COVER STORY nd-user
CUTTING-EDGE CYBERSECURITY PROTECTS THE MOBILE WORKFORCE
Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company ( KIPIC ) is responsible for managing refining , liquefied natural gas and petrochemicals activities . KIPIC is a critical national infrastructure organisation , which makes cybersecurity a high priority . Here , Husain Al-Maghrabi , Head of Cyber Security at KIPIC , discusses the successful implementation of Lookout Mobile Endpoint Security to protect 1,600 devices and reveals how it has educated its workforce on best practices for protecting against cybersecurity threats .
tThe challenge : Securing an unseen and uncontrolled mobile attack surface
The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for KIPIC as employees worked remotely and increasingly relied on mobile devices . As a critical national infrastructure organisation , the petroleum products company is highly visible and a valuable target for threat actors . KIPIC needed a security capability that would self-install for mobile users and provide clear alerts , guidance and protection on observed risks .
“ When the pandemic began and our workforce started working remotely suddenly , we were no longer communicating from within the network inside our office ,” said Husain Al- Maghrabi , Head of Cyber Security at KIPIC . “ With staff more frequently using personal devices from home , we needed a mobile cybersecurity solution to protect our organisation and our staff from cyberthreats .”
KIPIC has a philosophy that security should enable the business , not constrain it . As such , the organisation needed a cybersecurity partner to educate its workforce on best practices and help it stay on the cutting edge to prevent a future breach .
Solution
With a newly dispersed workforce , the KIPIC Cyber Security Team knew it needed a cybersecurity solution that incorporated :
• Ability for the remote workforce to self-install the software on their personal mobile device
• Support in English and Arabic to meet the needs of KIPIC ’ s diverse workforce
• Securing data travelling from mobile devices to the cloud
Lookout worked with KIPIC to develop a mobile defence solution its remote workforce could install on their mobile devices . Given KIPIC ’ s global bilingual workforce , Lookout provided a solution that accommodated both English and Arabic speakers .
Husain Al-Maghrabi , Head of Cyber Security at KIPIC
The KIPIC cybersecurity team also enabled the KIPIC workforce by educating them on cybersecurity best practices to make them part of the organisation ’ s cybersecurity defence . “ Cybersecurity awareness protects our employees at home and in the office , which in turn protects KIPIC ,” said Al-Maghrabi . “ Understanding where our enterprise is vulnerable to a cyberattack and consistently running tests to find gaps in our defence is a critical part of how Lookout has improved our cybersecurity .” www . intelligentciso . com
51