Measurable gains through testing.
Our client.
Our is responsible for the administration of multiple businesses, and they engaged dotSec to address a very interesting and critical cybersecurity challenge: Each business had previously functioned as an independent business unit, and over time, this had resulted in varied levels of security maturity and differing IT infrastructures. Our client recognised that the lack of consistency made it difficult to coordinate security initiatives effectively across all locations, and asked dotSec if we could help.
Business challenges.
dotSec observed the following challanges
Visibility: The client lacked insight into the current cybersecurity maturity levels of the various businesses, making it more difficult to prioritize and implement security measures.
Inconsistency: Security efforts across businesses were siloed, with little centralized oversight or strategy.
Risk Management: Handling sensitive PII for thousands of individuals created a significant compliance burden for our client, and this was of course compounded by the potential reputational and financial damage of data breaches.
Budgetary Constraints: Each business operated under its own budget, adding complexity to funding and implementing standardized security measures.
Solution.
dotSec conducted a security assessment initiative that focussed on two assessment periods that together spanned a period of two years.
dotSec’s work would establish a consistent and effective security baseline across all businesses and the head office – not just to reduce risks in the shorter term, but also to understand and measure the effectiveness of security initiatives and improvements in the longer term.
Data leak-detection for national Australian law firm.
Client. Our client is a well-established Australian law firm with offices in three capital cities.
Business challenge. Our client has a very high level of security maturity and clearly understands the risks associated with data breaches of the like of Medibank, HWLE and National Public Data.
Our client therefore decided to take a proactive approach to reducing risks associated with data exfiltration (breaches), the associated, unauthorised exposure of sensitive customer and legal information, and the consequential monetary and reputational loss.
Solution. dotSec designed and deployed DEXRR, a search and analytics package that runs as a layer over Splunk Enterprise Security (ES), and which is focused on detecting and alerting on activities that indicate unauthorised data exfiltration.
Results. dotSec worked with our client to gather relevant logs from multiple systems and applications, and then spent an extended period base-lining the system in order to get a good understanding of what “normal activity” looked like. This step was especially important for a law firm since BAU activities generally involve frequent and often large information exchanges, so detection of anomalous activity associated with unauthorised information exchanges and data exfiltration is a non-trivial exercise.The dotSec DEXRR (and more generally, MDR+MSIEM) service has proven its effectiveness in both simulations, Red Teaming exercises, and in actual incident detection, response, containment and recovery events.
Improved sales for national retailer
Client. Our client is a well-established, leading Australian retailer that services customers via both a popular on-line shop front, as well as via more than 60 physical stores. A secure and robust on-line presence is a key aspect of our client’s business, since it provides an avenue for on-line sales, marketing and advertising.
Business challenge. Our client needed a scalable, secure and manageable on-line e-commerce environment to be developed within tight time and cost constraints. A previous national provider had failed to deliver the goods, so the pressure was well and truly on for DotSec to succeed!
Solution. DotSec designed and deployed a secure, highly available and scalable hosting infrastructure over Amazon Web Services (AWS). DotSec continues to manage the infrastructure, supporting ongoing monitoring, alerting, patch-management, maintenance and regular site upgrades.
Results. The project was a resounding success and the performance, manageability and security of the site exceeded our client’s expectations. Our client continues to enjoy an incident and hassle-free Internet presence that is managed and maintained by Australian secure-hosting specialists. Site visits have increased significantly, site reliability is now a reality, and on-line sales have greatly exceeded any previous highs.
IRAP compliance for service provider
Client: Our client is an international service-provider to governments in Australia and overseas. In order to be able to provide services to the Australian federal government, our client needed to comply with the Australian government’s requirements for protective security and standardised information security practices. These requirements were defined within the Australian government’s IRAP framework.
Business Challenge: Guide the development an IRAP-compliant information security management practice (including policies, procedures and infrastructure) for a multinational service-provider, on a tight schedule and fixed budget, and without interruption to the clientu2019s national business-as-usual activities.
Solution: The business engaged DotSec as IRAP compliance specialists to prioritise, plan and guide the implementation of a complex set of information security controls.
Results: dotSec’s program of work was successful and our client has met their compliance requirements to date. Our client continues to grow their business by successfully bidding for further Australian Government contracts that require IRAP compliance.
Proactive monitoring for super corp
Client: Our client is an award-winning, top-10 Australian superannuation company with a focus on providing leading and innovative on-line services for its personal and business customers. The business relies heavily on its information processing infrastructure, which is constantly evolving in order to support new and innovative business models, and which needs to remain secure, lean and responsive.
Business Challenge: Improve efficiency and reduce ongoing costs by gaining an improved understanding of, and additional insights into, various business operations.
Solution: Deploy Splunk and integrate it with a range of core services, so as to gain a holistic view of the entire business.
Results: Greater efficiency and reduced issue-resolution time, greater ability to identify and address process and technology issues, before they escalate.
Fully-managed, secure hosted services
Client: Our client is a federal government industry regulator that is responsible for administering laws and providing a comprehensive range of services under a consistent regulatory framework.
Business Challenge: Establish a secure on-line presence within an aggressive time- frame, and ensure that the new system is properly secured and professionally managed, on a fixed-price budget.
Solution: Employ secure cloud-services professionals who bring expertise in the areas of secure cloud-hosting, dev-ops and managed, secure services.
Results: Our client continues to enjoy an incident and hassle-free Internet presence, on a fixed-price budget, nearly five years after the service was originally deployed.