Dec 21, 2023
Phishing and ransomware are among the main year-end cyberattacks in Latin America
Cirion Technologies expert warns that companies face security and infrastructure challenges.
E-commerce, banking and finance are the sectors most targeted by cyberattacks at this time of year.
Lima, December 2023. The month of December, marked by Christmas and New Year festivities, becomes a critical period in which cybercriminals take advantage of the significant increase in transactions and the overload of online activity to endanger both companies and users. Several types of attack have been identified this month, but there has been a notable increase in social engineering attacks. In fact, 97% of cyberattacks use these techniques to gain access to credentials and require user interaction, allowing unauthorized access to companies’ servers and platforms.
According to Ricardo Pulgarín, Cirion’s Senior Security Solutions Architect for the LATAM region, the challenges faced by organizations are not just limited to security, but also to infrastructure. Pulgarín points out that “the end of the year acts as a catalyst for various attacks, highlighting the increase in cases of phishing and ransomware. December is a good time to take advantage of social engineering and exploit people’s innocence. Given attackers difficulty in accessing servers of large companies, cybercriminals direct their efforts at users who, believing in the fraudulent schemes, inadvertently facilitate unauthorized access.”
E-commerce companies experience a significant increase in activity during these festive dates, thus becoming especially susceptible to attacks. Christmas and end-of-year shopping generate exceptionally high activity, exposing them to risks such as financial data theft and credit card fraud. On the other hand, the banking and financial sectors faces similar challenges, because although they suffer attacks all year round, they intensify during this season, especially in relation to phishing and fraud attacks.
Pulgarín underscores that “phishing is a widely used method for stealing users’ keys. It’s common to receive fraudulent messages encouraging them to update their credit card details or provide financial access keys”. In addition, he emphasizes that phishing is not limited to email it also occurs through voice messages, SMS, WhatsApp and even fraudulent phone calls.
Additional risks
Pending updates have emerged as one of the most recurring tactics in recent ransomware attacks. There are cases in which attackers take advantage of the lack of system updates and patches to infect them, benefiting from public vulnerabilities to access information systems not only to cause damage, but also to hijack equipment and spread infections to third parties.
Ultimately, online shopping businesses count on an inherent risk. According to Ricardo Pulgarín, from Cirion, this vulnerability is closely related to possible flaws in the applications themselves. Cybercriminals don’t exploit weaknesses in the server, network or protection systems, but rather the way in which the application was developed. In this context, technical and human behavioral factors converge, creating the conditions for even more vulnerability.
As a final recommendation, Cirions expert advises organizations to carry out detailed monitoring and exhaustive analysis to identify the critical technological components that affect their organizations the most. Based on this analysis, he suggests implementing measures to compensate for and mitigate the risks of cyberattacks. These measures range from establishing information security policies to addressing infrastructure aspects, ensuring that the relevant patches and updates are installed. For more information on Cirion’s cybersecurity solutions, visit the company’s website.
About Cirion:
Cirion is a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider, offering a comprehensive suite of fiber network, connectivity, colocation, cloud infrastructure, and communication and collaboration solutions with the purpose of furthering Latin America´s progress through technology. Cirion serves over 5,500 Latin America-based and multinational customers, including enterprises, government agencies, cloud service providers, wireline and wireless carriers, ISPs, and other leading businesses. Cirion owns and operates a facilities-based network and data center portfolio, with extensive coverage spanning across the Latin America region. Learn more about Cirion at www.ciriontechnologies.com
Follow us on our Social Networks:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Media Contact:
Ana Cecilia Deustua
CorPro
Tel: + 51 989 022 938
adeustua@corpro.pe
Kenny Castillo
CorPro
Tel: + 51 949 313 106
kcastillo@corpro.pe
Dec 6, 2023
Agro-industry 4.0: Cirion presents modern technological solutions to support digital transformation
Internet of Things (IoT) applications and low-energy satellite solutions make it possible to capture data in the field to improve productivity and competitiveness at a global level.
Miami, December 2023. The coastal El Niño and Global El Niño phenomena have been affecting the agricultural industry in Latin America. High temperatures, droughts and high humidity have created a series of competitive and economic challenges that affected productivity and agricultural performance.
