Orange Cyberdefense opens new premises in Toulouse, as cyberattacks develop
Cyberattacks are increasingly developed and have recently affected major institutions in Occitania. The Pierre Fabre laboratories, but also theENAC(National School of Civil Aviation) or thePNI (National Polytechnic Institute) in Toulouse.
There are ways to retaliate and fight against these attacks. Orange Cyberdefense, a specialist in the field, is also inaugurating its new premises this Tuesday in Toulouse. Hugues Foulon, CEO of Orange Cyberdefense, was not invited to France bleu Occitanie.
France bleu: First explain to us, what does a cyberattack look like?
Hugues Foulon : First of all, it must be noted that digital technology is developing enormously in our lives, in our personal lives, in our lives as citizens, in our professional lives and therefore associated with these benefits and all these new uses – just look what we do with a smartphone today, there are risks. And so it would not occur to listeners to leave their homes without locking their doors, cybersecurity is a bit the same thing in the digital world.
And what is cybersecurity? Is it precisely trying to think of sounding the alarm, of countering attacks? Your role, Orange Cyberdefense, is to set up a kind of shield?
First of all, it is already to identify the threats, to try to understand what is happening, what types of threats can happen. It can be, for example, a virus, a link, a fake email on which we click inadvertently. And that will put an insufficient virus on your computer or on your computer network, encrypt your data, paralyze a production line, shut down a company, an architectural firm or a large company like Pierre Fabre that you mentioned earlier. hours. So it’s this kind of threat that can happen every day and that we unfortunately see every day among our customers.
And how do you concretely do Orange Cyberdefense to deal with it?
We have teams that raise awareness because very often there is technical equipment. But very often, unfortunately, the vulnerability comes from human error or malice or negligence.
Systematically?
Most of the time. Passwords that are too fragile, the password given to a colleague, personal use made on a professional computer or vice versa, do not make it possible to ensure the security of the whole. So, throughout the awareness phase, throughout the protection phase. How do you install the shield you mentioned, to protect, and so that’s the equivalent of the armored door. There is detection, and so it is the equivalent of the alarm, there is nothing worse than being attacked without knowing it. And then afterwards, fortunately, we also have teams working on what we call remediation, going to repair the systems if ever the attack took place, if ever the virus has already entered to try to limit the impact and return to a normal operating system as soon as possible.
Why settle in the Pink City?
There are two very important objectives for us. The first is the proximity to customers. Cybersecurity, you understand, is based on a notion of trust, proximity, understanding the needs of our customers, whether small or large. And so it is very important that we can talk to them near their place of work, their factories, their offices, and not just from Paris or another place in France. That is the first point and the second point is the employment pool. We are looking for the greatest number of talents, we recruit a lot of people. We recruited more than 300 people in France last year. Today we are 2,500 in Europe. And so we will continue to recruit dozens of people, to exceed the number of 100 employees in Toulouse. And so this is the reason why we are opening these premises, to have the best reception conditions for current and future employees of Orange Cyberdéfense.
Comment on done to apply if one can already apply?
On the Orange Cyberdefense site, and then afterwards, there are networks through schools, universities which are very well established. We are recruiting a lot of people, whether on stage, in apprenticeship or on a permanent contract. We still have a shortage of employees. So if you want to do cybersecurity, come!
Do you have any advice for individuals or small business owners, because we know that SMEs and VSEs are very well supported?
I don’t want to worry about your listeners. 60% of SMEs that have attacked file for bankruptcy after six months. The first important element is to be aware. The risk exists. It’s not for others. And the question is not:are you going to get attacked?“The question is”when and how do we prepare for it?“So that’s really the main thing. Anticipation, identification of vulnerabilities, that’s the main message I would like to convey.
Created in 2016, the entity employed 2,500 employees worldwide. There are about sixty of them in Toulouse in the Cartoucherie district.