Swiss companies have come through the economic crisis better than their competitors in Europe. They were already in a comparatively strong competitive position in 2019 and managed to increase their return on equity and operating profit during the pandemic compared to their European peers. This is the conclusion of the study "Switzerland's Top500 - Summit in Sight" published by Accenture Switzerland. If a company enters a crisis stronger, it also emerges from it more successful. The report shows the characteristics for precisely this entrepreneurial success. More than 200 Swiss and European companies from a total of ten industries were examined.

Even before the pandemic, signs of an impending economic crisis

The results already show a slowdown in sales development across all industries for the year before the pandemic. This compares to an average 3.5 percent increase in sales over the previous five years and no growth in 2019. However, the profit margins of different industries can be looked at in a more nuanced way. In chemicals, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, pre-pandemic profit margins were well above the national average of 9.5 percent. In terms of sales growth, they were also above the average of 2.5 percent growth over the past five years. Looking at Switzerland, it can be said that domestic companies entered the crisis with higher profitability than their competitors in Europe. In terms of market valuation, Swiss companies also performed better than their European counterparts in virtually all sectors, in seven out of ten industries. Only the operating margin was slightly lower. This is shown by an international comparison of the corresponding key figures.

Economic crisis, what now?

The increase in return on equity and operating margin shows how well Swiss companies have responded to the pandemic. This is particularly evident in the case of producers of consumer goods, industrial equipment manufacturers or even chemical companies, which further improved their relative performance figures compared with European competitors during the pandemic-related economic crisis. The opposite is true in other sectors. The Swiss retail trade has lost further ground because numerous retailers have been slow to follow the trend toward increased digitization and e-commerce. Even if the need to catch up is recognized and initiatives for digital transformation are being driven forward, the economic environment remains challenging regardless of the sector. The question therefore arises: Do criteria exist that can inspire success even in the face of the crisis?

Companies that invested in digitization before the COVID 19 crisis are emerging from it stronger and will further extend their lead compared with companies that managed their digital infrastructure exclusively before the crisis. One reason for this is that the COVID 19 crisis accelerated digitization. Consequently, this means that in addition to functioning business activities, these companies are promoting reforms in new business activities and scaling their digital business models there. The general focus on the customer experience in combination with a modern digital architecture will continue to be the basis for entrepreneurial success after the COVID 19 crisis.

Anchoring success characteristics - but how?

The focus on innovation as well as operational and strategic agility is a firm necessity for mastering the future. Only through "constant reinvention at speed", the foot-on-the-gas-pedal, constantly reinventing oneself, one achieves the desired state. In this way, one recognizes and avoids unnecessary costs and can redirect these freed-up financial resources into redesign. This way of thinking leads to a new culture of innovation in the company. By improving the digital infrastructure and the targeted use of modern technologies, skills, leadership and company culture as a whole can be realigned so that a new, coherent digital business model emerges within the organization. The keyword here: Creation through scaling. Because customer experience (CX) refers to the transaction with customers, but a product offering alone does not define a great experience, CX has evolved into BX: the business of experience. This holistic, customer-centric approach not only generates sustainable growth, but also enables innovation.

The New Digital Core is the heart

The resulting reimagined and end-to-end digitized company is based on a new competitive advantage. The "New Digital Core" is a digital image of a company. All applications, services and data are brought together in the cloud. This allows all company processes to be controlled centrally and in real time. This also includes processes involving partners and customers. The idea is to anchor collaboration and customer experience deeply in the structures and self-image of a company. The data required for this is available simultaneously, which shortens decision-making processes, enables performance assessment and makes complete transparency the standard. Cost-intensive and innovation-inhibiting barriers between processes, employees, suppliers and customers are thus eliminated. In combination with automation, robotics, AI or the Internet of Things (IoT), business processes, product innovation and supply chains are optimized and radically shortened. The New Digital Core ultimately leads to fully digitized value chains and sustainable ecosystems across company and industry boundaries.

Need to catch up with digital technologies

This focus on digitization is also noticeable in the workplace. The infrastructures built around the New Digital Core must now be used optimally to generate an appropriate payback on the investments. It is important to ensure the availability and acceptance of the employees by penetrating the digital technologies within the company to the smallest corner. The New Digital Core is the success-critical factor that makes all other changes necessary in the "post-pandemic world" possible in the first place and creates sustainable value for companies.

Swiss companies still have some catching up to do here. 41 percent have little or no experience with decoupled data. However, if they were used together with applications, they would increase flexibility and enable adjustments in real time and without affecting other systems. A third have barely experimented with cutting-edge cloud solutions. By integrating data analytics or AI, this key technology has become a catalyst for growth. According to the study, almost half of Swiss companies do not have adequate technologies to capture and analyze data in real time. However, the use, analysis and quality of data will become standard and will have to be incorporated into every decision-making process in the company.

