In a recent interview with SafetyDetectives, Steffen Jarosch, CEO and Co-Founder of Intra2net, shared insights into his journey from a start-up enthusiast to leading a company that specializes in IT security and groupware solutions. With over two decades of experience, Jarosch has been instrumental in guiding Intra2net to serve more than 5,000 small and medium-sized enterprises. His approach, rooted in providing continuous software updates and robust support to partners, has distinguished Intra2net in the competitive SMB market. Jarosch also discusses the evolving challenges in cybersecurity, especially for SMBs, and offers practical advice for businesses looking to enhance their IT security infrastructure.
Can you introduce yourself and give us a brief overview of your journey to becoming the CEO of Intra2net?
The start of Intra2net is a typical garage start-up story. The three other founders and I took our first entrepreneurial steps by creating websites for companies. For internal use, we developed our own Linux-based firewall and mail server solution. This was the foundation for our current core products and eventually led to the founding of Intra2net AG in 2001.
Our first customers were mainly architecture firms – I was an architecture student myself at the time, before going on to do an MBA. These companies needed a solution to provide their employees with secure internet access and to send large amounts of data via email. They generally did not have in-house IT expertise, which is still very typical for small companies.
Despite winning start-up awards, we made a conscious decision not to seek venture capital. Instead, our focus was – and still is – on slow, steady growth. Today, more than 5,000 companies use Intra2net solutions.
How does Intra2net differentiate itself from competitors in the IT security and groupware space, particularly in the SMB market?
Especially in the SMB market, it’s natural that many customers lack in-house IT expertise. The role of IT service providers is therefore very important. They often act as gatekeepers and are literally the key to customer access. We understood this very early on and focus on providing excellent support to our partners to keep them happy at all times. They can also be 100% confident that we only sell through our partner channel.
We also invest a great deal of time and resources in delivering high-quality software updates. In addition, customers and partners have been able to count on continuous software updates for over 20 years – a long time in the fast-paced IT industry.
What do you see as the most significant cybersecurity challenges for small and medium-sized businesses today?
In our view, the biggest problem is limited resources. Most SMBs lack the budget and personnel to implement comprehensive cybersecurity measures. This is often accompanied by a lack of awareness and training. In most cases, there are no specific training programs for employees. This makes them more vulnerable to phishing and social engineering attacks.
At an organisational level, inadequate security policies are often a challenge. Many smaller organisations don’t have formalised security policies or incident response plans. A growing concern is the threat of ransomware. As AI enables personalised attacks on a massive scale, and linguistically flawless phishing emails become harder to detect, small businesses are increasingly in the crosshairs.
How do you think remote work has influenced the approach SMALL businesses take toward securing their IT infrastructure?
In any case, we see VPNs being used very widely to provide secure connections to the corporate network. We are helping small businesses to do this this by offering IPSec and WireGuard VPN as part of our solutions.
Fortunately, some companies are realising that the large number of heterogeneous devices and networks has also significantly increased the attack surface. As a result, endpoint security should be of paramount importance.
How important is the cloud to you and your partners, and how is Intra2net approaching it?
We are increasingly supporting the deployment of our solutions in data centers, assisting managed service providers on their journey to the cloud. The focus here is on firewalling the respective SMB infrastructure in the data center and providing VPN access for the customers.
Using the open source tool Ansible, aspects such as rollouts, change management and configuration management of our security solutions can be fully automated and scaled, benefiting data centers and partners alike.
What advice would you offer to a small business looking to implement or upgrade its IT security systems?
The first and most important step for small businesses is to ensure they have the basics covered. Security tools such as firewalls, antivirus software and endpoint management solutions are essential and should be updated regularly. The same goes for all other software and applications used within the organisation. Data encryption should be used for sensitive data and mobile devices and last but not least: A robust backup strategy is a must.
If your budget allows, you should always consider hiring a professional cyber security consultant or using a managed service provider. This type of professional support can also help to carry out a risk assessment, which involves identifying assets and evaluating potential threats and vulnerabilities. \
About Intra2net
Since 2001, Intra2net AG has specialized in security and groupware solutions. These offer companies effective protection for their network and support people in working together as a team. Its customers include over 5,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.