Will IT Manager Frank make it to his next wedding anniversary?

Love is in the air

Due to the corona crisis, these were crazy times for Frank and Els. Frank is an IT manager at NV Hogerbouw. Els works as an emergency nurse at the AZ Sint-Genesius hospital. They have both been very busy the past year. But not tonight.

Since eating out is not an option, they have ordered a delicious menu at their beloved restaurant. Frank has already champered a delicious Saint-Emilion 2012 and while he tastes the heavenly liquid, he watches his cell phone with one eye. A few mails arrive, but he decides not to read them.

Els looks at him from the other side of the beautifully set table. He notices and recognizes that look. Yes, that phone next to the plate irritates her. Frank wants to make a cosy evening of it, smiles understandingly and shoves the shiny thing aside. They sound off on their togetherness. The children are at Grandma and Grandpa's. No, Frank thinks, no work tonight.

It goes wrong with the scampi

A little later a man is at the front door with delicious steaming dishes. The fragrantly spiced scampi with garlic are served immediately. The rack of lamb is kept warm in the oven. The tiramisu is put in the fridge for another hour. Certainly enough garlic on the scampi, Frank thinks, but apart from that everything goes perfectly. Another glass is poured, and in a moment we cut the rack of lamb. And while Frank sips his Saint-Emilion, the screen of his mobile phone lights up. It's a phone! It's Mario, his colleague. Els rolls her eyes, but he has to answer it. Mario doesn't just call.

A cryptolocker!

Mario is one of the bright minds in Frank's IT team. An employee contacted him because when he opened a folder on the server, he got a pop-up window saying that he has to pay $50,000 to get access. Milj**r! curses Frank. A cryptolocker! It encrypts the company data, after which cybercriminals make you pay huge amounts of money to get the data back. If you get it back at all.

Where's that?! network? He may be... disseminate. Immediate action required! "I have to go Els" says Frank and gives his wife a quick kiss. He rushes straight to the office. Els finishes the Saint-Emilion and flies into the Gin. Finally she puts on her coat and stumbles home to her parents, where she cries herself to sleep...

What does this story of Els & Frank teach us?

Will it be a happy ending after all? Or will Els, with a pounding head and a whiff of garlic and alcohol, call for a divorce? We leave everyone's imagination free to determine the sequel.

The main message, however, is clear: as a company, it is better to be well-armed hackers and as an IT manager you'd better surround yourself with specialists in case things do go wrong. We try to relieve our customers of as much of their worries as possible. Managed Services but it also prevents security-related disaster scenarios.

Most hacks happen via unpatched hardware or software in the network; and it is mainly for this reason that Managed Services best be part of your security strategy if you don't have the manpower to do it yourself. Also with our Managed Expertise formulas, people like Frank can always call on our level 3 specialists for quick assistance in these kinds of predicaments.