Source: Accenture

The Swiss industrial group Conzzeta AG is strategically realigning itself and in this context is divesting the outdoor company Mammut. The signing of the agreement for the acquisition of Mammut by Telemos marks the completion of this strategic realignment, the company announced. Subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, the closing of the divestment of Mammut is expected around mid-2021.

Outdoor company with significant milestones

Conzzeta AG, which has been listed on the stock exchange since 1996, entered the lucrative sporting goods market in 1982 with the acquisition of Arova Lenzburg, which later became the Mammut Sports Group. This era is now coming to an end. Michael Willome, CEO of Conzzeta, says: "It has been a great pleasure and honor to accompany Mammut's journey over the past almost 6 years. The Mammut team has achieved significant milestones during this time. For me, the transformation of the products into a contemporary and fresh design under the same claim of premium quality and functionality was particularly remarkable. Added to this are the new product ranges developed specifically for female customers, which now allow our female customers to fully participate in the rich Mammut offering. In addition, it is extraordinary how strongly the digital channels are expanding and thus contributing significantly to growth via mammut.com and the relevant marketplaces."

The new owners

The new owner of Mammut is Telemos Capital, a European financial investor with a Swiss background. Telemos says it draws on strong family values, entrepreneurial investment experience and a long-term partnership approach. The company was founded and is led by Philippe Jacobs, who is also co-chairman of Jacobs Holding AG, Zurich, Switzerland. The Telemos team focuses on equity investments in a limited number of private companies in the consumer goods, healthcare and business services sectors across Europe. According to the statement, the acquisition of Mammut is justified in part by its enthusiasm for mountain sports. Philippe Jacobs, Telemos Capital executive chairman, commented, "We look forward to future opportunities with Mammut premium outdoor products and services."

Further develop business model

With Telemos, the outdoor company Mammut is gaining a new, strong partner that will help the Swiss mountain sports specialist in the further development of its business model, according to the media release sent out on the company transaction. This primarily concerns the three areas of products, (digital) channels and growth in new regions. Oliver Pabst, CEO of Mammut Sports Group, is optimistic: "Today's announcement is very good news. Guided by our Purpose `To Create a World Moved by Mountains', we are looking forward to working with Telemos to further expand Mammut's leading position, Swiss 1862, as a premium brand in existing and new markets, together with our partners, and to convince with sustainable, innovative as well as digital product solutions."

Source: Mammut Sports Group

The "new normal" predicted for the end of the pandemic is already a reality for most export-oriented companies in Switzerland. This was made clear by a wide range of speakers at this year's Foreign Trade and Investment Forum. In her closing remarks, Ruth Metzler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE), said that the crisis has shown which international business models work and which do not. One goal of this year's Foreign Trade and Investment Forum was to provide companies with inspiration and practical tools to get back on track or continue to get off the ground in exports.

Maintain bilateral path with the EU

It is not only the Corona crisis that influences foreign trade, but also shifts in economic policy: What impact, for example, do the differences between the USA and China have on the Swiss export industry? What framework conditions are needed to ensure that foreign trade with the EU continues to work? And how will trade relations between Switzerland and the United Kingdom develop after the UK leaves the EU? These questions, which companies generally have little influence on answering, were the focus of various panel discussions. Swissmem President Martin Hirzel, for example, emphatically calls for the bilateral path with the EU to be maintained. After all, despite emerging markets in Asia or Africa, it is still the European countries, above all Germany, to which most Swiss goods are exported. "For the MEM industries, the European market still offers the highest growth rates over the next ten years, says Martin Hirzel. And what is often forgotten: "Switzerland is the fourth most important trading partner of the EU," as SRF correspondent Sebastian Ramspeck noted.

Next crises will follow

Simone Wyss Fedele, CEO of S-GE, summarized the most important findings for export practice at the Foreign Trade Forum 2021 as follows: Concentrate on niches and fully exploit the opportunities of digitalization there, diversify, adapt value chains and be able to deal with uncertainty. Because, as Ruth Metzler also emphasized in her closing speech, regulations will increase and more unexpected crises will follow. Aude Pugin, CEO of APCO Technologies SA and President of the Vaud Chamber of Commerce and Industry, regretted in her keynote speech that too little attention is still paid to the fact that crises should also be used as opportunities. Resilience is the order of the day, she noted. "We have to learn, at surf the wave instead of waiting for the next one to hit," she said, referring to the fact that we are currently affected by both a health crisis and an economic crisis.

Do not let supply chains break down

For SMEs in particular, interrupted supply chains prove to be a problem time and again. Howag Kabel AG, for example, was also affected by this. Its CEO Eugen Peterhans described how his company dealt with the challenge of having to increase the delivery capability for a key customer within a short time. Tight management with the setting of clear priorities proved to be decisive in such situations. In order to remain able to deliver in the long term, it is essential to rely on several sources, including suppliers, and also to consider warehousing, which does not seem very attractive in the low-interest environment. That this involves additional costs is undisputed. But Tomasz Gonsior of OptiBuy GmbH says in this regard, "It may be more expensive to do nothing." The risk must therefore also be borne by customers and suppliers.

