Challenge
A global food manufacturer needed an economical alternative to hiring full-time security experts to provide around-the-clock support for sporadic threats of unpredictable severity while increasing security event visibility and alerting. With a limited pool of network security expertise at its Canadian headquarters, the company manages more than 100 sites globally, each one with advanced perimeter security controls.
Though network operations ran nonstop, its IT team had access to security support only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This created a critical support gap — hackers do not keep regular business hours.
The company was also running a patchwork of multiple versions of their FortiGate unified threat management solution, creating substantial potential for security breaches. And finally, the company needed to migrate its firewall technology to more robust software.
The client wanted an experienced security partner to ensure 24×7 enterprise-level security without incurring the cost of hiring, training and retaining an entire security team.
Solution
The client partnered with OnX to upgrade and secure its global network. The project had three primary goals:
- Provide around-the-clock security support for IT network operations
- Upgrade firewall management and security technology
- Expand network logging and monitoring
OnX developed a vendor-agnostic solution to address the client’s business objectives and security challenges.
OnX initiated the project with an assessment of their current environment, to help determine the best ways to upgrade their security while reining in IT expenses. Based on the upfront analysis, the project included:
- An online customer portal enabling IT professionals to request support and address threats
- Upgrading the client’s network security network software to the latest FortiOS operating system and device onboarding for their FortiGate network security appliance; Migrating to Cisco ASA firewall technology
- System monitoring with enterprise-grade Security Information & Event Management (SIEM) technology alarms to alert key users of security threats and filter out network “noise,” which prevents wasteful false alarms
- Security logging enhancements including scheduled SIEM upgrades to maintain and enhance performance
Results
OnX completed full onboarding, including the network security upgrade, and had everything up and running within 90 days.
Here’s a look at what was accomplished:
- Online Customer Portal: In the first six months, the new portal enjoyed excellent uptake from users — 77% of support tickets were opened directly in the portal, with the rest coming in via email and telephone. More than two-thirds of the 84 support tickets involved potential security threats that could be addressed immediately rather than delayed until support people were available.
- Device Onboarding: 99% of the client network’s security devices were running gold standard FortiOS Version 5.0.1. Before the upgrade, the company’s systems were running eight different versions of FortiOS, creating substantial potential for security breaches. Significant vulnerabilities were identified in approximately 40 machines.
- Monitoring and logging: The new system provides 24×7 monitoring and reporting. SIEM alarms can be assessed and if the risk is serious enough, it can be reported to the company’s Global Service Desk. The enterprise SIEM environment helps experts tune out “noise” that produces false alarms and helps focus on the most dangerous threats.
By joining forces with OnX, the company delegated its network security to seasoned experts and avoided the expense of staffing a security support desk around the clock. When intruders try to break in, world-class security technology is poised to minimize the threat.