Customer Case – HW Wonen strengthens cyber security with strategic partnership with Northwave
HW Wonen is a housing corporation in the Hoeksche Waard with 10,000 rental units and 120 employees. Together they work on a socially sustainable and self-sufficient society.
Challenge
Cyber security became an important topic for HW Wonen a few years ago. Before that, the focus was mainly on the operational side of IT. Because of increasing threats and new laws (such as the NIS2 directive), it became clear that a strategic approach was needed. HW Wonen also wanted to meet the BIC4 and ISO 27001 standards.
Northwave first carried out a gap analysis to give insight into the current situation and the wishes around security. The outcome showed that follow-up steps were needed to become compliant with both standards and to better monitor the infrastructure. IT management is mostly done internally, and there were not enough resources to follow up system alerts in a timely and proper way.
Approach
After the gap analysis, HW Wonen invited several parties to compare monitoring solutions. In the end, HW Wonen chose Northwave Cyber Security because of its strategic approach and the trust the company gave.
The implementation of monitoring included:
- Implementation of Managed Detection & Response (MDR), including SOC and Incident Response Service
- Integration of Microsoft Defender and cooperation with the IT supplier to bring the infrastructure to the right level
- Lead time: about 2 months, thanks to good preparation by HW Wonen
During the implementation it became clear that HW Wonen already had many things well organised. Northwave complimented the existing quality and worked together with HW Wonen to further refine the services. The test phase resulted in only one alert, which was already expected.
Result
HW Wonen now has 24/7 monitoring of the infrastructure, which gives peace of mind and certainty. The cooperation is experienced as strategic and high quality, not as a standard service package. Thanks to the careful implementation, the solutions fit perfectly with their needs.
Maikel Roeven, IT Architect / CISO at HW Wonen:
“It is good to see that we had many things in order. Northwave supported us at every step and delivered quality instead of a standard service. Now we have confidence that our organisation is watched continuously.”
Northwave’s perspective – insights from the MDR implementation
Martine Hazelbag, MDR Project Leader at Northwave, stresses that a smooth implementation depends on a well-prepared IT environment:
“The best situation is when all IT components are up to date. HW Wonen had this very well organised, which made it possible to work efficiently.”
How does MDR work in practice?
Monitoring & insight:
The goal of our MDR service is to detect security risks, or behaviour that looks like a risk, at an early stage. We do this by connecting log sources and setting up detection rules and use cases that recognise suspicious behaviour.
Prevention & Active Response:
Where possible, we prevent a risk from becoming an incident. If this is not possible, we act immediately. For certain alerts Northwave may take action, such as isolating hosts, scanning systems and deactivating accounts. This reduces the time attackers have to cause damage.
Tuning Phase:
Before going live, we adjust alerts carefully to prevent false positives and alarm fatigue. At HW Wonen this process went very smoothly because of fast communication and a well-maintained environment.
Conclusion
The cooperation between HW Wonen and Northwave shows that a thoughtful and strategic approach to cyber security directly leads to more peace, control and continuity. Because of the combination of a well-prepared IT environment and Northwave’s Managed Detection & Response service, HW Wonen now has 24/7 insight into possible threats and the certainty that action is taken when needed. The partnership goes further than technology: it gives HW Wonen the confidence that the organisation is secured for the future.