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Why Modus Invests in Cybersecurity to Keep Customers Safe

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    At Modus Advanced, we serve Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) across various industries, including defense, aerospace, rail and mass transit, communications and electronics, among others. Regardless of the industry, each of our clients has at least one thing in common: they need their data and designs to be secure from cyber threats.

    OEMs go to great lengths to keep their information secure in-house. To truly serve our customers and their needs, we need to be just as secure — if not more so. That is why Modus takes cybersecurity so seriously. 

    With the rise of remote work, and with 1 in 4 Americans having experienced a cybercrime, cybersecurity has risen to the top of the priority list. To stay secure and keep our customers safe, the team at Modus recently invested a lot of time and energy into becoming truly cyber-secure.

    In this post, we discuss that journey and how cybersecurity is part of our larger mission to be partners to our customers. Read on to learn more, and contact Modus Advanced to start the process of taking your design from Idea to Ignition™.

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    CMMC: Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification

    The practices we outline below are part of our commitment to embrace the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification practices ahead of requirements.

    We are working diligently to follow all practices at Level 2 and even adopting practices at Level 3 to ensure that we can continue to serve Department of Defense, Aerospace and other OEMs without interruption as they adopt these requirements on their end.

    Reaching a Cybersecurity Decision Point: Adapt or Fall Behind?

    In recent years, Modus Advanced has learned to embrace remote work, work with the latest apps and software and use cloud-based products when possible. These systems worked well for the team, and nothing appeared to be wrong with them. But we kept hearing about cyber threats and attacks.

    These attacks cost target companies a lot of money and lost productivity, but there’s an even worse outcome: companies that serve partners who have sensitive data can lose that data to hackers who then disappear into the digital landscape. 

    As a company that routinely handles Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) from our customers, we knew the stakes were high for digital security. So, Modus Advanced reached a decision point: keep doing things as we always have, or get ahead of the problem and become truly cyber-secure?

    For us, cybersecurity was the only choice, because it was the choice that served our customers.

    How Modus Transitioned to Ultra-Secure

    The Modus Advanced team knew it was time to make a change, but we didn’t know exactly where to start. So, we did what comes naturally to us: we did a lot of research. If “a lot” doesn’t feel very clear, consider the fact that Modus Advanced CEO Rick MacKirdy spent nearly 1,000 hours of his own time researching cybersecurity solutions during this process. Add to that the amount of time the rest of the team spent, and you could almost call us cybersecurity experts. 

    But we aren’t cybersecurity experts. We know that, and that’s why we rely on actual experts to help us be as secure as possible. We just did the research so we could intelligently discuss our cybersecurity needs and those of our customers.

    Finding a Secure Storage Solution

    After the research and a market survey, Modus decided to seek out a complete, secure ecosystem in which to store files. Most of the available secure, cloud-based products did not provide the level of protection Modus was looking for, so the search had to go deeper.

    Ultimately, we chose a cybersecurity cloud storage solution that follows the respected National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) framework and protects government agencies.

    Securing Our Communications

    The next step was to find a secure system for all communications and internal files. At this point, the painstaking research started over.

    Working with CUI meant that we couldn’t rely on out-of-the-box systems like Google without an added level of security. After weeks of research, we landed on a secure communications and file-sharing solution that accommodated two-factor authentication and locked down company laptops so that they could not install new programs. 

    Cybersecurity Lets Us Sleep at Night

    The technology landscape is huge, and it’s growing all of the time. Even a small to midsize business needs cloud, hardware, software, physical security and secure machines to even come close to being cyber-secure. Companies have to keep up with all of that, and then they have to know when to pivot to address new cybersecurity threats, which happen almost weekly.

    If you truly care about your customers’ data and intellectual property, how could you sleep at night unless you were truly secure? This conversation started with what was best for our customers, but it turned out to be best for Modus, too. By building a team of highly trained cybersecurity vendors who know our needs and our customers, we can implement truly secure internal systems. We also sleep a whole lot better at night.

    Partner with Modus to (Securely) Solve Challenging Engineering Issues 

    Being cyber-secure is just one way Modus Advanced acts as a partner with OEMs across various industries. We’re here to help you solve challenging engineering issues — not create more problems for you. That’s why we’re committed to cybersecurity.

    To learn more about our services or work with us, contact us. Call 925-960-8700 or contact us online today.

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