“The agro-industry in Latin America has experienced exponential growth and consolidation in multiple international markets. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), in 2021 the net trade of agricultural foods produced in Latin America and the Caribbean represented almost 45% of the world total. This year, however, the drop in production, losses, and competition from large agriculture exporting countries have affected this sector in the region. Therefore, using digital technologies can help optimize, increase production, and improve performance in the agro-industry sphere, enabling producers to become more competitive, globally,” said Luis Ladera, Director of Data Products at Cirion Technologies.
The companies in this sector are still at an early stage when it comes to collecting data on their production and applying digital technologies to their business. This data could be analyzed, processed and transformed into information to generate smarter and more efficient decision-making in the short and long terms. Cirion presented a part of its portfolio called Smart Solutions, which includes IoT elements or specific sensors temperature, light, humidity, pH, among others to generate and monitor data through a digital application on the web that can be accessed from mobile phones, tablets, or computers. This will make it possible to understand the behaviors of elements in the field and control important variables in production, even remotely, from anywhere in the world.
In general, agricultural production sites are extensive and not always accessible, often creating a connectivity issue. In this sense, Cirions sensors are integrated with low-power private satellite connectivity solutions that allow data to be transmitted to digital devices without any issues.
IoT systems, cloud connections, Internet and security, used in the implementation of digital technology in the agro-industry, offer companies the resources to transform and optimize their businesses. Data collection is the basic input to feed machine-learning based artificial intelligence systems, generating predictive models that enable timely and adequate decisions to improve production performance and cost and resource optimization, among others.
Luis Ladera also comments that companies in the region are not yet taking full advantage of technology to be more competitive when compared to countries that are world leaders in agricultural exports. As exports increase, theres also an increase in competition and we must take control of the situation, investing more in technology, understanding how to apply it, and how to improve it to become even more competitive. Ultimately, it all comes down to this: the industrys digital transformation is all about generating competitive advantages in the market, he added.
Heading towards Agro-industry 4.0
Cirion experts say that first, organizations should define what are the important variables in their business and then, start measuring them. Next, they must generate analytics, clean and understand data, and begin creating models using artificial intelligence techniques. To do this, they need the Internet of Things, connectivity, the cloud, and additional technology.
Once all this data has been stored and processed, models will generate insights that will make it possible to predict the best times for harvesting, pest control, applying fertilizers or even rationing pesticides and water. This may bring optimizations and improvements, helping obtain competitive, high-quality products, as well as creating a friendlier production, with less impact on the environment. “There is a huge potential for growth. We’re talking about hundreds of billions of dollars that could be generated over the next few years from the implementation and use of digital technologies in the agricultural industry. What’s more: we know that global food production is critical to the sustainability of humankind. Therefore, everything that involves improving productive performance is critical to the agro-industry, globally, concludes Ladera.
About Cirion:
Cirion is a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider, offering a comprehensive suite of fiber network, connectivity, colocation, cloud infrastructure, and communication and collaboration solutions with the purpose of furthering Latin America´s progress through technology. Cirion serves over 5,500 Latin America-based and multinational customers, including enterprises, government agencies, cloud service providers, carriers, ISPs, and other leading businesses. Cirion owns and operates a facilities-based network and data center portfolio, with extensive coverage spanning across the Latin America region. Learn more about Cirion at www.ciriontechnologies.com
Follow us on social media:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Nov 24, 2023
Teams and Zoom presented their generative AI assistants
Cirion Technologies provides these cloud-based communication and collaboration tools through its secure network in Latin America.
Lima, November 24, 2023. More and more companies are adopting generative Artificial Intelligence to help users save time on repetitive tasks and improve productivity at work. The market is changing, and the assistants deployed in traditional communications channels, such as WhatsApp, the Web or Facebook, have evolved and made the leap to communication and collaboration tools. As a result, Zoom and Microsoft Teams have taken the next step, implementing AI assistants that will provide users with several new functionalities and allow them to respond, create or interact to obtain greater efficiency during virtual meetings.
By 2026, voice and collaboration platforms are expected to grow by 32.6% in Latin America. Companies have invested a lot in driving these assistants forward with the use of artificial intelligence and, although both have similar functionalities, it is important to understand their benefits in detail. With this, tasks that used to take a long time during meetings will now be much easier to accomplish. These functions are available in Latin America, in Spanish, English and Portuguese,” said Christian Bernal, lead sales engineer for voice and collaboration at Cirion Technologies.
