Motto 2020: "Cyber security solution"
The Baltic states are among the pioneers in Europe and worldwide in the field of digitalisation, particularly in e-government. In the latest Digital Competitiveness Ranking of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre, the three Baltic states achieved excellent results in the area of cyber security and are ranked 14th (Latvia), 16th (Estonia) and 24th (Lithuania), ahead of Germany (25th) and the USA (33rd).
For this reason, the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce (AHK) wants to honour and support the most promising representatives of cybersecurity in the Baltic States in 2020. This year's winners of the German Business Award 2020 (a total of 3 awarded companies) will be honoured with the title "Cyber Security Solution of the Year 2020 ’.
Cybersecurity and defence against ever-increasing threats are becoming more and more important in the new digital age. Navigating the specialised areas of cybersecurity - from intrusion detection and prevention, cloud security, vulnerability management, fraud prevention and more - can be intimidating and complex. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed humanity into the home office and forced us to adopt new digital communication solutions. But how can we deal with these opportunities safely? How can companies and organisations identify the best cyber security solutions for their needs? How can the best security solution stand out from the crowd of cyber security solutions?
The aim of the German Business Award is to identify the best digital solutions created in the Baltic States - for society, business, administration and education, to evaluate and award the most outstanding projects and to understand the importance of digitalisation for the growth of society and economy in the Baltic States in order to become a stronger partner in a united German-Baltic economic relationship.
Nord Security from Lithuania is the winner of the German Baltic Economic Award 2020!
Nord Security has prevailed against the other finalists. With their VPN application “NordVPN”, Lithuanians have already made a name for themselves in the industry, and have now become fresh-baked winners of the German-Baltic Economic Award in a tight race! Next year, in addition to the award, Nord Security expects a stand made available by the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce at Europe’s largest it security trade fair, it-SA. In the end, it was a close decision both in the jury and among users of the online vote. Nevertheless, the other participants were also able to shine in front of the jury and interested parties in a round of presentations when they presented their it security solutions in Pitches and gave viewers an exciting insight into the current status and future developments of the industry.
The placement
1. Place: Nord Security (Lithuania)
2. Place: Entangle (Latvia)
3. Place: Zabbix (Latvia)
Nord Security
Nord Security is a specialist in advanced security solutions and aims to become one of the most trusted providers of data protection and security services worldwide. Nord Security is known for using cutting-edge technologies and paying attention to users' needs. Nord Security's flagship product "NordVPN" is the world's most trusted online security solution and is used by over 14 million users worldwide. The products are designed to prevent and solve data security issues both online and offline. In 2020, Nord Security launched its cutting-edge file encryption tool called "NordLocker". It secures confidential files and folders using the unknown AES-256 encryption. To help users manage the ever-growing number of accounts and secure them with individual passwords, Nord Security has developed a password manager called "NordPass". Last but not least, the VPN solution for companies called NordVPN Teams has been developed. During the lockdown, it registered a 165% spike in usage and a nearly 600% increase in overall revenue. Since 2012, NordVPN has designed and built a service that offers military-grade encryption with advanced privacy solutions to ensure secure access to online resources for everyone. Our goal is to see the Internet as it was originally intended, free from crime, censorship, and surveillance.
Entangle
Entangle is a technology startup that is developing a secure mobile communication system by implementing the One Time Pad encryption technique. It only processes encrypted messages that cannot be deciphered even by quantum computers. One Time Pad is mathematically proven to be the only truly unbreakable encryption technique in the world. It is a globally scalable, secure communication system that can be used by businesses, government, military and private individuals. The encryption/decryption process and keys are stored only on Entangle devices. The Entangle secure communication system offers a unique way to exchange strategic, confidential and private information over public networks. The next step will be to develop it for the secure exchange of voice, video and other data as well. Entangle strongly believes in people's right to privacy and security. At the same time, they are working with national authorities to bring the communication system into compliance with regulations and legal requirements.
Zabbix
The company "Zabbix" was founded in 2005 when it launched its monitoring product. In addition to its monitoring software, Zabbix offers a wide range of professional services from consulting to turnkey solutions, 24/7 technical support and professional training at multiple levels. The company's main product is its monitoring software called Zabbix. It is open-source software released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 and is free for its users. Zabbix software is designed for real-time monitoring of millions of metrics collected from tens of thousands of servers, virtual machines and network devices to detect and prevent vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure and keep it secure and operational. Zabbix software is secure, flexible, scalable and easy to use.
General framework
Finalists
To access the website of each finalist, please click on the company name.
