Bitdefender’s Business Solutions Group came off an exceptional year of growth fueled in part by enterprise demand for endpoint protection and threat detection and response services to counter cybercriminals capitalizing on the global pandemic.
As we enter a new year, we see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel with effective vaccines and hope for a return to some normalcy. However, as we have witnessed recently with ransomware gangs targeting hospitals and devastating attacks against supply chains, we can be sure cybercriminals and nation-state adversaries will remain relentless. More than ever, organizations need cybersecurity at the top of their 2021 priorities.
We sat down with Steve Kelley, president and general manager of Bitdefender Business Solutions Group for his thoughts on company growth and leveling the playing field against cyberthreats.
Q: COVID-19 disrupted business operations and entire market sectors globally in 2020. In spite of these challenges, the Bitdefender Business Solutions Group saw exceptional growth – why do you think that is?
SK: The COVID-19 pandemic created many challenges and disruptions globally for businesses of all sizes. From a cybersecurity perspective, the fear and uncertainty of the pandemic combined with work-from-home scenarios increased a number of security factors such as: growing attack surface, delayed detection and response, acceleration toward cloud workloads, increased phishing attacks, heightened vulnerability exposure and exposed physical security. The alignment of Bitdefender’s solution portfolio with these burgeoning challenges led to an acceleration of interest in and adoption of our endpoint, cloud and managed services.
Q: “Innovation” is a word used by Bitdefender quite often, what does that word mean to you and why is it significant for the Business Solutions Group?
SK: “Innovation” is the lifeblood of any high-tech company and most especially for companies in the cybersecurity industry – where the threat landscape is constantly evolving. At Bitdefender – more than half of our 1,800 employees (a significant investment) focus solely on engineering innovative cybersecurity solutions. To me, “Innovation” is embodied in the Bitdefender Business Solutions Group from prevention through response. There is a saying in medicine that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” which also applies to cybersecurity. Bitdefender continues to invest heavily in ensuring that our detection and prevention engines remain ahead of the ever-shifting threat landscape. Continuous testing by third parties validate our innovation. Bitdefender endpoint detection and response (EDR) achieved stellar results against the MITRE ATT&CK framework and we were the only company able to detect 100 percent of APTs during testing by AV-Comparatives.
Additionally in 2020, Bitdefender launched a new managed detection and response (MDR) service that earned the 2020 CRN Tech Innovator Award based on the ability to deliver rapid response, business continuity and cyber resilience against sophisticated malware and adversaries.
Q: What excites you most about Bitdefender in 2021?
SK: The two things that excite me the most about Bitdefender are the technology and the people. Having worked in cybersecurity for nearly 20 years, I have come to appreciate the value of market-leading technology. A lot of cybersecurity vendors claim to have “the best technology” but very few can actually prove it. Bitdefender’s track record of winning 55 percent of all real-world protection and performance tests confirms we are truly an innovator and a market leader when it comes to endpoint protection. Although cybersecurity is often considered a ‘technology first’ business, in reality it is a people first business. Every day I am energized by the team I get to work with in engineering, Bitdefender Labs, sales, marketing and operations all working together to fulfill our vision of becoming the most trusted cybersecurity technology provider in the world.