RIBW Brabant specializes in recovery support and guidance for residents of nine municipalities in the Hart of Brabant region. Employing 600 people and assisting an average of 1,500, the organization helps clients to deal with psychological and psychiatric challenges in several key areas of their lives, including career, social life, finances, and health. Each new client brings a mass of data to process, and this data needs protection from ransomware and other cyber-attacks.

"We process a significant amount of data from clients to be able to provide them with our services,” said Olaf Roosenschoon, Strategic Advisor ICT at RIBW Brabant. “As a so-called special data processor, we must comply with all kinds of guidelines. Securing our clients' private data is one of the most important tasks for our departments."

Safety Clients Can Trust

The healthcare industry relies on patients reaching out to receive the services they need. As the information they share with healthcare providers is sensitive, trust is pivotal in this first step. Governmental regulations provide a backbone for building that trust by holding providers accountable to specific privacy standards. RIBW Brabant complies with the patient data protection requirements as outlined by the NEN 7510. Yet a recent risk analysis unveiled some vulnerabilities that needed to be addressed.

“There have been several major hacks worldwide in recent years,” said Roosenschoon. “It can happen to any organization. Although we thought we were doing quite well, the risk analysis showed that we had to activate more security components to be fully in control."

With the clients’ information safety at the center, the organization turned to a trusted partner for a solution: Wortell.

“As we are no experts in cyber security, outsourcing this responsibility to Wortell made sense for us,” said Roosenschoon. “As a Dutch organization, we prefer to work with other local enterprises. Wortell has been a partner to us for several years, positioned at the forefront of online security services. Now 18 months since we started this process, the evidence reveals they brought in the right solutions."

Cloud Service & Cybersecurity Solutions

With the amount of sensitive data RIBW Brabant manages daily, its transition to a cloud service was a delicate one. Experts at Wortell anticipated the need for this transition with accuracy, landing at a combination of Microsoft services as the best solution for the healthcare organization.

“We took the first steps towards the cloud together several years ago,” said Sander van Kooten, Business Lead Healthcare at Wortell. “And by 2020, we helped RIBW Brabant implement Azure Landing Zone, moving the organization from a hosting party with servers to Microsoft’s Azure. This step facilitated finding a solution for cybersecurity in Managed Detection and Response (MDR) with Microsoft Sentinel.”

The software solutions help secure the organization’s IT environment with cybersecurity 24/7. Users get one dashboard, one overview, and one place for centralized monitoring. This key offering is what makes Microsoft Sentinel and MDR a golden combination.

"In addition to understanding the risks, the system now proactively looks for threats,” said van Kooten. “When a threat is detected, we follow up with immediate action to nip the problem in the bud. Prevention is better than any cure.”

Their most significant security vulnerabilities are now addressed. As a result of the success found in cybersecurity, RIBW Brabant upped their security licensing with Microsoft for further protection. According to Roosenschoon, RIBW Brabant linked their security cameras and sensors to the MDR service by November 2021, another big win for the safety of their clients and employees.

In Control of The Data

The partnership with Wortell is ongoing, with monthly checkpoints and shared information. With the proper software solutions in place, RIBW Brabant’s Information and Communication Technologies team (ICT) is able to claim control over the privacy of its client data.

“Every month, RIBW Brabant receives a dashboard with information about any incidents,” said Emile de Bruin, Wortell, Service Manager for RIBW Brabant at Wortell. “We also send a report with an overview of general results and the opportunity to dive into the details. This is the information ICT staff can use to inform the board of directors and show what MDR delivers.”

“All the information collected is combined in a single report so we can make smart decisions on it,” said Roosenschoon. “We receive tips and advice if something can be improved or adjusted. We now know what it feels like to be in control of the data.”

Added Value through Partnership

Communication between the partners remains at the core of what makes this solution successful, even through the transition of the account to other Wortell teammates. RIBW Brabant participates in webinars and seminars by Wortell. Wortell continues to keep the communication open. Both speak up with honesty to make each other’s businesses better.

The benefits of compliance with the standards required by law go beyond staying open for business. Securing clients’ personal information builds trust with the communities served and enables more people to access the help they need. Moreover, with the Microsoft solutions running smoothly through the trusted partnership with Wortell, RIBW Brabant’s ICT team can now focus on the tasks that help the internal organization service its clients.

“We want to create added value to our internal primary processes,” said Roosenschoon. “Handing over the security responsibilities to Wortell enables us to ask the question ‘what can we help you with?’ and invest in solutions in meaningful ways for our colleagues. We have nothing to worry about, knowing our security is in good hands, 24/7, and even on Christmas Eve!”