Cyberattacks frequently target municipal administrations, posing a significant threat to their operations. Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia is now taking an important step to enhance the security of its more than 400 local governments, with a focus on analysing the varying security standards they have in place.
To this end, the security experts of Germany’s largest IT system house employ a proprietary, standardised and highly automated security health check, B-Hard. An effective way to assess IT security, B-Hard has been used in the neighbouring state of Lower Saxony since 2022, providing actionable insights and complete transparency into the municipalities’ security readiness.
B-Hard at a glance.
- Independent, thorough audit from an outside perspective
- A precise and comparable assessment of the current security level
- Clear recommendations for action
- Building block for an information security strategy
- Increased resilience to cyber attacks
- Independent, thorough audit from an outside perspective
- A precise and comparable assessment of the current security level
- Clear recommendations for action
- Building block for an information security strategy
- Increased resilience to cyber attacks
Actionable recommendations from Bechtle.
Designed to determine the resilience to cyber threats provided by an organisation’s existing IT security system, B-Hard encompasses an array of aspects such as securing network gateways, safe internet practices, mitigating vulnerabilities, safe usage of social networks, and conducting penetration tests. The gained insights are translated into clear recommendations for action to bolster security in the short and long term.
In early 2022, Bechtle began training dedicated B-Hard consultants who are conducting the health check on site with minimal impact on customer resources. For the implementation of the recommended measures, the ministry and municipalities can rely on the Bechtle Group’s network of 450 IT security specialists for holistic advice and support from deployment to operations.
IT security at Bechtle.
With 20 Competence Centres, 80+ IT system houses, 450 security engineers and consultants, and more than 1,200 certifications to boot, private and public organisations of all shapes and sizes trust our IT security solutions. End to end. Day in, day out. And as a qualified APT response service provider for Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) Bechtle can also guarantee effective emergency assistance.