IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl expanded a partnership with Vodafone Business in Germany, enabling the telecoms outfit to bolster its offering for the nation’s financial industry.

In a statement released yesterday (29 July), Kyndryl explained the companies have consistently refined a partnership originally struck in 2018 to meet the needs of various industries, with a focus on infrastructure, cloud and security services.

Kyndryl branded the updated deal a “significant milestone” in its working relationship with Vodafone Business.

The latest agreement involves Kyndryl delivering updated security capabilities which Vodafone’s financial sector customers can use to meet compliance requirements.

Among the measures involved are endpoint protection for servers and workstations; virtual desktop infrastructure; proxy management; and web security.

Kyndryl explained it will “scan and identify vulnerabilities of end-customer servers, virtual machines, network devices, firewalls and endpoint devices”, measures which will “fortify” the digital infrastructure of Vodafone’s customers.

Alexander Steineck, VP of industrial and consumer at Kyndryl Germany, said the companies are working to provide “advanced security and resiliency services that address the evolving threat landscape”.

Threat level
In May, Germany’s digital association Bitkom stated cyberattacks had become a major contributor to an estimated €206 billion digital and analogue espionage cost the nation’s economy each year, accounting for €148 billion of the total.

It stated 48 per cent of businesses feared a successful cyberattack could wipe them out, and argued combatting the threat required “close cooperation” between local policing agencies, intelligence services “and even the German armed forces”.