Manufacturing company Megablok was experiencing frequent network outages that were halting business productivity and forcing employees to work from home. Like most, it blamed its current network and decided to recheck all network cables and expand its broadband to help resolve the issue. Frustratingly, the outages continued to happen. The company learned shortly after that the issues were a result of a cyberattack.

There were millions of ransomware attacks in 2020 and hackers continue to threaten a range of businesses including critical infrastructure, food producers, schools and even hospitals. Megablok's attackers infiltrated the system to send customers fake invoices that looked legitimate but had an alternative banking account number. The business was at risk of losing revenue and customers if it didn't quickly eliminate the threat.

"It was frustrating because we didn't know what the issue was or how to find it," said Megablok CEO Enrique Villaverde. "We needed to act fast as the attack was threatening our productivity and client relationships."

Mounting Security Threats to Businesses

Businesses are dealing with unprecedented security challenges having to secure constantly evolving infrastructure with a limited budget and resources. Security risks have expanded during the pandemic from employees working from home on unsecured networks or personal devices. Additionally, organizations were forced to rapidly adopt new technologies to automate operations, improve safety procedures and allow remote access.

To help find a solution, Megablok turned to Orbe, a Cisco Premier Partner. The Cisco Secure Portfolio uses a broad set of technologies that work together with third-party technologies to secure infrastructure. The portfolio would allow Megablok to protect its network, email, and endpoints for an automated and stronger defense against threats.

Budgets That Work for Any Size Business

As a family run business, Megablok needed to find a sustainable way to pay for the adoption of these new technologies. Cisco Capital stepped in and connected Megablok with De Lage Landen and provided a flexible payment solution that worked best for the company. As a result, Megablok was able to finance the full cost of the project including the technology and Orbe's managed services at zero interest.

"We knew we needed to adopt the new technology in order to recover from the attack and help the business remain productive, but as a smaller, family run business evaluating the costs felt overwhelming," Villaverde recalled. "Knowing that we were able to make set payments over time with zero interest meant we didn't have to make cuts to other areas of the business and could better manage budgets."

Immediate Impact from New Security Tools

The new system was up and running in time to finish project and Megablok noticed immediate improvements in connectivity while having peace of mind knowing its infrastructure was better protected. Additionally, the system was filtering out fraudulent emails to help protect Megablok employees from falling victim to phishing attacks. Megablok noticed a significant reduction in the number of emails being received which in turn allowed the team to be more productive and focus on other tasks.

"The reduction in emails was a surprising result but it reduced our anxieties about another attack and allowed us to refocus back to other areas of the business," Villaverde said.

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