OBARO Strengthens Cyber Resilience to Protect Farmer Trust Across South Africa
For nearly a century, OBARO has helped support South African farmers with the products and services they need to succeed. From financing and irrigation to agricultural inputs and operational support, the company plays an important role in helping farming communities operate efficiently and productively.
That role comes with significant responsibility. Farmers entrust OBARO with sensitive financial information, operational data, and critical business transactions. In an era of increasing cyber threats, protecting that trust is just as important as the services OBARO provides in the field.
"Farmers trust us with sensitive information. If that data is compromised, it affects the trust our customers place in us,” said Pierre De Bruin, CIO at OBARO.
To strengthen its security posture, OBARO turned to CrowdStrike, first deploying endpoint security before expanding to managed detection and response, and identity protection. Together, these solutions help the company detect threats earlier, gain deeper visibility into identity-based risk, and maintain 24/7 protection across its environment.
A Wake-Up Call That Changed the Security Conversation
Like many organizations, OBARO’s approach to cybersecurity evolved after experiencing a security incident. While the breach was contained before causing significant operational disruption, it exposed shortcomings in the company's existing security strategy.
More importantly, it revealed the difference between simply having security technology and having a security partner capable of helping during a crisis.
"You only know how good your security provider is once you have a breach," said De Bruin. "Software is important, but support is an even bigger part of the equation."
The experience prompted OBARO to reevaluate its cybersecurity program and look for a partner that could deliver both advanced protection and expert guidance. That’s what brought OBARO to CrowdStrike.
Building Confidence Through Continuous Protection
For OBARO, one of the biggest challenges was maintaining strong security with a relatively small internal IT team. Cyber threats don’t stop after business hours, but building and maintaining a dedicated 24/7 security operation internally can be difficult and costly.
CrowdStrike Falcon® Complete addressed that challenge by providing around-the-clock monitoring, threat hunting, and response capabilities backed by CrowdStrike's security experts.
"Threats happen day and night," explained De Bruin. "Having a 24/7 security team internally doesn’t always make sense. Falcon Complete gives us experienced people looking at our environment even when our own teams aren’t available."
The added expertise has allowed OBARO's IT team to focus more on supporting the business while maintaining confidence that potential threats are continuously monitored. The organization also benefited from capabilities such as immediate host isolation, which enables potentially compromised systems to be automatically contained while investigations take place.
Responding to a Changing Threat Landscape
As cybercriminals increasingly target identities rather than devices, OBARO recognized the need to strengthen visibility into user activity and privileged accounts.
The company expanded its deployment with CrowdStrike Falcon® Next-Gen Identity Security, which provides deeper insight into account activity, domain security, and identity-related risk. The new protection was easy to deploy because the lightweight Falcon sensor was already in place.
According to OBARO, the organization investigates approximately 50 identity-related incidents per day and has identified and mitigated more than 500 identity-based threats, including suspicious logins, unusual access patterns, and compromised credentials since adopting Falcon Next-Gen Identity Security.
"Identity is one of our primary attack vectors," said De Bruin. "We're seeing attackers focus more on credentials and legitimate access rather than simply attacking systems directly."
The additional visibility has helped OBARO better understand risk across departments, monitor privileged accounts, and identify potential issues before they become larger security incidents.
Moving From Reactive Security to Proactive Security
Today, OBARO views cybersecurity differently than it did several years ago. Rather than simply responding to incidents after they occur, the company focuses on identifying potential threats earlier through continuous monitoring and proactive threat hunting.
This approach is particularly important in South Africa's agricultural sector, where cyberattacks can have consequences beyond a single organization. Several organizations across the broader agricultural ecosystem have experienced high-profile cyber incidents in recent years, reinforcing the need for stronger cyber resilience throughout the industry.
For De Bruin, the goal is simple: maintain the trust farmers place in OBARO while ensuring the company can continue supporting customers without disruption.
"Protecting our data, protecting our network, and protecting the trust we have with farmers is what we're focused on," he concluded. "CrowdStrike is the right partner to help us do that."
