They chose to expand their existing WithSecure™ Elements Endpoint Protection to cover their newly remote workers, as well as level up their security measures with WithSecure Elements Vulnerability Management.

Remote work introduces new vulnerabilities

As the pandemic progressed in 2020, Aubay was among the many companies forced to shift its entire workforce to remote work. But the situation presented new security challenges. With company devices connected to home networks, company data was more vulnerable to attackers. Outside the protection of corporate offices, simple human errors now posed additional risk.

Aubay Italia’s CIO and CISO Piergiuseppe Delfino says misunderstandings regarding remote work are common. “Some people think working from home is more secure since you’re within the confines of your own home, but that’s not quite true. Although the user may not realize, we have a number of security systems set up in our offices that provide protection. This isn’t the case with home networks. When you’re working at the office there’s no way of ending up on a malicious site. At home there is.”

Key challenges for Aubay Italy to address were:

• Sensitive, confidential and high-value customer data passing through scattered endpoints
• Rapid transition to remote work and a loss of security layers
• Old security tools becoming insufficient in the changing cyber landscape

"We quickly realised we needed to raise the level of endpoint security for the remote work era, which seems likely to become a more permanent solution in the future.”

Piergiuseppe Delfino, CIO and CISO of Aubay Italia S.p.A.

Adapting and leveling up with WithSecure

The rapid transition to remote work for all of Aubay Italia’s employees required securing the company’s endpoints with an effective, robust and easy-to-manage solution. The deployment of cloud-based WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection was completed in just one week. Aubay’s IT staff sent out an instructional message to remote workers, who were then able to install the solution themselves. Users were able to work securely immediately without issues, slowdowns or interruptions.

WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection proved to be easy to install and manage in the cloud with its intuitive interface for both end users and system administrators. Besides endpoints, the solution also protects Aubay Italia’s servers hosted in the company’s facilities. The extremely lightweight solution spares devices and systems from unnecessary strain without compromising reliability and effectiveness.

"The ease of implementation and versatility in terms of policy customisation make WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection one of the best-designed, most up-to-date products on the prevention scene.”

Piergiuseppe Delfino, CIO and CISO of Aubay Italia S.p.a.

You can’t protect what you don’t know. To maintain their ISO 27001 certification and constantly improve their security posture in the rapidly evolving cyber environment, the company also adopted WithSecure’s vulnerability management solution WithSecure Elements Vulnerability Management. The solution enables discovering, assessing and prioritizing vulnerabilities, helping Aubay minimize its attack surface and reduce risk.

More productivity with proactive and continuous security

Customer data, economic proposals, and NDA-protected information passing through Aubay’s endpoints and systems are now protected by WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection. With the solution working proactively and silently in the background, Aubay no longer needs to spend time or resources on cumbersome maintenance tasks. Automated software updates with automated patch management handle most of the heavy lifting, letting Aubay's IT team work on more critical tasks.

WithSecure Elements Vulnerability Management has proven to be a valuable ally, as it helps Aubay detect new vulnerabilities introduced with remote work. Automated scans have lightened the workload for IT staff and reduce the company's risk. WithSecure Elements Vulnerability Management's automated reporting provides visibility into the organization's security posture, and its efficient workflow, including monitoring, scheduled scans and ticketing, allows Aubay to quickly prioritize and remediate issues. Vulnerabilities are now addressed as they emerge, keeping Aubay's defences solid.

Key benefits for Aubay Italy:

• Remote employees and their devices are now continuously protected
• Easy deployment from the homes of remote workers
• Improved control over critical updates
• Improved visibility over security posture and risk
• Manual tasks decreased to minimum
• Automated vulnerability scanning has lightened IT team’s workload
• Intuitive and easy-to-use interface for both end users and administrators
• Zero impact on device performance

“Thanks to WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection, we have increased not only our level of security, but also our level of control over critical operating system updates. WithSecure Elements Vulnerability Management does its job well and lightens the load for our IT staff with automated scans and easy cloud-based management.”

Piergiuseppe Delfino, CIO and CISO of Aubay Italia S.p.a.

The new (normal) threat environment

The pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote work across the globe, and the trend is predicted to endure. Accelerating investments in digitalization introduce new cyber security threats. The devices employees use to do their jobs have moved from the safety of corporate offices to environments with new vulnerabilities and loopholes, a shift that has not gone unnoticed by attackers. In the new and riskier normal, the importance of robust device security and a full awareness of organizational assets and vulnerabilities cannot be overlooked.

“I have no doubt that remote work is a trend that will intensify in the future. We need to ready ourselves with adequate infrastructure and efficient security systems.”

Piergiuseppe Delfino, CIO and CISO of Aubay Italia S.p.a.