Ignazio Cassis at the Foreign Trade and Investment Forum 2021: Federal Council continues to advocate good framework conditions

The value of personal relationships should not be underestimated despite digitization, which has now shifted many contacts to the virtual world. Physical contacts must therefore be used even more effectively, said Andreas Gerber of Credit Suisse, which together with S-GE regularly examines the export prospects of Swiss companies. Despite the adverse circumstances, it is important to focus on normality, "also financially," as Gerber emphasized with a view to the state aid funds that will eventually run out. "Companies must once again focus on money they have earned themselves." But politics is also called upon. Here, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis assured the companies that the Federal Council will continue to work for good economic conditions. "Diplomacy is measured by how it stands up for business." The population sometimes seems to forget how important the export industry is for our country, said Cassis - probably also intended as a small dig at the discussion surrounding the framework agreement with the EU.

More information: Switzerland Global Enterprise

Switzerland continues to perform well in an international comparison when it comes to taxes on profits and income. This is shown by the latest Swiss Tax Report published by the auditing firm KPMG. It compares the profit and income tax rates of 130 countries and all 26 cantons. According to the report, the highest income tax rates in Europe are still found in Sweden (57.3%) and Denmark (56.5%) as well as Austria (55.0%). In a non-European comparison, Japan, China, Australia and South Africa have the highest top tax rates at 45% each. Various offshore domiciles and isolated Middle Eastern states still levy no taxes on income.

Rates for profit taxes in Switzerland slightly lower in 2021

After major downward movements in profit tax rates were observed in the previous year due to the STAF corporate tax reform, the tax rate reductions from 2020 to 2021 were noticeably lower. Overall, eleven cantons lowered their profit taxes this year, albeit only slightly. The cantons with the highest rates made the biggest reductions. These are the canton of Valais with around -1.6 percentage points, Zurich with around -1.5 percentage points and Bern with around -0.6 percentage points. The low-tax canton of Nidwalden has also reduced its profit tax rate comparatively sharply, by -0.7 percentage points. Across Switzerland, the average profit tax rate is currently around 14.9%, having stood at 15.1% in the previous year. At the beginning of the period under review in 2007, the average ordinary profit tax rate for companies based in Switzerland was still over 20%.

In an international comparison, Switzerland performs well. The cantons with the lowest profit tax rates occupy the top places among the locations with low tax rates after the classic offshore domiciles, Guernsey, Qatar and some (South) Eastern European countries.

Low-tax cantons: Nidwalden overtakes Lucerne

There have been hardly any shifts in the ranking of cantons with the most attractive profit tax rates compared with the previous year. The cantons of Central Switzerland and Glarus and Appenzell-Innerrhoden continue to have the lowest ordinary taxes on profits. Canton Zug, for example, has the lowest profit tax rate at 11.9%, followed by Canton Nidwalden, which has overtaken Canton Lucerne (12.3%) thanks to a slight reduction in the rate of -0.7 percentage points to just under 12%. With a profit tax rate of 21%, the canton of Berne brings up the rear - despite a tax rate reduction of -0.6 percentage points.

Moderate reduction in tax rates expected in Switzerland by 2025

For the coming years, KPMG expects a further, albeit moderate, reduction in tax rates, as some cantons have not yet implemented the full reduction in tax rates as part of the STAF corporate tax reform. They are spreading the rate reductions in stages over up to 5 years. This means that corporate taxes are expected to fall to around 14.3% by 2025. The largest tax cuts are expected in Basel-Landschaft (-4.5%), Ticino (-3.3%) and the canton of Jura (-2.0%).

Tax rates for top incomes largely unchanged

In contrast to corporate taxation, the taxation of individuals has changed little in recent years. Since the first edition of KPMG's Swiss Tax Report, the average top income tax rate in Switzerland has hardly moved at all. In 2007, for example, the rate was 34.9% and will thus remain at virtually the same level in 2021 at 33.7% (previous year: 33.8%).

The largest change could be observed in the cantons of Glarus, Schaffhausen, Jura and Fribourg, which each reduced their average income tax rates by around -0.3 percentage points in 2021. Bern and Thurgau have also slightly reduced their rates by around -0.2 percentage points each. Obwalden is the only canton to have raised its income tax rate slightly by +0.2 percentage points, but with a rate of 24.3% it is still in the top 3 of the most attractive tax cantons.

In cantons with low profit taxes, high incomes also pay low taxes

In general, it can be seen that cantons with low corporate tax rates also perform well in the comparison of top income tax rates. The lowest income tax rate, at around 22.4%, is applied by the canton of Zug, followed by Appenzell-Innerrhoden (24.1%), Obwalden (24.3%) and other cantons in central Switzerland. Top incomes are taxed highest in Geneva (44.8%). The tax rates for top incomes are also relatively high in the cantons of Basel-Land (42.2%), Vaud (41.5%) and Bern (41.0%).

