- "We see many attempts to break into our systems on a daily basis, so it is clearly critical for us to have a high focus on security," says Harry Ljosdal, IT manager at Kruse Smith.
The contractor, headquartered in Kristiansand, has 450 employees, about half of whom are craftsmen on the construction sites. There are often challenges in establishing lines and stable and secure communication at locations that lack available digital infrastructure," says Harry Ljosdal.
Previously, Kruse Smith itself set up and operated networks at the construction sites.Since this was both time-consuming and in many cases challenging, the contractor decided to link up with a security partner who could help them:
- "Netsecurity now takes care of the entire process of setting up, operating and decommissioning networks at our construction sites. We see that they have very good expertise in this, and that they have good services. It gives us both relief and the security we need," explains Ljosdal.
- "It's extremely important for our projects that we have stability in the network and that we avoid downtime, which can be very costly," he adds.
- It is extremely important for our projects that we have stability in the network and that we avoid downtime, which can be very costly.
Harry Ljosdal, IT Manager at Kruse Smith
- "The industry is becoming increasingly digitized, which means we have to think differently about safety," says Ljosdal.
Previously, Kruse Smith worked mostly with physical drawings at the construction site. Today, this is increasingly being phased out and taken over by digital 3D models (BIM) and digital interaction platforms with suppliers. It's the same with data centers: they used to store everything in physical data centers, but now virtually everything has been moved to the cloud.
- All in all, there is a lot of data moving every day, and this places completely different demands on the digital infrastructure out on the projects than it did previously," says Harry Ljosdal.
It is critical for Kruse Smith that information does not go astray. They handle large amounts of contracts, drawings and other information digitally. "Both clients and customers have higher security requirements now, and we as a supplier must deliver on that," says Harry Ljosdal.
- We mustn't underestimate how exposed we really are," says Harry Ljosdal enthusiastically.
It takes time, focus and expertise to keep up to date with security as a specialist area. According to Ljosdal, it is therefore safe to have an IT security supplier that is "ahead of the game" both on the service side and with its expertise:
- "Working with Netsecurity definitely gives us increased security in our everyday lives. I know that security is taken care of, and it's also nice to have a partner who knows us, responds and follows us up.
Kruse Smith has taken many steps to ensure the security of the platforms they use. The contractor has an enormous amount of data, systems that must be available, uptime that must be in place, and employees who have both PCs and mobile phones:
- So we've had to take some important steps to ensure a safe working day. Systems are one thing, they're important, but we're also working hard to ensure that employees themselves are trained and understand why security is important.
Kruse Smith has therefore, among other things, carried out simulated attacks via a phishing exercise, so that employees can practice dealing with a possible attack. They have also introduced two-factor authorization and a strict regime on the machines used.
- "Building security awareness internally is important to reduce the risk of a successful attack," concludes Harry Ljosdal.
Extreme Networks is a provider of a cloud-based platform for operating wired and wireless networks
Extreme Networks was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in California. It operates in over 80 countries and has a total of over 50,000 customers.
Jens Elmholt Birkeland
