Technology Sunset: INCENTEA

Trends in data protection, network security and threat intelligence.

On September 18, INCENTEA brought together customers, partners and technology professionals for another edition of the Technology Sunset, a moment for sharing and reflecting on some of the main challenges organizations face.

The welcome session was given by Susana Marrazes, Director of the iSystems business unit at INCENTEA, who kicked off an afternoon of solution presentations, technology demonstrations and, above all, discussion of the importance of preparing organizations for a constantly evolving threat landscape.

A partnership built over time – Ar

The first talk was by Bruno Martins of Ar Telecom, a Portuguese technology company with 25 years of history, specializing in implementing evolutionary processes and digital transformation.

Throughout its history, Ar Telecom has followed the technological evolution of organizations. In 2015 it launched its first cloud solution and, in 2017, it started a partner program that would go on to play a significant role in the company’s development.

The close relationship between Ar Telecom and INCENTEA was also highlighted, based on the complementarity of their solutions and skills. A partnership that makes it possible to respond more comprehensively to customers’ challenges.

Artificial intelligence is changing the threat landscape

Cybersecurity played a central role at the Technology Sunset with the talk by Fábio Ribeiro of WatchGuard.
The starting point was clear: threats have evolved, and so has the speed of attacks.

According to the presentation, attackers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence and automation to develop attacks that are faster, more diverse and harder to detect. In this scenario, an attack can unfold in a few hours, drawing on different sources and automated tools at the same time.

In this context, security can no longer depend exclusively on traditional models. Protection models capable of keeping pace with the speed and sophistication of new threats must be adopted.

WatchGuard presented its threat protection and management solutions, highlighting the use of artificial intelligence as a tool to support security teams. 

RAI: artificial intelligence applied to security

Among the novelties presented was RAI, WatchGuard’s artificial intelligence agent.
The solution frees security teams from part of the analysis work, enabling on-demand or scheduled audits. During the event, a practical demonstration of the technology was given, showing how the solution can help reduce noise and speed up the identification of potential threats.

One of the points reinforced during the presentation was, however, the role of people. Despite the growing use of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity, decisions are still made by professionals. People define what RAI does and how the technology should be used.

Security and privacy: a cross-cutting approach

Technology security is not limited to the tools used to detect attacks. That was the perspective presented by Hélia Pinto of iSystems, in a talk dedicated to data security and privacy solutions.

Protecting an organization requires a cross-cutting approach, which starts with identifying risks and extends to processes, people, suppliers, assets and data.

The areas highlighted included:

• Risk identification and assessment, to understand the threats each organization is exposed to.

• Audits, making it possible to verify existing controls and adapt them to each organization’s reality.

• Policies, processes and procedures, establishing clear rules for information security.

• Supplier management, considering the risks associated with the supply chain.

• Incident and security management, essential for understanding and responding to attacks that occur daily.

• Awareness and training, recognizing the fundamental role of employees in security.

• Asset management, ensuring a clear view of existing technology resources.

• Business continuity management, through the preparation of plans capable of ensuring operations in the face of incidents.

• Data protection and classification, ensuring that information is properly

From identity to the cloud: an integrated approach

The presentation of INCENTEA’s solutions was given by Lúcio Crespo, who continued the security theme with an integrated view of the different areas in which organizations need to be protected.
Solutions were presented relating to:

• Identity and Microsoft 365 security;

• Infrastructure and network security;

• Continuous monitoring and SOC;

• Ransomware resilience;

• Cloud environment assessment.

The diversity of these areas reflects an increasingly evident reality: security is no longer an isolated layer of the technology infrastructure. It is present in users’ identity, networks, devices, the cloud, data and business processes.

Technology at the service of people

The closing of the Technology Sunset was given by Luís Barreiro, who offered a particularly relevant reflection for an event centered on technology and security:

“The scarcest resource is not time but attention. People can make time available, but not attention.”

The phrase sums up one of the great challenges of digital transformation. As organizations adopt more technology, more solutions and more tools, it becomes essential to ensure that this technology is truly able to capture people’s attention and help them make better decisions.

The INCENTEA Technology Sunset thus ended with a message that goes beyond the technological dimension: in a context where threats evolve rapidly and artificial intelligence plays an ever-greater role, technology will be only as effective as people’s ability to understand it, use it and integrate it into their decisions.