Sygate: Highlighting a legitimate security threat
WiFi makes remote working easy. Take a comfortable seat, log in, and away you go. But what many people fail to realise is that this simple action can cause huge problems if you inadvertently log on to an unauthorised WiFi base station, or ‘Phantom Hotspot’. You may well be giving away access to confidential information and data on your network to a malicious intruder.This was the story developed by Hotwire for Sygate, a company that specialises in endpoint security for enterprises. It was just one of several issues identified by Hotwire for an issues-based pan-European campaign. The Phantom Hotspots media alert was used in France to highlight how unauthorised operators could easily jam connections to public WiFi base stations. But issues are often local, so Hotwire tailored each element of the campaign to specific markets.
Sygate had two strategic objectives. The first was to establish a strong reputation across Europe. Its secondary objective was to position the company as a thought leader on security issues, particularly Network Access Control (NAC). Hotwire put an issues-based approach at the core of the pan-European campaign with different issues highlighted in each market.
Network security remains a major corporate concern across Europe. Seventy-eight per cent of respondents to the British Computer Society’s ‘IT Managers and Directors Survey 2005’ said security products topped the list of key issues facing the UK’s competitiveness in a global market. Security companies have been known to exaggerate a threat merely to profit from corporate fear. Hotwire and Sygate rejected this sensationalist approach in favour of a longer-term educational programme.
The ‘Phantom Hotspots’ story was released in February to highlight the issue among key business and IT media and to detail how Sygate’s Secure Enterprise product can identify and block unauthorised LAN users.
An issues-based programme can also focus on seasonal dates. In the run-up to Christmas in the UK, Sygate issued a media alert on unprotected PCs and laptops during holiday periods, highlighting how a two-week gap in maintenance of IT security with no updates of patches or software taking place could leave corporate users vulnerable to viruses, trojans and worms. The story positioned Sygate as a leading provider of endpoint security.
Many security vendors were proclaiming viruses on mobile and smart phones would be the next major threat. In a specially developed issue jump, Sygate defied this view as only a theory while the actual threat to corporate networks still came from insecure laptops used by remote workers. This was the issue adopted in Germany. As the world’s largest IT trade show, CeBIT, kicked off, Hotwire ran media alerts on what Sygate believed would be the biggest issues at the show, establishing the company as a commentator on security issues. For example, Sygate predicted the real force in network security in the future will be vendor-independent standards.
Across Europe, Sygate has been positioned as an authority on security with a credible voice having only highlighted legitimate security threats. Campaign coverage appeared across the three target markets, including in Le Monde Informatique, Décision Informatique, Sécurité Informatique, 01 Réseaux, SC Magazine, Computing, Computer Business Review, IT-Director, IT-Sicherheit, e-Commerce Magazin, Network Computing and Computerwoche.
Ian Schenkel, Managing Director, Sygate, EMEA, said of the campaign: “The creative, innovative thinking that can only come from a thorough understanding of our sometimes very complex technologies led to Hotwire identifying the Phantom Hotspot issue. It’s that ability to think, not just in a linear fashion, but apply that thinking to all sides of the business that has impressed me most. Hotwire constantly over-deliver on their objectives. I see results month after month, and that has been very impressive.”