Microsoft Copilot
This assistant has been deployed in all Office 365 tools, but in Microsoft Teams it will enable more productive meetings, allowing users to summarize the main topics in any language. As with Zoom, if you’re late in joining an ongoing meeting, you can select “open Copilot” at the top of the meeting window to obtain an instant summary. You can also ask questions to find out details of the meeting, for example: How did a participant respond to this proposal?; What questions can I ask to carry on the meeting?; create a table with the ideas discussed, and their advantages and disadvantages, among other functions.
These functions will only be available if you activate the “transcript and record” option at the beginning of the meeting. If you’re using Teams on a mobile device, it’s important to download the Copilot app. You should note that the more details you give the assistant, the better the results will be.
Zoom’s AI companion
Zoom platform’s new generative artificial intelligence assistant, AI Companion (formerly Zoom IQ), will be found in the meeting controls toolbar or chat window. Here, this assistant will be able to help compose responses with the correct tone and duration according to users’ requests, including replying to emails. Also, a whiteboard can be used, where the AI can brainstorm ideas for a project or work plan.
For those who join a meeting late, Companion will be able to summarize what has been discussed until that point and they can even ask specific questions about the content, without interrupting the meeting or having to ask colleagues to repeat what has been discussed. In addition, at the end of the meeting, the AI assistant will save the recordings in the cloud by chapter or topic, making it easy to review them to highlight important information.
Unified communications
“Another tool that has already incorporated AI features is Avaya Spaces, which also offers intelligent transcription, noise removal and even overlay of the speaker’s video during the presentation. Cirion, as a partner of the world’s leading suppliers of collaboration tools, seeks to support teams of several different companies in Latin America, driving productivity and interaction with the support of modern collaboration tools. We provide not only the tools, but also the entire communications ecosystem, considering connectivity, equipment, solution management, deployment, configuration and level one support for the organization, concludes Bernal.
The help provided by these assistants will be increasingly powerful and will guarantee a better support during business meetings. Organizations will be able to collaborate with cost effectiveness and almost without geographical boundaries, with cloud-based video, calls and messaging. To find out more about Cirion’s voice and collaboration services, visit https://www.ciriontechnologies.com/es-pe/voz-colaboracion/
About Cirion:
Cirion is a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider, offering a comprehensive suite of fiber network, connectivity, colocation, cloud infrastructure, and communication and collaboration solutions with the purpose of furthering Latin America´s progress through technology. Cirion serves over 5,500 Latin America-based and multinational customers, including enterprises, government agencies, cloud service providers, carriers, ISPs, and other leading businesses. Cirion owns and operates a facilities-based network and data center portfolio, with extensive coverage spanning across the Latin America region. Learn more about Cirion at www.ciriontechnologies.com
Follow us on social media:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Aug 5, 2023
Keynua Relies on Cirion and AWS Cloud Solutions
With Cirions Cloud Analytics solution, the company gains greater visibility of its public cloud costs and can optimize budgets. Users benefit from streamlined and secure processes and signature of contracts.
LIMA, May 04, 2023 – Today, companies demand the best technologies to carry out their daily activities and offer optimal services to customers. This is the case with Keynua, a leading electronic signature services company.
Cirion Technologies has been providing MPLS connectivity services to Keynua Peru for several years. Through these networks, the American company initially connected its offices with Cirion’s local cloud service Dynamic Enterprise Computing (DEC) to host its virtual servers, where some of their services to state-owned entities are located. As the business continued to grow, Keynua decided to add Cirion’s Cloud Analytics solution to help optimize its AWS expenses.
Cloud Analytics is a SaaS (Software as a Service)-type product that provides a high level of visibility into customers service consumptions in the public clouds. In such a dynamic and diverse environment, it allows them to obtain the information needed to optimize costs.
Thanks to working with Cirion Technologies, we have clear and detailed visibility of AWS costs. Additionally, we can optimize costs through the data analytics solution in the cloud, says Alfredo Granda, VP of Engineering at Keynua.