Pressure on "tax havens" increases

A reorganization of international corporate taxation is on the horizon that could also have a significant impact on Switzerland. The international tax debate is currently centered on the idea of an international minimum rate for corporate taxation. The latest statements by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are increasing the pressure on low-tax countries like Switzerland. The minimum tax rate of 21% proposed by Yellen is far above the average ordinary rate for profit taxes of currently 14.9% in Switzerland.

If the proposals of the OECD, the G20 and the US Treasury Department for a planned minimum taxation were implemented, this would have consequences for tax competition. This is because the restriction of international tax competition reduces the scope for positioning oneself in the location competition by means of a competitive tax regime. Switzerland in particular could lose attractiveness as a location due to its high cost level. That is why, according to KPMG, it is important to carefully cultivate other location factors. "The level of corporate tax rates is increasingly taking a back seat. Even though the tax burden will remain an important decision-making criterion, factors such as access to talent, flexible labor market conditions, and political stability and legal certainty are becoming increasingly important," explains Stefan Kuhn, head of KPMG's tax and legal advisory practice.

Source: KPMG

The succession plan has occupied Hunn for many years. The company and the Hunn garden furniture brand were built up by the Bänninger couple with a great deal of passion over 33 years and today employs almost 100 people. The company offers the largest selection of garden furniture in Switzerland and is, by its own account, the market leader in the industry. As Hunn continues, the search for a suitable buyer and successor took a lot of time. "We were looking for a successor who understands and lives on Hunn's core values and company philosophy. Selling to a large investor or a foreign company was never an option for us," explains Jürg Bänninger. In Jean-Pierre Iacopetta, the Bänningers have now found a new co-owner who will continue to run the company in the same spirit in the long term and who values each and every employee in the company, according to the statement.

Why Hunn garden furniture?

Jean-Pierre Iacopetta was enthusiastic about Hunn garden furniture from the very beginning because Hunn focuses on the customer and the product and looks at what really suits the customer. Hunn is an exemplary company with its commitment, expert knowledge and high quality standards in terms of product and service, the new co-owner explains his motivation further. The interaction among the employees and owners is very appreciative and collegial. Furthermore, Hunn has grown to become the market leader over the past 33 years, benefiting from a high level of brand awareness, long-standing employees, and a very solid and sustainable company structure.

Who is Jean-Pierre Iacopetta?

Jean-Pierre Iacopetta is a native Belgian and completed his Master's degree in Engineering, specializing in Business & Administration, at Solvay Business School in Brussels. He worked for four years as Senior Portfolio Manager at the bank BNP Paribas Fortis SA in Brussels. He then joined Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille SA, the largest family-owned investment group in Belgium, where he gained experience in corporate investments and family business acquisitions as a Senior Investment Manager. He then moved to Switzerland and worked in the Canton of Zug, first in oil trading and later as Chairman and Managing Director of two other companies. Since the beginning of 2017, he has been Chairman of the Board and co-owner of GKM Gewerbekühlmöbel AG in Sarnen OW, one of Switzerland's leading suppliers in the field of refrigeration technology for the catering and refrigeration and freezer industries, as well as Tempco AG, which specializes in the rental of professional refrigerated cabinets. Together, the companies currently employ around 45 people.

Jean-Pierre Iacopetta grew up in a business family in Belgium. He is married and father of four children - twice twin girls.

What's next?

Hunn Gartenmöbel AG will continue to exist with its company name and in its business form as before and will remain an independent, Swiss family business in the future. The well-being of the employees is enormously important to all co-owners. Only with satisfied and motivated staff is the success of the company guaranteed, which is why the entire workforce will continue to be employed. "The Hunn team is one big family, which is why each and every employee is close to our hearts," says Barbara Bänninger

Hunn Gartenmöbel AG continues to focus on its core business, the sale of high-quality garden furniture to private and business customers, and is doing everything in its power to remain the market leader in the specialist garden furniture trade. Together with Jean-Pierre Iacopetta, Hunn continues to move forward on the path to success and aims to continuously improve and grow.

The succession of the company Hunn Gartenmöbel AG marks another milestone in the company's history. The board of directors looks very positively and with much joy into the future and is convinced that Hunn will continue to be successful in the market and stand out from the competition in the coming years.

Source and further information

The office building becomes a solar power plant, recycled concrete becomes a CO₂-storage, waste turned into fuel and perfume: The creativity of Swiss and Liechtenstein SMEs to protect the climate has not diminished in the challenging 2020. The Swiss Climate Foundation has once again received numerous applications for funding. The Foundation and Advisory Board awarded around CHF 5 million in funding for climate protection projects in 2020. This is 16 percent more than in the previous year.