Corporate Solutions
Corporate Solutions product “CloudStudy” is a cloud-based service, that allows delivering end-user e-learning in a corporate environment. The product focuses on CyberAwarness training and phishing simulation. The CyberAwareness training is an animated cartoon series called “CyberFail”, that depict everyday mistakes of employees regarding cyber security issues. Each episode of the cartoon is followed by an animated video tutorial with interactions. In addition to that, the user will have to pass tests.
CybExer Technologies
CybExer Technologies is a NATO-awarded company. They provide IT platforms for cyber capability development upon which a variety of trainings and exercises are delivered. Their main focus is on cyber range technologies where they take an open range approach. This allows to provide any kinds of virtual training environments, including standard office networks and highly specialised industrial systems. This capability is built upon CybExer’s proprietary software vLab Manager that ensures second-to-none exercise creation, deployment, and management.
Entangle
Entangle is a technology start-up that develops a secure mobile communication system by implementing a one-time pad – the only truly secure encryption technique that is mathematically proven unbreakable. It is a globally scalable secure communication system suitable for business, government, military, and individual use. Share confidential and strategic information securely anywhere in the world using Entangle device and existing mobile networks.
guardtime
Guardtime is a company, specialised in cyber security and complex data management solutions. MIDA is Guardtimes flagship solution, that manages organizations oversight, control and trust over complex digital processes, data management and IT-infrastructure. MIDA uses digital twin technology to track, in real-time, the actual state of any process or data in the cloud.
Nord Security
Nord Security is a company for security solutions and is using cutting-edge technologies. Nord Security's flagman product NordVPN is designed to prevent and solve data security issues both online and offline. Since 2012, NordVPN has been creating and building a service that offers military-grade encryption with privacy solutions to ensure secure access to online resources for everyone.
NRD Cyber Security
NRD Cyber Security is fully focusing on the cyber security sector. The main idea is to enable cyber security teams in organizations and countries to work effectively and professionally. The flagman product of NRD Cyber Security is CTI Core. It is a technology solution automating CSIRT operations, like contact lists, ticketing, cyber security threat intelligence feeds, automated identification and visualization of the threats to the constituency.
Simplex
Simplex is an end-to-end payment solution for the digital asset ecosystem. They established a riskless global fiat onramp using a credit and debit card, which guarantees a zero chargeback. Simplex Banking offers the Simplex fraudless payment processing, with global payment accessibility. The company also provides a fiat infrastructure for the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Tilde
Tilde supports language technologies in the digital age and enables effective and instant multilingual communication. By using cutting- edge AI-driven technologies, Tilde develops transparent, secure neural machine translation systems, intelligent virtual assistants and speech technologies. Moreover, Tilde MT uses dynamic learning, which means that the AI engine automatically learns from the users' translations.
Zabbix
Zabbix was established in 2005 as they introduced their monitoring product to the market. The main product of the company is its monitoring software called Zabbix. It is open-source software, released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. The Zabbix software is designed for real-time monitoring of metrics collected from servers, virtual machines and network devices. It detects vulnerabilities of IT infrastructure and keeps it safe.
Evaluation criteria
The following criteria are assessed:
- Innovation
- Benefits for the user
- Effectiveness
- Level of security
- Ease of use in a variety of formats
- Profitability of the business model
- Growth potential of the institution
- Reliability and positive impact on society
- Connection to Germany (as a soft criterion)
- Existing
- Future
- Other connections
Award
The award for the winners (a total of three award-winning companies, one from each country) of the German Business Award includes a representative glass trophy, a certificate and paid participation in the it-sa trade fair in Germany, Europe's leading trade fair for IT security. In addition, there will be one main winner from the entire Baltic region. They will receive additional support for market entry in Germany.
Another advantage is the great media attention that the winners of the German Business Award receive every year. In addition, the winners are published in the Baltic Business Quarterly (The only business and investment-oriented magazine with a special focus on the entire Baltic region).
Patronage
The German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Peter Altmaier, will assume patronage of the German Business Award 2020.
Jury
The submitted applications will be evaluated by a competent jury consisting of 6 high-ranking industry representatives from Germany.
- Florian Schröder, Managing Director, German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce (AHK)
- Hans-Wilhelm Dünn, President, Cyber Security Council Germany e.V.
- Georg Kaltenbrunner, Chief Risk Officer and Member of the Management Board, Luminor
- Nicolas Konnerth, Head of Voice & Conversation, ERGO Group AG
- Ralf Benzmüller, Executive Speaker, G Data SecurityLabs
- Andreas Ebert, Head of Know-how and Prototype Protection, Volkswagen AG
The jury will select nine finalists who will give a 4-minute pitch during the digital event. The audience will evaluate the finalists through an online vote, which will be weighted with one jury vote. During the pitches, the jury will again give its rating for the finalists, which will be added to the audience votes.