Oftentimes, when a company migrates its workloads to the public cloud, it loses the ability to manage and control its costs. This is why Cirion offers Cloud Analytics solution, which enables better visualization and cost control. Cirion’s Cloud Analytics solution generates daily, weekly, and monthly consumption reports, alerts, forecasts, and creates budgets, allowing you to check how much is spent on each service, as well as providing cost-saving suggestions, among others. In short, it makes it easier to monitor cloud costs to optimize your budget, which ultimately means better management.
Through the different views and reports offered by Cloud Analytics, Keynua will be able to visualize every detail of the consumptions made in the different public cloud environments with which it works, comments Gianni Hanawa, Commercial Director at Cirion Peru. This service facilitates management and control of the customer’s entire public cloud operation, regardless of the public cloud provider(s) chosen.
Cirion continuously provides us with a reliable and functional framework, allowing us to scale our business while maintaining the level of service, adds Alfredo Granda, VP of Engineering at Keynua.
Additionally, Cirion’s Cloud Analytics solution enables Keynua to use local billing for AWS costs. Furthermore, considering the partnership between AWS and Cirion Technologies, the latter can provide technical assistance as a Partner – Led Support.
Finally, the executive emphasizes Cirion’s experience and its positive contributions to the business, such as cost optimization and constant same-language support, which he considers key factors in maintaining a long-lasting business relationship.
About Cirion
Cirion is a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider, offering a comprehensive suite of fiber network, connectivity, colocation, cloud infrastructure, and communication and collaboration solutions with the purpose of furthering Latin America´s progress through technology. Cirion serves more than 6,400 Latin American and multinational customers, including enterprises, government agencies, cloud service providers, carriers, ISPs, and other leading companies. Cirion owns and operates a facilities-based network and data center portfolio, with extensive coverage spanning across the Latin America region. Learn more about Cirion at www.ciriontechnologies.com
Follow us on our Social Networks:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Media Contact:
Ana Cecilia Deustua
CorPro
p: +51 989 022 938
adeustua@corpro.pe
May 6, 2023
Cirion Strengthens Regional Data Center Platform with New 20-Megawatt Facility in Perú
Lurín facility will be a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient data center with direct fiber connectivity to Cirions existing ecosystem-dense facility in Lima, and will provide interconnect-oriented colocation capacity to the regions rapidly growing data center market
MIAMI, June 06, 2023 Cirion, a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider, today announced that the Company has started construction on a new 12,000 square meters, 20-megawatt carrier-neutral data center in the industrial district of Macropolis in Lurín, Perú. Cirion is backed by Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with more than $55 billion in assets under management and an extensive portfolio of communications and digital infrastructure investments globally.
The new data center is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025 and will be well-equipped to meet the needs of hyperscale cloud service providers, carriers, content providers, and enterprises that require scalable infrastructure. Strategically located in Lurín, the facility will have access to a business-friendly environment, renewable energy, diverse metro and long-haul connectivity to major cities and tech hubs in the region, and proximity to international subsea cable networks to facilitate minimal latency between Latin America and other regions.
In line with the Cirions Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, and the Companys commitment to technological innovation, the new facility will be one of the most energy efficient data centers in the region, with a market-leading PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness).
The development of this new data center is another important step in our journey to grow our platform of low-latency, interconnected data centers and establish a thriving digital ecosystem across Latin America, said Facundo Castro, CEO for Cirion Technologies. In a world where data-driven and multi-cloud technology is advancing the way we work and live, and data is the pillar for groundbreaking business decisions, its important for data to be properly stored, processed, assured, and analyzed. The surging popularity of IoT, 5G, AI, networks, and streaming content has fueled an unrelenting demand for capacity, and data centers are critical to keeping these services running.
The Lurín-based data center will be directly connected through redundant fiber to Cirions existing ecosystem-dense data center in Lima, located only 35 kilometers away, and integrated into Cirions broader carrier-neutral platform comprising 18 data centers across Latin America. Cirions data centers offer cloud providers and enterprises scalable colocation, cross connectivity, and disaster recovery capabilities, and allows customers to connect directly to 90+ carriers and public cloud providers in the region with peer-to-peer connectivity.
