Security vulnerabilities cost companies millions – and often go unnoticed until it’s too late and they are exploited. That’s why Coop doesn’t just rely on traditional protective measures but takes an important step further: Through ethical hacking with Bug Bounty Switzerland, the company actively strengthens its cyber resilience – every single day.
A Growing Risk for the Retail Sector
Cyberattacks on retail companies are steadily increasing. Data leaks, system failures, and financial damages threaten the entire industry. But how do you protect a company with hundreds of stores, a complex IT infrastructure, and millions of customer records? Coop – the retailer with over 97,000 employees – has a clear answer: ethical hacking and proactive bug bounty programs.
Coop Relies on Verified Security Experts
Coop collaborates with Bug Bounty Switzerland to protect its websites and e-commerce platforms. Ethical hackers – highly skilled and carefully verified security experts – continuously test the systems and report detected vulnerabilities directly to the company.
“Despite regular penetration testing and our external attack surface management, there are critical security vulnerabilities that we can only discover with ethical hackers. Bug Bounty Switzerland helps us leverage the expertise of the best ethical hackers to make our systems more resilient and protect against cyberattacks.”
Noah Denger, IT Security Manager Officer, Coop
Why Traditional Security Measures Are No Longer Enough
For three years, Coop has placed its trust in Bug Bounty Switzerland, working closely with the Swiss bug bounty market leader to identify potential security weaknesses at an early stage – embracing an innovative approach that many companies still shy away from. Noah Denger, Coop’s IT Security Officer, explains why ethical hacking plays a crucial role in cyber resilience.
Traditional IT security measures like firewalls, antivirus programs, and internal audits are important, but they are often insufficient. The biggest threats don’t come from well-known attack vectors but from unknown vulnerabilities. These need to be proactively discovered using a method that continuously and cost-effectively examines the entire attack surface.
Proactively Identifying Critical Security Vulnerabilities
In recent years, responsible external security researchers have identified certain vulnerabilities within Coop’s systems. Although these were isolated cases, they highlight the importance of detecting potential risks early – before they become real problems. Continuous collaboration with ethical hackers has proven to be an effective component of Coop’s comprehensive cyber defense strategy.
Three Key Takeaways for Decision-Makers
- Security is a continuous process: Traditional security measures matter, but only ongoing security testing of the entire attack surface by verified ethical hackers makes a decisive difference. They help uncover hidden vulnerabilities often overlooked by conventional methods.
- Trust is essential: Successful bug bounty programs require clear, binding rules and a trusted collaboration between companies and hackers, ideally coordinated autonomously by a specialist like Bug Bounty Switzerland.
- Don’t wait until it’s too late: Companies should not act only after an attack but proactively identify and fix vulnerabilities. Every discovered security gap reduces the likelihood of a malicious cyberattack and enhances response capabilities, strengthening cyber resilience.
Coop Demonstrates: Ethical Hacking is a Key Advantage, Not a Risk
Bug bounty programs enable businesses to efficiently identify unknown vulnerabilities and proactively address them before attackers can exploit them. A professionally managed program uncovers critical gaps early, shortens response times, and enhances cyber resilience sustainably – every day.
Companies that take security seriously rely on continuous testing of their entire attack surface by verified ethical hackers, benefiting from this essential external perspective.
Ethical hacking is not just a nice-to-have – it is a fundamental part of modern security strategies for forward-thinking companies.
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