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Leading manufacturer of sporting firearms accessories, M-Arms, has created a new information security system with CREAPLUS, ranging from cyber protection to unbreakable data encryption.


M-Arms is the world's leading manufacturer of spare parts and upgrades for sporting firearms. The company also designs and prototypes, keeping its key know-how secret in order to continue providing the best and highest quality products worldwide.

The year 2023 marked M-Arms' biggest and most groundbreaking achievement to date, with the launch of a proprietary sporting pistol that is years ahead of the competition in design, technology and build quality.



"We have recently developed a sporting pistol based on a 1907 system that has never been modified since and which we have modernised with our own innovations, design and manufacturing technology. Our patents give us a huge advantage over our competitors, so we want to protect our knowledge and technology as best we can - including strong cyber protection," said Žiga Mandelj, CEO of M-Arms.

Until now, the company has relied on various anti-virus programs for cyber security, which have not kept pace with the company's growing security needs. "Our innovation and technological expertise gives us a significant advantage over others who are already trying to take our data out of development. Protecting this data is particularly important to us as we have recently started to sell our products globally," added Mandelj.

The development of their weapons has created a whole new set of security requirements. While they are legally obliged to provide physical security, they have been left to their own devices when it comes to information security.

Mandelj said he had already encountered cases of resellers copying their products, which he considered an initial theft of intellectual property.

"Now that we produce the whole gun, it is impossible to make a copy. However, if we allow competitors to access our data via the Internet, we could have a serious theft of intellectual property, which could cause us to lose all our advantage," Mandelj said.

 

"With the help of CREAPLUS, we were able to keep the development of the new sporting pistol secret until its launch at the world's leading hunting and shooting exhibition, IWA OutdoorClassics, in Nuremberg last week".
Žiga Mandelj, CEO of M-Arms.

 

Given how far ahead of the competition they are, and how eager competitors are to get at what they have achieved, they felt they needed stronger and more comprehensive information security.

 

From cyber protection to data encryption

M-Arms wanted to work with an experienced and trusted provider to modernise its IT security. CREAPLUS offered a complete cyber security solution, complemented by its own Security Operations Centre (SoC) services.

The cornerstone of the new cyber security system is the Cynet 360 autonomous XDR platform, which provides comprehensive protection of the internal network and endpoints against cyber intrusions and attacks, including advanced persistent threats and ransomware. This superior protection, rounded out by enhanced cyber threat detection and response, is complemented by Perception Point, advanced threat protection for cloud services such as email, cloud storage, CRM, collaboration and instant messaging applications, and web browsers.

"The CREAPLUS team takes care of the cyber security system. The most important thing is that we don't have to worry about it and I can trust the team that takes care of our security," says Žiga Mandelj.

CREAPLUS, in collaboration with Cynet's Response Team, provides M-Arms with an end-to-end cybersecurity management service, ranging from user support and solution maintenance to incident response, remediation and cyber forensics. This provides M-Arms with the responsive local support and 24/7 cyber security oversight essential for its global operations.

Due to the sensitivity of the company's data, they are preparing to deploy powerful data encryption using Utimaco's u.trust LAN Crypt solution. This is an innovative encryption of files and folders with strong cryptographic keys generated and managed in HSM hardware security modules. With this encryption, M-Arms will be protected from the risk of exposing information about their patents, technologies and products in the event of a cyber security breach or human error.