Housing · Cyber security
How Linthouse moved from manual checks to always-on security
Linthouse Housing Association wanted a clearer, more proactive way to identify cyber security risks across its IT environment.
At a glance
Linthouse Housing Association
- Industry: Housing
- Organisation size: About 35 IT users
- Service: Penetration testing and email security
- Environment: Microsoft 365 for office and estate-based staff
The challenge
Moving beyond point-in-time security checks
Linthouse was already taking cyber security seriously.
Its staff received security training, Microsoft Defender was in place and the ICT team carried out its own security checks.
However, phishing emails were becoming increasingly convincing, while changes to software or security settings could create weaknesses without immediately being noticed.
Many of the checks were also manual, requiring internal time while only providing a snapshot of the environment at the point they were completed.
Linthouse needed a more consistent and independent way to identify vulnerabilities without having to build and manage the entire testing process internally.
Thinking you’ve got everything in place isn’t the same as having it validated externally.
Colin Jones
ICT Manager, Linthouse Housing Association
The solution
Introducing regular automated security testing
Regular security testing
Automated security testing was introduced to provide Linthouse with greater visibility of potential vulnerabilities across its IT environment. A small testing device arrived the following day and began producing results within hours, without disrupting normal operations. Rather than relying solely on manual checks, the ICT team could now identify weaknesses more consistently and understand where attention was required.
Stronger email protection
Intouch Tech also introduced an additional layer of email protection alongside Linthouse's existing Microsoft environment. Suspicious and malicious emails could be identified, flagged and quarantined before creating unnecessary risk for users.
Clear remediation priorities
Finding vulnerabilities was only the first step. Security findings were added to Linthouse's action list, giving the ICT team a structured way to prioritise issues, address the most important weaknesses first and use subsequent reports to confirm that vulnerabilities had been resolved.
The results
Measurable improvements in cyber security
197
Malicious emails quarantined in 30 days
21
Security findings identified
5
Findings remediated
3
Critical issues resolved
146
Additional emails flagged for review
Ongoing impact
A clearer way for Linthouse to manage cyber security
The biggest improvement was not simply finding individual vulnerabilities. Linthouse now has a more structured security process. Findings feed directly into an action list and can be reviewed each month. Subsequent testing provides evidence that remediation has been completed successfully, while the ICT team has a clearer view of which issues should be tackled next. Regular testing also provides evidence of security activity and progress that can be shown to external auditors. Instead of relying primarily on manual checks, Linthouse now has a repeatable process for identifying weaknesses, prioritising remediation and measuring improvement.
There was no hard sell, and I wasn’t bombarded with calls or emails. That was a really refreshing change.
Colin Jones
ICT Manager, Linthouse Housing Association
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