Innovative technologies at the center of funding 

In 2020, the majority of the funding once again went to innovation: a total of 23 projects can now count on the foundation's support, amounting to a total of 2.7 million Swiss francs. The innovations supported include a technology for storing CO₂ in recycled concrete (neustark), novel processes for the production of sustainable insulation material from ash (FenX) or for the conversion of plant waste into high-value chemicals as an alternative to petroleum (Bloom Biorenewables) and a CO₂-neutral heating of greenhouses with organic fat waste (Oekokraft).

"If we want to achieve the national climate targets, we are urgently dependent on such forward-looking technologies, especially in the building and agricultural sectors as well as in the circular economy," says Thomas Hügli, President of the Foundation Board of the Swiss Climate Foundation. "It will not be enough for the economy to reduce or compensate for its CO2 emissions. We are therefore combining the strengths of the individual partner companies in the joint foundation in order to further expand the promotion of climate innovations in an efficient and focused manner."

More than twice as many climate protection projects funded than in the previous year 

More than 350 energy efficiency projects will also receive support from the Swiss Climate Foundation in the future. In addition to numerous standard measures for improved energy efficiency in operations (projects such as the switch to electromobility, the use of waste heat or the replacement of appliances), these also include twelve large-scale projects for the promotion and processing of biogas. In addition, there are around 30 projects from the forest maintenance program, in which the foundation supports the regeneration of overaged forests in order to reduce their CO₂-receiving capacity. In total, the number of individual projects funded in 2020 amounts to more than 400, more than double the previous year's figure.

Redistribution from CO₂-Levy unfolds greatest possible effect 

The support is made possible by more than 20 Swiss and Liechtenstein companies that donate to the foundation the redistribution from the CO2 steering levy to which they are entitled. The Swiss Climate Foundation is open to further companies that would like to support this joint commitment of the economy to achieve the national climate goals as future partners.

Source Climate Foundation Switzerland

The tide of cyber threats remains high. Large companies and SMEs are still targeted by hackers. The pandemic-related move of many employees to home offices provided cybercriminals with a welcome larger attack surface. Accordingly, they adapted their attack methods to the new circumstances.

Cybercrime: High number of attacks

The latest Cyber Security Threat Radar shows: The number of attacks remains at a constantly high level. While individual ─ rather classic ─ attack methods are on the decline, intelligent and often AI-driven approaches are increasingly being used. This places additional demands on companies and organizations to maintain an overview - the attackers' methods are constantly evolving.

New requirements, new attack methods

Workplace heterogeneity, for example, is now one of the biggest challenges in IT security. The immediate deployment to the home office has been one of the biggest challenges that IT and security departments have had to overcome in the recent past. Home office as well as mobile and agile working models, such as "bring your own device", offer great opportunities ─ but they also open up new attack surfaces. And attackers are skillfully exploiting this development to their advantage.

AI-based attacks on the rise

Attacks using artificial intelligence, so-called AI-based attacks, are also increasingly coming to the fore and are classified as a growing threat in the Cyber Security Threat Radar. They are used, for example, for targeted disinformation, as is known from deepfakes. The Tiktok channel "Deeptomcruise" recently caused a sensation. On videos, Tom Cruise showed magic tricks and played golf. But the real magic trick was the video itself: Because for once the Hollywood star didn't stand in front of the camera for it, he didn't even know about it. It is an almost perfect fake created thanks to artificial intelligence. It enables cybercriminals to automatically create an artificial profile from a wide variety of information that is very difficult to recognize as a fake. The report explains what countermeasures companies can take against these and other challenges.

Compass in the cyber world

Swisscom's specialists have used the Cyber Security Threat Radar to determine the current threat situation in Switzerland. The report explains the motivation of cyber criminals and reveals their modus operandi. It looks at and observes trends and challenges, evaluates them and provides an overview of the threat situation and its development in Switzerland by pooling expert knowledge.It also shows which countermeasures are particularly effective in detecting attacks in the best possible way and at an early stage.

Source: Cyber Security Threat Radad 2020/21 by Swisscom

The eighth Randstad Award ceremony took place on April 20, 2021, this year for the first time as an online event. The award is presented annually in over 34 countries to the most attractive employer. The results are based on the representative and probably most comprehensive employer branding study worldwide. The study is independent; companies cannot apply to participate, they are selected for the study based on their number of employees.

Why employer branding is important

The currently justified question around which the event was set up was "Why is employer branding important in times of crisis?". Various experts from the HR industry provided input to answer this question, and the current Employer Brand Study also shed light on insights in this regard. Pim de Morree from Corporate Rebels explained to the event participants what attractive companies have in common and how they can develop further.

