First published in 1780, NZZ is one of the oldest and most respected media groups in Europe, delivering high-quality journalism to 187,000+ subscribers via newspapers, journals and magazines, digital media, TV as well as events and services. As consumers continue to shift media consumption from traditional to digital, the media group has to keep up – a huge undertaking for the security team was to secure their expanding external perimeter and digital transformation.

Industry: Media        Products: Outscan, Appsec Scale

NZZ Challenge

Digitizing the 240-year old newspaper for growth

The market has changed a lot since newspapers were first printed in the 16th century. Printed media is now being used in a different way; digital forms of media have taken over and have become an important way to reach new audiences, especially younger ones. The Board recognized this change some years ago and to grow their subscriber base they would need to transform from when they were founded 240 years ago to 2020 and beyond. With digital being the main driving force for their growth success and to drive sustainable profitability, which is re-enforced with an even stronger security infrastructure and posture.

As the Head of Web Services and Internet Security, building and securing a safe digital media operation for the newspaper and delivering secure information to their customers is Erich Giesinger’s top priority, he explains,“we have grown to 187,000 subscribers in 2020 and that needs to increase to 200,000 by the end of next year and 400,000 by 2030, doubling our subscribers base over a 10-year period. We must turn a digital corner and security is paramount for our customers to support business growth.”

Online media frequently targeted by bots and malware

Erich and his team are responsible for the complete website and security infrastructure including ensuring firewalls and proxies are in place for full web infrastructure security protection for NZZ and its joint ventures with a combined revenue of over €350 million.