Healthcare company Terumo Europe and Cegeka partner in cyber resilience

Terumo Europe, a leading healthcare company, understands the paramount importance of securing its IT infrastructure. As it does not have any in-house specialized knowledge, it turned to Cegeka for its end-to-end security solutions. Its continuous focus on security was recently confirmed through an assessment by its cyber insurance company. 

Terumo is a global healthcare company specializing in medical equipment and services. The company manufactures a wide range of products including catheters, filters, insulin delivery systems, needles, syringes, stents, and surgical products. With its slogan “Contributing to Society through Healthcare”, Terumo has established itself as a leader in the industry. 

The healthcare company’s European branch, headquartered in Leuven, has been a long-standing client of Cegeka, relying on them for its infrastructure needs, 24/7 service desk, and digital workplace. “We already had endpoint management and an anti-malware solution in place,” says Kris Geukens, Director of ICT Infrastructure, Operations & Security (EMEA), Terumo Europe, “but four years ago we recognized the need to strengthen our IT infrastructure’s security. Therefore, we turned to Cegeka for guidance.” 

Gradual deployment 

Cegeka devised a plan to gradually implement security measures for Terumo Europe. “Our journey began with the deployment of a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system for 400 endpoints,” explains Kris Geukens. “This minimal scope allowed us to assess Cegeka’s capabilities in providing this service. Then, based on its success, we expanded the SIEM system to cover more of our infrastructure.” Subsequently, vulnerability management and Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) were added, along with other products from Microsoft’s security suite.

Kris Geukens highlights the importance of fostering security awareness among employees: “The effectiveness of the security tools that Cegeka deploys relies on our employees’ adherence to basic security measures.” To address this, Terumo Europe has initiated a security awareness campaign. Its aim is to educate employees on password hygiene, teach them how to recognize phishing emails, and discourage the use of external tools for data sharing. 

A One-Stop Shop 

Terumo Europe relies heavily on Cegeka for its IT implementations, because it does not have this specialized IT knowledge in-house. “Cegeka already did our server management and workplace management, so it was a logical choice for us to turn to them for security too,” says Kris Geukens. “Cegeka’s approach to providing end-to-end IT solutions makes them a reliable and convenient one-stop shop for us.” 

“Cegeka’s approach to providing end-to-end IT solutions makes them a reliable and convenient one-stop shop for us.”

KRIS GEUKENS, DIRECTOR OF ICT INFRASTRUCTURE, OPERATIONS & SECURITY (EMEA), TERUMO EUROPE

Although there were a few challenges along the way, Kris Geukens praises Cegeka’s prompt response to address any issues: “We like that they assigned a dedicated security advisor to us, but initially there was some staff turnover. The concerns we raised about this were immediately heard and resolved. In the same way, when Cegeka started implementing its security solutions within our company, there were some challenges in coordinating this with their departments that did server and workplace management. However, those initial challenges were quickly solved as well.” 

Cegeka has a security team working onsite at Terumo Europe. The security advisor works in close cooperation with the healthcare company, explaining security reports and discussing the results with the company in monthly meetings. This is all done using Cegeka’s security observability dashboard, part of its customer engagement platform Horizon. This dashboard offers a comprehensive overview of security alerts, incidents, trends, and threat news. “This makes it all very transparent for us,” explains Kris Geukens. “The monthly report shows us the number of alerts, and Cegeka always contacts us when there’s a security incident to explain which action they take.” 

Adaptive security roadmap 

Kris Geukens commends the way the collaboration was active in developing a security roadmap: “We now have a roadmap for what security measures we need to take in the next two to three years. While previously we decided on an ad hoc basis on what to do, this roadmap now allows us to plan for years to come.” By conducting quarterly reviews of the roadmap together with Cegeka’s security advisor, they continuously adapt the roadmap to reflect the latest industry trends and available resources. This way, Terumo Europe can prioritize developments, ensuring its security measures remain up-to-date and aligned with its strategic objectives. “For example, we recently added identity management to the roadmap, addressing its increasing importance,” adds Kris Geukens. 

“Our continuous focus on security was recently confirmed through an assessment by our cyber insurance company.”

KRIS GEUKENS, DIRECTOR OF ICT INFRASTRUCTURE, OPERATIONS & SECURITY (EMEA), TERUMO EUROPE

While it’s difficult to quantify the precise impact on Terumo Europe’s security, Kris Geukens has noted tangible improvements in its cyber resilience: “Our continuous focus on security was recently confirmed through an assessment by our cyber insurance company.” Terumo Europe remains committed to strengthening its security measures, adding privileged account management and improved network security as the next steps.