2023

Coop-Aspire
relies on
Kaspersky
solutions tosupport its
growthCoop-Aspire
Based in Santo Domingo, the capital of the
Dominican Republic, Cooperativa de Ahorro,
Crédito y Servicios Múltiples Aspire wasfounded to be a reference in providing
financial services that fully enrich the lives of
its members.
The organization caters to sectors thatare marginalized by the traditional financial
system, such as micro and small businesses
who need working capital, home
remodeling, home appliance financing andso on; and also, employees who get theirsalaries through agreements withcompanies. Small, and medium-sizedbusinesses, Schools, and Churches are also
an important part of its Partners.
It currently has more than 500 employees, 28
subsidiaries, 8 service stations and more than
200,000 members, with proven financial
soundness of more than
3 billion pesos in assets.

“We evaluated several
tools in detail and chose
Kaspersky because it iscomplete and goesbeyond protection, as it
also includes monitoring.”
Wilkys Rodriguez, Director ofInformation Technology and Digital
Strategy

Coop-Aspire’s goals are ambitious. Founded in 2013 in the Dominican Republic,
Cooperativa de Ahorro, Crédito y Servicios Múltiples Aspire focuses on microcredit toserve micro and small businesses who need working capital as well as people who do
not have bank accounts to their name. The institution’s development program
consists of strengthening the relationship with its more than 200,000 members as wellas contributing to the integral development of their families through plans and training
and prepare the cooperative for possible changes in legislation, which could include
coming under the supervision of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic.
To support its growth while increasing the level of protection at the same time, CoopAspire decided to implement Kaspersky’s solutions to prevent any potential attacks.
Cybersecurity is a fundamental pillar for the institution’s strategy. “We always like to
be one step ahead in auditing, risk, and compliance. We are working in accordancewith the best practices as to ensure our operational efficiency while offering a safe
environment to all our partners and related parties, and continue to be a benchmark
for transparency throughout the country's cooperative system... In this sense, wemust always consider the use of cutting-edge tools that ensure protection and,above all, continuity” says Wilkys Rodriguez, Director of Information Technology andDigital Strategy at Coop-Aspire.

Challenge
Preparing the institution for sustainable growth by anticipating future legislation was
one of the motivators that led the co-op to implement the solutions provided byKaspersky. “The company’s business and strategy areas are technology-oriented,
with security at their core. The impact of where we are going involves manyfinancial instruments that require greater security. We need to be at the forefront,”emphasizes Rodriguez.
The entire security department of the co-op focuses on technology management.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the cybersecurity division was empowered to protect
the institution from potential attacks, which increased worldwide during the period, asemphasized by Luis Eduardo Rosario, General Manager.
Both employees state that the co-op did not suffer any attack attempts, but manycases were reported in the country. Therefore, there was a clear urgency to hire more
solid, reliable solutions that were better aligned with the institution’s new status and its
plans for growth. Coop-Aspire acted on the principle that it should count on a worldclass system with the guarantee of having security specialists who would provide full
support at their disposal.

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Solutions∙ Kaspersky Anti Targeted
Attack Platform∙ Kaspersky Total Securityfor Business∙ Kaspersky Endpoint Detection
and Response Expert (EDRExpert)∙ Kaspersky Managed Detection
and Response (MDR)∙ Enhanced Support with TechnicalAccount Manager (TAM)∙ Kaspersky ProfessionalServices (KPS)

Kaspersky’s solution
Faced with this scenario, Coop-Aspire chose prevention and invested incomplementary Kaspersky tools. The co-op hired a robust solution for its protection.
“We didn't have a state-of-the-art tool that contemplated the current size of thecompany. We have to look toward the future, and for that reason we searched for
effective tools in the face of the great wave of attacks in the Dominican Republic aswell as the increase in cybercrime worldwide,” says Wilkys Rodriguez.
Preventing and ensuring the continuity of services led Coop-Aspire to purchase
Kaspersky’s native XDR provided by Kaspersky Anti-Targeted Attack Platform (KATA)
with Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Expert (EDR Expert), Kaspersky
Total Security for Business, Kaspersky Managed Detection and Response (MDR),Enhanced Support with TAM and Professional Services. “For us, it was very clear that
Kaspersky met our needs and went beyond the requirements,” he points out.
In doing so, Coop-Aspire has evolved from simple antivirus, firewall, endpoint security,and email tools to a holistic solution with built-in security systems and 24/7 monitoring.
“The company now has maximum protection against all manner of sophisticatedhacker attacks” said Dwayne Porr Leslie, Enterprise Account Manager at Kaspersky.
The project gives Coop-Aspire telemetry-level detection and visibility by analyzing
network data. This is important because potential attacks are likely to take place whilea hacker is inside the network, but with EDR the hacker is detected before the attack
takes place. Coop-Aspire also hired Kaspersky Extended Detection and Response(XDR), which ensures extended detection and response, meaning that threats aredetected and corrected beyond the endpoint level (by providing new sensors andtechnologies – an email sensor, a sandbox, threat intelligence, etc).

Foundation for the future
Wilkys Rodriguez explains that all of the modules and their components were analyzed.
Professionals in the technical divisions also evaluated the tools. “We saw what weneeded and were fascinated with the convergence of tools working together,” said
Wilkys, adding that he was satisfied with the advanced security service that deals with
the increasing complexity of cyber-attacks in real time, 24/7.

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Implementing the solutions took about three months and involved three professionals
from the co-op, in addition to Kaspersky specialists and its local partner, HarPer.
Coop-Aspire was careful to include users in the process, both at headquarters andin subsidiaries. “The more impactful part is the telemetry at the computer and server
levels. Knowing the hacker’s cycle led us to purchase the MDR module. All products
have been purchased. We also hired the Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack platform(KATA) and we feel safer with this tool. Every potential entry point is centralized under
our control, with full visibility —network, web, email, PCs, laptops, servers and virtualmachines” says the co-op's director of information technology and digital strategy.
With these upgrades to their security department, Coop-Aspire now has the support ofapplicable, modern tools to take the leap in its offers and continue as a reference in theprovision of financial services. “We evaluated several tools in detail and chose Kaspersky
because it is complete and goes beyond protection, as it also includes monitoring. For
that reason, it was the winner. It caught my attention that the implementation was not at
all complicated,” he adds.
The co-op’s business and strategy are technology-oriented, with security as a key pillar.
Both have a direct impact on the co-op’s plans, including the improvement of financial
instruments, which requires being ahead of their competitors. “Our intention is to moveon to a second stage, which would be external protection. We are completely satisfied
with Kaspersky, with the tools, the monitoring area, and the security of the solutions,”
evaluates Wilkys Rodriguez.

OutcomeCoop-Aspire has evolved to high quality protection tools against advanced threats,
anticipating for the future to ensure a continuous growth and excellence in theirbusinesses.

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