We have been in contact with Trend Micro for a very long time. We have a Domino server, which is the alternative to an Exchange server, and we have implemented their virus scanner there. Because of that, we decided to stick with the company and integrate Email Gateway Protection as well. It is important for us because we host our own mail server, and we receive a huge amount of spam. The goal was to reduce that. So far, we have reduced our email traffic by almost 50%—thanks to email filtering. This means our employees do not have to handle those emails anymore.
We receive around 1,000,000 emails per year and 500,000 of those are junk. That was a key factor in saving work time. Every email that lands in an inbox has to be handled—either deleted or responded to. We tested this with different employees and found that deciding whether an email is relevant or junk takes about 10 to 15 seconds per email. With 500,000 unnecessary emails, you can imagine how much time we are saving company-wide.
Another major reason we implemented this solution is phishing emails. This is a huge issue. Trend Micro offers phishing awareness training, but ideally, these phishing emails should not even reach our company, as they are highly dangerous. So far, Trend Micro has filtered out around 3,700 phishing emails for us.
There is another extremely dangerous issue—malicious software hidden in attachments. If an employee clicks on such an attachment, files could get encrypted. In the past year, Trend Micro has intercepted 60 such cases, meaning 60 incidents where our files did not get encrypted.
This is why we use this solution. Of course, there are other providers, but we find Trend Vision One's interface very user-friendly. We also have a dashboard where we can track everything and pull these statistics.
In Germany, such a security solution is very important. Due to a change in the law, company management is now obligated to ensure that IT security is based on best practices. If they fail to do so or are unaware of their security status and neglect it, they are now personally liable with their private assets. I also need a tool that allows my management and board to monitor our security status. One of the reasons why we chose Trend Vision One was that it provides the option for the board to check the dashboards. This means that every morning while having coffee, they can see the security status of the company on their phones. They can also ask, "Hey, why is our security score high? Is our IT department not working properly? Or do we have a real problem that requires additional software or other measures?" Additionally, negotiations become easier for the IT department, for management, and for us. If security gaps arise, we can say, "Hey, we need software or an investment of a certain amount." We now have a solid foundation for our case.
We use email security and endpoint protection. Endpoint protection is installed on every computer and server, with enhanced sensors on the servers. These security tools are crucial for us—without them, we would be blind in IT. They allow us to monitor the health of each system and user activity, including preventing access to inappropriate websites.
We have a lot of remote work, and we used to struggle because we could not properly monitor devices outside our network or firewall. Now, we can control things like applications, websites, USB sticks, and external hard drives, which was previously impossible. A key feature of our endpoint protection is that if a computer reaches a certain security risk score, it is automatically blocked by the software. This means that if an attack occurs, the affected computer is isolated from the network, preventing further spread.
Our biggest challenge is not direct hacking attacks—our company is not a high-priority target. Instead, phishing emails are the main issue. These emails attempt to trick employees into making fraudulent payments or providing access to our systems, allowing ransomware installation. Email security is our biggest focus area.
It has significantly reduced email volume, which is crucial, especially for our security team, as they do not have time to review every message. IT also receives fewer inquiries about whether emails are legitimate. Additionally, phishing training has helped—our employees recognize phishing attempts better, and our click rate on phishing simulations has dropped to zero. Previously, conducting a phishing simulation would have cost €2,500 per test, but now, we can run one or two tests per month at no additional cost. This provides great value.
It is important for us that Trend Vision One has AI built into its platform. It is essential for detecting abnormalities quickly. Humans may not notice certain threats, but AI can. However, AI is not perfect and sometimes lets suspicious emails through, which we then manually review in quarantine. AI is constantly learning, and the more it improves, the less manual intervention is needed, which is beneficial for us.
We now have visibility. Previously, we were blind and could not assess our security status.
Trend Vision One helped reduce our time to detect and respond to threats. Previously, we relied on reading security forums and websites to identify vulnerabilities. Now, we get real-time alerts and can take immediate action.
Our speed has increased significantly. We can update and patch security threats daily, whereas before, it took weeks or even months.
Trend Vision One has helped our organization reduce its cyber risk, especially through endpoint protection. For example, our field employees used to connect unknown external hard drives, which posed a risk. That is no longer possible, eliminating a major threat vector.
Trend Vision One has helped consolidate our use of security vendors. Previously, we only had basic endpoint protection from another provider, which we replaced with Trend Vision. We now have more security software, not less, because our company has grown significantly—from a small business to a mid-sized enterprise. The IT department was lagging behind, and security was not a priority. Now, we manage everything with one provider, rather than multiple vendors.