When Multiconsult saw the need for a 24-hour security operations center, the choice was between running it themselves or handing it over to an external partner. Now their security operations center, which saw the light of day in May 2020, is operated by Netsecurity.
Multiconsult is one of Norway's leading engineering and consultancy companies. Since 1908, the company has shaped Norway's development and economic growth. With more than 2,850 employees, the company offers multi-disciplinary consulting, design, engineering, architecture, project follow-up, management, verification and control - both nationally and internationally.
Trond Dalsveen, Section Manager IT Operations & Infrastructure, explains that although IT operations and security are part of Multiconsult Norway, the company has a holistic approach to this area. In practice, this means that the same services are delivered to the entire company, regardless of geographical location. "This places very high demands on flexible solutions," he explains:
-"We sell hours for a living, so we are dependent on high uptime and stable operations. Everything must be stable and secure. We work on large projects and are dependent on a good overview of data flow.
The collaboration with Netsecurity, which started almost 13 years ago, has fostered solutions that provide this security.
- "In the beginning, we used Netsecurity for network, firewall and end-to-end protection. They are a company we know well and have been satisfied with right from the start.
Dalsveen explains that Multiconsult takes security very seriously and sees it as an ongoing challenge.
- "We've experienced major growth both in Norway and internationally, which means that the security measures that worked well when we were a small organization no longer work as well. We have outgrown our own security solutions and the need for a more comprehensive system became apparent.
It wasn't just growth that made Multiconsult start looking for a new solution:
- Increased complexity was another factor that meant we needed new tools to monitor and compile logs. In addition, we saw that the focus on and demands for security were increasing, also among our customers. As a player in power emergency preparedness, we are subject to the Power Emergency Preparedness Regulations and must be able to answer a number of security questions and account for several security aspects. This means that we operate with quite extensive formal safety requirements.
In the end, the decision was between fixing the necessary security measures ourselves and outsourcing it.
- Security is complex, and we realized that running a 24/7 security operations center (SOC) in-house would require both skills development and hiring more new employees. As a result, we decided on a SOC that would be operated by the supplier, a professional SOC.
- We started by hiring an independent security consultant to help us map out what was important for us to include in the SOC. Based on what emerged then, we sent out a list of requirements to various players in the security industry. We mainly targeted companies with operations in Norway or the Nordic region.
- Language was important to us, and proximity can quickly become key when it comes to security work. It's a great advantage to be able to meet face to face, quickly. The location of the company you work with also has a lot to say when it comes to data processing agreements and regulations in general. In addition, we know how active the cybercriminal community is, and how surprisingly easy it is to manipulate someone. They say that you can distinguish between two types of organizations: Those that know they've been hacked and those that don't. "We wanted to be as well prepared as possible.
After four rounds, Multiconsult was left with two candidates, and Netsecurity won the tender. Multiconsult went from wanting a better overview, monitoring and logging of security incidents in their environment to having a tool, a SOC that Netsecurity operates and staffs.
- "Netsecurity has reinforced the impression of being a serious supplier, both through the tender process and in the implementation. Naturally, we encountered some obstacles along the way, several of which looked quite complicated, but Netsecurity has confirmed that they are solution-oriented and creative in finding good solutions that work for us.
Jostein Angeltvedt, Sales Director at Netsecurity, confirms the successful collaboration:
- "Netsecurity is very happy to be able to continue the security journey together with Multiconsult," he emphasizes.