Proud winner of the Randstad Award 2021

Over the past seven years, Flughafen Zürich AG has always been ranked among the top 5 most attractive employers. Now, for the first time, it has made it to first place and won the Randstad Award as the most attractive employer in Switzerland. Bruno Zanella, Head of HR at Flughafen Zürich AG: "We are very pleased to receive this award. Employer branding is always important - even in times of crisis. As a company that has been severely affected by the Covid-19 crisis, we are all the more proud to continue to be perceived as an attractive and stable employer."

The top 10 most attractive employers in Switzerland 2021

This year, Banque Pictet & Cie and Swiss Re made it into the top 10 most attractive employers for the first time. ABB made the biggest leap forward: The company gained a whole 41 places and is now ranked 36th.

Source: Randstad (Switzerland) AG

According to media reports, another cyber attack was recently launched against a well-known Swiss SME: The blinds company Griesser was attacked with ransomware and has accordingly pulled out all the stops to limit the damage. According to the company, an IT task force and a crisis team are working to restore the systems so that they can gradually return to normal operations.

Cyber incidents can now happen anywhere

Cyber incidents can affect any company. The dangers are now lurking everywhere, and cyber criminals are becoming ever more perfidious in their methods. And then, all of a sudden, one click too many and disaster takes its course. What do you do then? Incident response experts from IT security service provider Sophos have developed a guide to help companies cope with this difficult task. The following four tips are based on the practical experience of the Managed Threat Response and Rapid Response teams, who together have responded to thousands of cyber security incidents.

Tip 1: React as quickly as possible

When companies are under attack, every second counts. However, in-house security teams often take too long to respond appropriately quickly. The most common reason for this is that they do not recognize the seriousness of the situation and the urgency in time. In addition, many cyber incidents happen on holidays, weekends and at night. Since most IT and security teams are significantly understaffed, the response to an attack at these times is often too late to contain the impact of the attack in time.

In addition, a certain alarm fatigue lowers a quick response. And even when responding correctly and in a timely manner, security teams often do not have the necessary experience to take the right steps. Therefore, potential incidents and the response to them should be planned in detail in advance. Sophos has outlined the ten most important steps of such a cybercrisis plan in the Incident Response Guide at https://secure2.sophos.com/en-us/security-news-trends/whitepapers/gated-wp/incident-response-guide.aspx listed.

Tip 2: Do not declare actions "mission accomplished" prematurely

In the case of a cyber incident, it is not enough to simply treat the symptoms. It is also necessary to get to the bottom of the causes. For example, successfully removing a piece of malware and clearing an alert does not mean that the attacker has been driven out of the environment. This is because it could simply be a test run by the attacker to determine what defenses they are facing. If the attacker still has access to the infrastructure, it will likely strike again, but with greater destructive power. Does the attacker still have a foot in the perimeter? Is he planning to launch a second wave? Experienced incident responders know when and where to dig deeper. They look for anything the attackers are doing, have done, or may be planning to do on the network and neutralize those activities as well.

Tip 3: Complete visibility is crucial

In the event of an attack, it is important to have access to correct, high-quality data. Only this information makes it possible to accurately identify potential indicators of an attack and determine the root cause. Specialized teams collect relevant data to detect the signals and they know how to prioritize them. In doing so, they consider the following points:

• Collect signals: Limited visibility of an environment is a sure way to miss attacks. Big data tools offer a remedy. These collect enough data to provide meaningful insights for investigating and responding to attacks. Gathering the right, high-quality data from a variety of sources ensures complete insight into an attacker's tools, tactics and procedures.
• Reduce background noise: For fear of not having the data to provide a complete picture of an attack, some companies and security tools generally collect all available information. However, this approach makes it more difficult to find the attacks and generates more data than is necessary. Not only does this increase the cost of data collection and storage, but it also creates a high background noise of potential incidents that leads to alert fatigue and wasted time chasing true false positives.
• Apply context: To run an effective incident response program, context is needed in addition to content (data). By applying meaningful metadata associated with signals, security analysts can determine whether those signals are malicious or benign. One of the most important components of effective threat detection and response is prioritizing signals. The best way to identify the most important alerts is through a combination of context provided by security tools (i.e., endpoint detection and response solutions), artificial intelligence, threat intelligence and the human operator's knowledge base. Context helps identify the origin of a signal, the current stage of the attack, related events, and the potential impact on the organization.

Tip 4: It's OK to ask for help

The lack of skilled resources to investigate and respond to incidents is one of the biggest issues facing the cybersecurity industry today. Many high-pressure cyberattack IT and security teams find themselves in situations for which they lack the experience and skills. This dilemma has given way to an alternative: managed security services. More specifically, managed detection and response (MDR) services. MDR services are outsourced security operations delivered by a team of specialists and are an extension of the organization's in-house security team. These services combine human-led investigations, real-time monitoring and incident response with intelligence gathering and analysis technologies.

