Ferrari announced in March that its wholly-owned subsidiary Ferrari S.p.A had been the subject of a ransom demand following a cyber breach.
The Italian manufacturer stated at the time it would not be held to ransom, adding that paying such demands funds criminal activity and enables bad actors to perpetuate their attacks.
Instead of submitting to the cyber criminals, Ferrari warned those affected by the breach that their information had been exposed, working with law enforcements to hunt down those behind the attack.
Moving forward, the company has built a partnership with cybersecurity company Bitdefender, expanding the existing deal from just covering Scuderia Ferrari.
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Ferrari S.p.A will integrate Bitdefender Advance Threat Intelligence into its security operations, boosting the team’s capabilities by providing threat data and intelligence to identify and halt any potential attack.
Speaking at an event to announce their partnership, Ferrari’s head of cybersecurity Luca Pierro said that it was a question of when, not if the company is attacked, as large companies face being targeted.
“This is our mantra,” Pierro said.
“Be ready to manage an adverse event.”
While there will always be a risk from phishing attacks and human error, Ferrari hopes the partnership can help provider overall protection against more damaging attacks.
“In the past, we dealt with single individuals,” Pierro added.
“Now we deal with proper criminal organizations. This is a game changer.”
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Offering their expert opinion, Bitdefender’s chief executive and co-founder Florin Talpes warned companies that the landscape is changing in the cybersecurity world.
“‘We are secure’ does not exist,” Talpes said.
“Technology is evolving continually, [and this] changes what you need to defend.”