laptop pointing to screen
Resources / Blog

Helion is Now a CIS SecureSuite® Member

By Erik NachbahrJune 6, 2019 · 3 min read

Helion Technologies recently announced their membership with CIS SecureSuite®, and now has access to the CIS universe of cybersecurity tools, insights, and services.

CIS Controls and CIS Benchmarks are recognized as best-of-breed for securing data and IT systems against even the most intensive attacks. By partnering with CIS, Helion has strengthened their cybersecurity suite to provide even better data protection support for client partners. What does that mean for auto and truck dealerships?

What is CIS SecureSuite®?

CIS is a nonprofit organization that safeguards private and public entities against cyber threats by setting benchmarking standards, providing cybersecurity tools, and more. CIS SecureSuite members have access to a range of tools designed to measure information security status. Members include companies of all sizes from virtually every industry, ranging from independent consultants to leading Fortune 500 organizations.

CIS SecureSuite® membership gives Helion access to tools designed to support and automate cybersecurity practices. For example, the CIS-CAT® Pro asssessor tool can perform an endpoint assessment on an organization’s operating system configurations, then get a score that rates how compliant an organization is with CIS recommendations.

“Instead of having a person manually go and check 330 configuration settings on a system, you have a piece of software that does the same thing automatically,” says Louis Garwood, Director of Engineering at CIS. In fact, CIS-CAT® Pro provides users with that endpoint score in minutes.

With this tool, Helion can generate insight into risk within your environment, lead decision making for your network, and protect your organization from sophisticated cyber threats. By expediting endpoint scoring, CIS-CAT® Pro frees up technicians to do more of the valuable work your dealership needs to stay on the cutting edge.

The CIS SecureSuite® suite also includes time-saving tools for remediation — designed to take a “golden image” computing environment on one device and deploy it across systems — and ongoing support from CIS themselves. These tools combine to build more robust security protections for your dealership.

Why does it matter?  

With CCPA on the horizon, truck and auto dealerships in California are thinking about IT security in a whole new way. However, a new focus on cybersecurity among dealership owners and managers isn’t exclusive to the Golden State.

In recent years, ransomware attacks have begun targeting dealerships at an alarming rate. Your average auto retailer stores a lot of sensitive customer data, but many don’t have robust network protections in place. That combination creates an easy, highly-profitable target for hackers.

In addition, a lot of dealerships are finding that their existing network can’t keep pace with evolving capacity and demand, leading to increasing downtime. To combat these various issues, a lot of dealerships are partnering with trusted security and network management partners like Helion to get the job done right.

About the author

Erik Nachbahr

Founder & President, Helion Technologies

Erik Nachbahr founded Helion Technologies in 1997 and has spent nearly 30 years working exclusively with automotive and heavy truck dealerships. Helion now supports more than 2,000 dealerships and 35,000 end users with managed IT, cybersecurity, FTC Safeguards compliance, Tekion enablement, and managed AI, all under one team. A CISSP, Erik writes and speaks about the parts of dealership technology most operators inherit rather than choose: vendor sprawl, AI governance, and cyber risk. His goal is simple: make the technology work so dealerships can focus on what they do best, selling and servicing cars and heavy trucks.

Confidence in your current setup and actual protection aren't always the same thing. The only way to know which one you have is to look.

Get Your Complimentary IT & Cybersecurity Assessment →