360 turned out to be the best alternative to their previous endpoint protection. What’s more, Panda Security’s advanced cybersecurity solution added an additional layer of security that the institution needed, monitoring and supervising every running program in real time.

The City Council evaluated Panda Adaptive Defense for a month, and, according to Pau Llabrés Pol, the IT technician of the City Council, the evaluation was a success.

“The installation and configuration over all the endpoints was really simple, and at the same time, the supervision and Cloud control tool is very powerful.” Pau Llabrés Pol, IT technician of the City Council of Alcúdia.

Today, Adaptive Defense 360 supervises and controls in real-time all running programs in the City Council of Alcúdia’s IT park. It provides protection against advanced threats and zero-day malware. The local government managed to have the real time visibility that is needed, as well as the ability to carry out forensic analysis.

The advantages of advanced cybersecurity

The City Council of Alcúdia is distributed in different central offices and branches, which means that the Adaptive Defense 360 cloud solution offers huge advantages when it comes to protecting the whole infrastructure. The advanced protection offers application control, which detects and blocks any strange behaviors.

It also offers a range of other benefits, such as:

  • Complete protection for workstations and servers.
  • Immediate response to targeted and Zero-Day attacks.
  • Advanced forensic analysis.
  • Daily reports about the status of the protection.
  • Lightweight and transparent protection for the end user.
  • Qualified staff available to respond immediately to possible targeted and Zero-Day attacks.

Conclusion

For the City Council of Alcúdia, the Panda Adaptive Defense 360 cloud provides enormous advantages and fits perfectly in the City Council’s security environment. Nowadays, there isn’t another Cloud solution that can compete with Adaptive Defense 360; it offers a real competitive advantage in regards to security.

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