Compliance with legal protection targets in IT poses new challenges for many companies, according to Mathias Handsche. In an eco member interview, he explains how nGENn GmbH helps to boost cybersecurity.
Mr Handsche, would you please give us a brief introduction to your company, nGENn GmbH?
nGENn GmbH is a management consultancy based in Usingen. We apply a holistic portfolio of consulting, development and support around network-based information systems. Since 2001, we have been creating and evaluating IT architectures and (security) concepts for our customers in the telecommunications sector, conducting technical analyses, security audits and necessary market studies as well as economic evaluations of alternative courses of action. For example, we have already successfully supported several companies in the telecommunications sector in the creation or updating of their security concept in accordance with § 166 of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG). For other companies, we assign the security officer who acts as the contact person for the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) and who handles any security incidents and accompanies audits.
Which digitalisation topics are particularly important to you?
We are committed to our clients in all matters of technical compliance. The areas of digital transformation that have a prominent role in this include, above all, the intelligent automation of processes to support risk management, information security and data protection.
What are the special challenges of your industry at the moment and how are you working on them?
The new edition of the TKG at the end of 2021 already brought a lot of changes to the telecommunications industry. With the European NIS 2 and CER directives and their implementation in the domestic legal framework, the next round of regulation is on the horizon. For some sectors, this will lead to a further tightening of the legal requirements – and there will once again be a sudden enlarged circle of affected companies. For such companies, compliance with these legal protection goals will pose new challenges; luckily, thanks to our many years of experience, they can avail of our support.
How do you expect your membership in the eco Association to support you in this regard?
eco represents the interests of its members in its contact with politicians and also with international committees. These activities help us, especially in the areas of security standards and regulation, because we are involved in new or amended plans right from the outset of the legislative process. This enables us to assess the expected effects for our clients in an earlier and better manner, and to advise and support them accordingly.
What opportunities does digitalisation offer us in the future?
Many processes that used to run disparately are already much better integrated today, but the interlocking of processes across platforms, databases and networks is still anything but self-evident. Our customers depend on the interaction of many processes that must function without media disruptions, new data entry or time-consuming post-processing of data. Successful digitalization, therefore, requires open interfaces, interoperability and compatibility – and a constant focus on information security as a vital prerequisite.
Mr Handsche, thank you very much for the interview!
Short profile of Mathias Handsche, Managing Director at nGENn GmbH
After successfully completing his training as an IT Specialist for system integration at IBM Germany GmbH, Mr Handsche graduated in 2007 from the University of Applied Sciences WĂĽrzburg-Schweinfurt with a degree in computer science. After gaining experiences as a Network Design Engineer at Dimension Data and a Network Development Engineer at Vodafone Germany GmbH, he joined DE-CIX Management GmbH in 2013, where he was responsible for product management. In 2019, Mr Handsche moved to Teliko GmbH as Technical Manager and has now been Managing Director at nGENn GmbH since 2021.
