The Private Infrastructure Development Group (‘PIDG’) is an innovative infrastructure development and finance organisation delivering pioneering infrastructure in the poorest and most fragile countries.

PIDG have delivered more than 157 projects, created over 250,000 jobs and provided 209 million people with new infrastructure. Some of their recent projects include construction of a hydro power station in Uganda and solar power project in Vietnam.

Due to their work with international governments and financial institutions, PIDG needed to ensure that their Microsoft Office 365 data and emails were safe from cyber-attacks. They were already using a solution for this, but it was not as effective as it could be. PIDG wanted to explore modern alternatives that would add an extra layer of protection to their data and communications.

Bytes demonstrated the benefits of three different vendors offering data backup and email security solutions. This was complemented with product demos to help PIDG make an informed decision.

Barracuda was chosen as the preferred vendor for both backup and email security. Their leading-edge Backup and Total Email Protection solutions offer a range of impressive features. For starters, both are cloud-based and managed through a single portal - making them lightweight on infrastructure and simple to administer. They also use cutting-edge technology to prevent attacks and data loss.

Barracuda Total Email Protection offers:

• Multi-layered protection against advanced email threats and social-engineering attacks
• Artificial intelligence to learn communication patterns and detect fraud in real-time
• API architecture which is integrated with Office 365 and stops advanced mailbox threats
• Tamper-proof email archiving to ensure business continuity, compliance and e-discovery
• Training simulations updated daily to help users identify and respond to attacks - transforming them into a powerful layer of defense.

Barracuda Backup provides:

• Backup, protection & recovery for all environments - physical, virtual and SaaS
• Total Office 365 backup for SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and emails
• Continuous data protection backs up files every 15 minutes
• High security with military-grade 256-bit AES encryption
• Replication using the cloud to ensure security and cost-effectiveness
• Inline deduplication to reduce storage and bandwidth needs.

Barracuda’s approach to email security blends AI and a secure email gateway with training for users – recognising that effective security not only has to stop attacks, but also learn the behavior of attackers and ensure users are part of frontline defense. This gives PIDG a comprehensive solution that covers all bases and offers them peace of mind.

Barracuda Backup offers further support. It can backup both physical and cloud-based Office 365 data, providing intelligent recovery in the event of loss. This is all wrapped up in the highest possible security to provide further protection of valuable data.

Adopting this modern technology will help PIDG to communicate and share data with confidence. This will enable the group to meet their business goals without interruption and continue providing much needed infrastructure to underdeveloped nations.