IA Group upgrades its preparedness to fight cyber-attack threats
With Volkis as their security partner, IA Group upgrades their cybersecurity standards and addresses potential vulnerabilities.
IA Group, established in 2001, is a financial services company based in Sydney. Their main business is specialist lending, wherein they participate in lending money for both secured commercial and individual needs.
The Challenge
IA Group got acquired by Resimac Group. Becoming a part of a larger entity comes with its set of responsibilities—a large volume of customer data, higher security risk management requirements —and potentially increased vulnerability points. IA Group had to ensure that their cybersecurity processes were ready to be compliant with the larger groups’ security standards.
Thus, IA Group decided to take stock of its cybersecurity measures - analyse their hardware, software, networks, firewalls and ensure mitigation of risks. This required Penetration Testing, and a cybersecurity partner who they could trust. That was when Volkis came into the picture.
Why Volkis
IA Group was looking for a security partner with a solid reputation, one with expert knowledge and business ethics. The Head of Technology from IA Group, having explored other options, considered Volkis to be experts in the field, and formed the trust and confidence that Volkis could help with what was needed at the IA Group.
When compared with other cybersecurity providers—including bigger players, they found Volkis to be at the top given the amount of value IA Group received compared to the investment. The Head of Technology felt that the Volkis quality was second to none.
The Solution
Volkis’s approach to penetration testing was to first identify all existing vulnerabilities in the system. And later work with IA Group to help close those loopholes. They started with internal and external penetration tests, as was required by the client, but later added the wireless penetration test on their request.
Volkis was able to explain risks and how hackers could potentially penetrate IA Group’s network, and gain control over the environment using a combination of vulnerabilities. In a meeting with the senior staff, they explained those issues to the team and gave insights on how to mitigate those risks using everyday language. This was also laid down clearly in their penetration testing report that guided the IA Group on how to remediate the vulnerabilities and risks that they were exposed to.
Volkis’s approach was to first understand the application and the needs of the customer. After analysing the application and the purpose it was used for, the Volkis team proposed Penetration Testing as the solution.
The Results
With Volkis’s penetration testing approach, IA Group was able to detect key vulnerabilities in their network and fix them, making their data and systems secure against any potential cyber-attacks. With this solution, IA Group saw the following outcomes.
- Robust security of their tech environment, warding off any potential vulnerabilities in the system.
- Upgrading their cybersecurity standards to avoid any reputational loss to parent companies that would have occurred in the event of a data leak.
- Seamless customer experience, with Volkis being transparent about their processes and providing detailed solutions to remedy the identified security vulnerabilities.
- Change in staff mentality towards IT security since they became aware of penetration testing, and much more security conscious.
“The overall project was outstanding, thanks to Volkis’s expertise as well as the smooth delivery experience. I find them to be quite reliable in terms of what they do. And when you need high-quality work, and a value for money cyber- security partner, there is no comparison. When I would need for any other cyber- security consultation, I’d undoubtedly go with Volkis again, and we are already speaking to Volkis for some more initiatives!”
Ritchie Beltran
Head of Technology at IA Group