Collaboration combines cybersecurity and compliance in the Life Science industry

WithSecure (formerly F-Secure) and Plantvision build cybersecurity into processes and help customers with cybersecurity and compliance requirements, as well as preparing for NIS 2

IT security company WithSecure and Plantvision have entered into a partnership. The collaboration is designed to help customers in the life sciences industry coordinate cybersecurity and compliance efforts in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The need for F-Secure's and Plantvision's joint expertise is particularly relevant in the context of the European Commission's proposal to update the NIS Directive with both higher security requirements and a wider scope affecting more industries (NIS 2), including Pharma and Medtech.

"As IT threats to Life Science companies become more numerous and severe, and compliance requirements throughout the value chain become tougher, especially in the context of NIS 2, coordinated efforts are needed that focus on patient safety but also protect suppliers from significant potential financial risks," says Anna-Lena Mann, Business Area Manager at Plantvision. "Cybersecurity simply needs to be built into customers' processes."

The first NIS Directive was adopted by the EU in 2016, and became national law in 2018. The aim is to create a high common level of security in critical network and information systems in the EU. Since then, much has happened in both cybersecurity and in critical industries, including Life Science, and in December 2020 the European Commission proposed to update the Directive. The updates will modernise the previous directive to better suit current and future cybersecurity needs, and once the new directive is adopted, industry will have 18 months to implement the changes.

"Life Science is a broad field that includes Pharma as well as medical devices, and unfortunately we are seeing intensified cyber attacks targeting companies in the industry," says Ingrid Waldheim of WithSecure. "Like other industry compliance requirements, cybersecurity is a complex and constantly evolving area, which means that our customers also need to evolve to continuously comply with requirements and maintain resilience to cyber threats. Through our partnership with Plantvision, we can offer a coordinated expertise to help our customers with cybersecurity and compliance in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry," said Ingrid Waldheim of WithSecure .

Together with WithSecure, we have over 50 years of experience in helping Life Science companies align their processes with the cybersecurity regulatory framework, and we will soon be offering workshops, events and training on what NIS 2 means and how companies should relate to it.

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