About Cirion:
Cirion is a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider, offering a comprehensive suite of fiber network, connectivity, colocation, cloud infrastructure, and communication and collaboration solutions with the purpose of furthering Latin Americas progress through technology. Cirion serves over 5,500 Latin America-based and multinational customers, including enterprises, government agencies, cloud service providers, wireline and wireless carriers, ISPs, and other leading businesses. The Company owns and operates a facilities-based network and data center portfolio, with extensive coverage spanning across the Latin America region. Learn more about Cirion at www.ciriontechnologies.com
Follow us on social media:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
Media Contact:
Paula Vivo
Cirion Technologies
P: +55 11 3957-2424
paula.vivo@ciriontechnologies.com
Jun 10, 2022
CFG-Copeinca and Cirion: A business relationship based on trust, effectiveness, efficiency, and support
- Strategic partnership between both companies started in 2016 with the migration of CFG-Copeinca’s first data center.
- Currently, Cirion provides SD-WAN, data center, and cloud services to the fishing giant.
Lima, Peru. October, 2022. Long-lasting business relationships are based on trust, support, continuous presence during important times, and understanding the strategic needs of the business. These were instrumental factors in the business relationship between Cirion and CFG-Copeinca, which started in mid-2016 when the latter migrated its first data center to Cirion’s[1] facilities.
Our internal data center was in La Victoria, but an incident almost caused a fire. Fortunately, there were no personal injuries, but it could have jeopardized operations at headquarters. As a result, we decided to migrate our critical services to Cirion’s data center, which offered a better technology, with modern equipment and safe, reliable, world-class facilities, recalls Julio Aquino, Information Technology Manager at CFG-Copeinca.
In 2017, the fishing company consolidated its trust in Cirion’s services and its highly skilled team, always ready to meet their demands. That same year, CFG-Copeinca was to dismantle a data center located in Hong Kong and transfer it to Lima in only seven days.
We turned to several providers, who told us that it wasn’t enough time and that there would be logistical issues. Furthermore, they did not have personnel to accompany us to Hong Kong, and one of the challenges was to travel with a technician specialized in infrastructure and migration issues. Cirion accepted the challenge and we traveled with one of their engineers. In six days, we had completed the operation and on the seventh, we started operating in Peru. That was the start of our successful relationship. Later, we evolved to other platforms and currently, we also count on cloud services. We are growing together, says the executive.
Another feature considered of vital importance by the executive is Cirion’s readiness which, together with its last-generation technology, helps this strategic partnership grow stronger over time. This is why CFG-Copeinca through its Information Technology Management trusted the implementation of other solutions to Cirion’s specialists.
The deployment of a new MPLS network, for instance, was the first approach to the organization’s needs for better communications between offices, meeting the requirement of better connectivity along the entire Peruvian coast where the company has plants, and offering uninterrupted connections and high-level security. Then, to maintain availability levels, the installation of contingency services was agreed upon.
At that time, contingency connections didn’t offer great speed, but they avoided disconnections when other operators’ signals went down, since some areas didnt count on Cirions connections. Over time, we migrated to a new technology: SD-WAN. This transition, proposed by Cirion, ensures us that everything works timely, securely, with extreme visibility and control of business applications. It also gives us peace of mind to be able to automatically count on high-availability connectivity, leveraging the entire bandwidth available”, explains the spokesman.
Finally, he underscores the flexibility of Cirion’s professionals and their commitment to customers, which allows companies to maintain their regular and optimal operations. In addition, he highlights the confidence passed on by specialists when solving their issues and listening to their suggestions, as well as the last-generation technology offered.
The fishing industry is very dynamic, and we need our partners to be nimble, adaptable, and able to provide us with viable and immediate solutions. Lastly, their constant support and consulting before, during and after the deployment of their solutions, are factors we truly value, concludes Julio Aquino.
[1] Lumen Latam is now Cirion, a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider.
About Cirion:
Cirion is a leading digital infrastructure and technology provider, offering a comprehensive suite of fiber network, connectivity, colocation, cloud infrastructure, and communication and collaboration solutions with the purpose of furthering Latin Americas progress through technology. Cirion serves over 6,400 Latin America-based and multinational customers, including enterprises, government agencies, cloud service providers, wireline and wireless carriers, ISPs, and other leading businesses. Cirion owns and operates a portfolio of networks and data centers, with extensive coverage throughout the Latin American region.
Learn more about Cirion at www.ciriontechnologies.com
Follow us in Social Media:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Blog