For organizations that have not yet used an MDR service and need to respond to an active attack, specialized incident response services are a good option. Incident responders are called in when the security team is overwhelmed and outside experts are needed to assess the attack and ensure the attacker is neutralized. Companies that have a team of skilled security analysts can also benefit from working with an incident response service. For example, gaps in coverage (e.g., nights, weekends and holidays) can be closed or specialized tasks needed in cyber incident response can be assigned.

Source: Sophos

It is no longer possible to imagine communication strategies without social media. Used correctly, social networks can offer real added value, such as attracting new target groups and increasing sales. The experts from Germany's leading online marketing agency SEO Kitchen present the do's and don'ts for successful social media marketing.

Create unique and snackable content

Unique content tailored to the target group is the basis of successful social media marketing. Successful content communicates at eye level and reflects the company's values. This includes stories told on a personal level as well as insights "behind the scenes". "Snackable" means quick and easy to communicate - content should be designed so followers can consume it on the way to work on the train or during their lunch break. Short videos, engaging infographics, and emotional or humorous images and quotes are best for this. Entertainment often takes precedence over knowledge transfer. Nevertheless, informative content should also be generated. A good mix forms the basis of a loyal following. The creation of unique content also includes the use of branding elements such as colors, fonts and logos, as well as a distinctive visual language with recognition value.

Social media marketing means: differentiated processing of various channels

Playing on all social media channels with identical content saves time, but quickly gives followers the impression of spam. This can lead to users unfollowing the account. To give users an incentive to follow the company on multiple channels, individual content should be shared that matches the medium. Differentiation begins, for example, with the approach. While Facebook and Instagram often have a "you" culture, a "you" approach may be more appropriate on LinkedIn.

Establish sustainable posting frequency

Finding and maintaining a sustainable posting frequency is one of the most important aspects of successful social media marketing. While the standard golden rule is that at least one post per day is necessary for long-term success, it is much more important to set a frequency that can be reliably maintained over the long term. This can be as little as two posts per week. The prerequisite, however, is to adhere to this schedule on a weekly basis. Facebook itself offers its own tools with extensive functions with Facebook Analytics and the Facebook Business Manager. Third-party social media tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer also help take a lot of the work away. Thanks to these tools, posts can be pre-scheduled and automatically published at the desired time. In addition, the tools provide important insights to see at what times posts should be published to reach particularly many users.

Actively involve the community

For users to interact with a profile's content, they need to be actively prompted. The easiest way to find out what followers want to see is to ask them. For feed posts, the image description provides a way to ask questions that users can respond to in the comments. Stories also offer various ways to interact with users. These range from individual question stickers to polls and quizzes.

Fast response and interaction

Social media thrive on speed. Prompt reactions - to both positive and negative comments and messages - create a competent impression. Those who take the time to interact with followers are rewarded with likability points. A study by Hootsuite confirms: half of all customers expect a response within an hour or less - even on weekends. In the case of complaints, it's as much as 83 % of respondents. In the event of harsh criticism or shitstorms, the key is to stay calm. Many companies and individuals have proven that real added value can be generated even from massive criticism. A quick response and communication at eye level play an important role here.

Source: SEO Kitchen

For more than fourteen years, the Swiss Commercial Association has surveyed KV graduates in Switzerland about working conditions during apprenticeships, the transition to professional life and their plans for the future. The 2020 survey focused on the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on learning and working, as well as on finding a job.

Difficulty in starting a career

The Covid 19 pandemic has hit young professionals hard and made their entry into the labor market more difficult. Thus, in November 2020, around 9.1% of the KV apprenticeship graduates surveyed were looking for a job. Only 64.8% stated that they were still employed. Compared to the previous year, this represents a decrease of 5%, abruptly ending the positive trend of recent years (see chart 1). "The decrease in labor force participation rates can be attributed to the difficult labor market situation in the first year of the pandemic." Nina Meier, Basic Education & Youth Counseling project worker at the Commercial Association, summarizes the results. Also worrying is the increase in apprenticeship graduates in insecure employment. In 2020, the proportion of graduates who were employed on a temporary basis increased by 5%. This must be viewed critically, as a quarter of those in such employment state that they would prefer an open-ended contract, but were not offered one. The situation is similar with graduates who are in a part-time position: 27.7% state that they would prefer a full-time position. Nina Meier warns against this development: "The significant increase in fixed-term employment contracts, reduced stints and part-time positions are indicators that the difficult economic situation is making it more difficult to start a career. In the long term, this can have negative consequences, such as lower wages, but also an impairment of career opportunities."

