Big Data 2021: Cybersecurity, a major challenge in business

The Big Data show opened its doors this morning for its 2021 edition with well-known themes such as cybersecurity, data analysis, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and even the cloud. For the occasion, Thales – a group specializing in security and defense – and ManoMano – a DIY equipment sales platform – took part in a roundtable discussion on security and data protection issues in organizations. “Cybersecurity is the very essence of the Thales group,” explains Juliette Rouilloux-Sicre, vice-president and legal director for data, intellectual property and cybersecurity and data protection officer at Thales. She is very clear on this subject, companies – of all sizes – were not prepared for an explosion of cyber attacks and turned to Thales very quickly.

With the pandemic, the number of attacks has indeed doubled between 2019 and 2021. At ManoMano, security was also a major issue with a boom observed on their e-commerce platform during the pandemic. The company – leveraging AWS cloud resources – is not yet at its 10th anniversary and yet it is already experiencing growth that many envy. With teams distributed in France, the company has adapted well to teleworking and the collaborative tools that most of it already used.

Fabien Lemarchand, in charge of IT security at ManoMano, was present at the Big Data show. (Credit: ManoMano)

This increase in traffic has been accompanied by an intensification of cyber risks, however, explains Fabien Lemarchand, Director General of IT Security (CISO) at ManoMano for two years. In order to best sensitize its teams but also partners and merchants, the e-commerce platform has decided to have a “ethical hacker», By putting himself in the shoes of an attacker in order to test his teams before the arrival of a possible attack. This prevention and awareness phase made it possible to detect the shortcomings of certain employees but also to reduce future risks. This offensive, profitable strategy is also an opportunity to empower internal teams.

Awareness applied to the entire supply chain

At Thales, this risk awareness is not new but pre-existing to the company. To be prepared for any eventuality, the company has strengthened its secure messaging tool Citadel Team – hosted by OVH – launched 3 years ago now and guaranteeing companies the confidentiality of their sensitive communications and the location of their data in France. “Addressing the entire value chain” is one of the essential points in terms of corporate cybersecurity, says Juliette Rouilloux-Sicre. A cyber questionnaire has also been set up to guide companies and see their maturity. For its part, ManoMano explains that it encountered some difficulties with merchants and partners, and the securing of customer data.

Juliette Rouilloux-Sicre, Legal Director, is in particular in charge of legal aspects related to intellectual property and cybersecurity for all entities of the Thales Group. (Credit: Thales)

“It is essential that Europe has a secure cloud when we know that a lot of data can be read by the United States” specifies this legal director of Thales, long-time partner of Anssi. “Data encryption is essential from a legal point of view.” However, a secure cloud offer remains difficult to provide; “We must first map the data and existing risks,” she adds. Fabien Lemarchand specifies for his part that “cybersecurity is a support and a value for the customer” that the marketplace wishes to guarantee.