Bitdefender is offering enterprise-grade security solutions free of charge to all healthcare organisations worldwide, in an effort to contribute to the global support effort during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The last thing healthcare organizations need right now is to worry about falling victims to the ruthless, opportunistic attacks revolving around this crisis,” says Simon Campbell-Young, a partner at Cyber Security South Africa, the Bitdefender country partner in South Africa.
“We are committed to help all healthcare providers around the world by making our entire product portfolio available free of charge, for up to 12 months, to all healthcare organisations, worldwide.”
Healthcare organisations of all sizes, from small dental and ophthalmic practices to large hospitals, can visit www.bitdefender.com/freehealthcaresecurity to request free access to Bitdefender’s products, or contact simon@csafrica.net or donovan@csafrica.net.
Bitdefender telemetry shows that the number of malicious reports related to Covid-19 has increased by more than 475% so far in March. By the end of the month, attacks are expected to increase by more than five times the total of incidents in February. The largest number of malicious reports have been registered in the US, Turkey, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Romania and Thailand, as these malware campaigns have focused on the countries with a high number of positive coronavirus cases.
“Hackers have acted opportunistically and unethically, taking advantage of this time of uncertainty to deliver malware, conduct phishing, and perform online fraud against the organizations affected most,” says Florin Talpes, Bitdefender’s CEO. “We are thankful for the work of healthcare professionals worldwide and aim to support them by providing protection for their organisations’ sensitive information in a way that assures operational continuity and lets them focus on treating patients and slowing the spread of this virus.”
This is not the first time Bitdefender has been involved in helping communities at large. Since 2013, the Romanian-based company has been working with TechSoup – a non-profit international network that provides technology assistance services and NGO validation. As of 2020, the Bitdefender charity program offered security software at zero-cost to protect more than 16 000 NGOs in 106 countries across the globe.
Access to Bitdefender’s enterprise security solutions will be offered through the end of June to start, with the opportunity to evaluate organisations’ need and extend access for up to a total of 12 months at that time.