Building up know-how through further training

With the KV, young people have a solid and generalist basic education for starting a career. With subsequent further training, they can quickly specialize in new professions and develop into sought-after experts. Thus, 85.9% of the apprenticeship graduates are also convinced that the basic commercial training is a good starting point for their professional career. Many young business people are able to apply the skills they acquired during their apprenticeship to their current job (see chart 2). "The well-founded training and the agility for their career that they have acquired as a result are of particular benefit to them in a year of crisis. Commercial apprentices willingly complete further training courses, which are essential if they are to succeed on the labor market in the long term. Thus, interim solutions are now being proactively sought and used during the crisis in order to bridge unemployment and at the same time build up know-how in a targeted manner". In keeping with the motto "lifelong learning," 9 out of 10 graduates want to continue their education in the near future. This confirms the trend towards further training, which the LAU dealt with intensively in 2019. After the initial training, the will to acquire more knowledge is clearly evident. Already in November 2020, 32.3% of the respondents have started further training. A further 27.7% intend to tackle the project in the next 12 months. The BM2 remains one of the most popular courses of further education directly after an apprenticeship, followed by a course of study at a university of applied sciences.

Home office and the apprenticeship

Despite numerous changes on the labor market, young business people were not put off by the tense situation and showed a high level of commitment during the application process. This observation was also made by Nina Meier. She notes that "the graduates as well as their training supervisors have shown a high degree of adaptability and have adapted the final phase of the training to the new work norm and the more difficult conditions through additional effort. And this without sacrificing quality". Satisfaction with the nature of the work assignments remained high even in the home office, which became the new work environment for more than 50% of the apprenticeship graduates starting in the spring. Some 74% indicated that the assignments they received in the home office were educational and meaningful (see Chart 3). Likewise, learners were able to develop their digital skills and work independently. More than half are convinced that they have learned new things in the home office. The commercial apprenticeship completed in 2020 is thus in no way inferior to the qualifications of previous years.

Source: Swiss Commercial Association

With the Corona-induced rapid rise in home offices, the use of new collaboration and communication tools has also increased. But these are not always secure and trustworthy. Many employees don't think twice about the sensitive data they send via such applications. Often, this is because companies have not communicated specific guidelines on how to use the new tools, or have introduced unfit solutions under time pressure. According to VNC, the leading developer of open source-based enterprise applications, the most important recommendations for companies that want to enable their employees to exchange data in a privacy-compliant and secure manner are:

1. Clear tool specifications: Companies need to provide their employees not only with secure communication tools, but also with ones that meet their needs. Otherwise, they cannot work together efficiently and look for their own solutions - and these are usually the ones they also use privately. These are usually unsuitable for exchanging sensitive company data. For this reason, companies should clearly specify the tools to be used, but also explicitly point out that other applications may not be used - and block their use as far as technically possible.
2. Selection of safe products: Companies should not simply go for the best-known names, but should take a close look at the available solutions. Cloud services, for example, can be introduced quickly, but are often questionable from a data protection perspective. In particular, services from providers in the USA are generally ruled out under the GDPR because the "Cloud Act" allows US authorities to access data - regardless of where the service is hosted and where the company using the service is based. However, even running an application on your own infrastructure is no guarantee of maximum security and data protection, because companies often lack the expertise or use closed-source solutions. With these, no one except the developers knows what happens to data and whether there are vulnerabilities in the software. Open source is a secure alternative that also usually supports different modes of operation: on the company's own infrastructure or a reliable service provider, or in a secure environment at a trustworthy service provider.
3. Arrangement of means and channels of communication: One of the biggest challenges when collaborating in distributed teams is to communicate efficiently. Not every tool is suitable for every arrangement and every data exchange. Companies should therefore work with their employees to determine which solutions make the most sense in which situations. In doing so, they can also define alternative channels, specify contact persons, and agree on ways of checking back so that processes are clearly regulated and employees do not fall for scam attempts such as scam calls or fake e-mails.
4. Secure endpoints and infrastructure: Secure communication and collaboration solutions alone are not enough, because if cybercriminals use other gateways, company data is still at risk. Therefore, companies must consistently protect all end devices and their entire infrastructure. This means not only using reliable security solutions, but also applying all software updates and patches quickly to reduce the attack surface.
5. Training and guidelines for employees: Employees need training so that they use the tools on offer correctly and don't leave them behind because they can't cope with them. In these training sessions, they also learn how to use the new tools in a security-conscious manner and learn more about the company's security guidelines for remote work, such as that they should avoid making professional phone calls in public, should not leave their notebook unattended there, and should also lock it in the shared room when they are not sitting at it.

"Companies need to provide their employees with secure and privacy-compliant, but also easy-to-use tools for sharing with colleagues so that they can collaborate efficiently in the home office and on the road. If companies do not do this, they risk a shadow IT, because employees look for their own applications to exchange information," explains Andrea Wörrlein, Managing Director of VNC in Berlin and Member of the Board of Directors of VNC AG in Zug. "To ensure that the collaboration and communication tools they use fit their employees' needs, companies should involve them in the selection process from the start and keep them closely involved during implementation."

About the author:
Andrea Wörrlein is managing director of VNC in Berlin and member of the board of directors of VNC AG in Zug.