Palo Alto Networks protects The Lines Company

Data consumption slashed

The Lines Company, the electricity distributor for the King Country region of the North Island, has replaced its firewalls with Palo Alto Networks’ security platform and next generation firewalls to boost its protection against cyber threats.

According to Palo Alto Networks, the move has also reduced data consumption by 40 percent, improved IT staff productivity, and helped the company to avoid $50,000 in software upgrades.

Palo Alto says its platform includes threat prevention for inspecting and stopping cyber threats that move laterally across the networks and WildFire, a cloud-based threat analysis service. It also provides URL filtering that keeps protections synchronised across the attack lifecycle with the latest threat intelligence on phishing and malware sites.

“Additionally, the technology includes GlobalProtect network security for endpoints that protects the mobile workforce against cyber attacks, evasive application traffic, malicious websites, command-and-control traffic, and both known and unknown threats,” the company said.

Two Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls have been installed in The Lines Company’s two data centres to support critical 0800 phone services and user services. The company’s SCADA network has also been protected by separate Palo Alto firewalls.

Palo Alto Networks claims its technology has given The Lines Company a completely different approach to network security. “Within the previous environment more than 100 security infections were discovered during a proof-of-concept deployment, requiring over 200 hours in staff time to remediate,” it said.

“URL filtering from Palo Alto Networks reduced network bandwidth consumption by 40 percent. The Lines Company also streamlined rules management using App-ID and User-ID technologies, shaving the number of rules it manages by 30 percent.”

According to The Lines Company’s head of IT, Andy Simpson, the move has virtually eliminated security infections. “Our security risk posture is tenfold what it was before we migrated to Palo Alto Networks,” he said, adding “A combination of a great product coupled with an effective business partner, Network Service Providers, has allowed TLC to realise significant security and operational gains."

Last September Network Service Providers announced that its senior network and security engineer, Brent Addis, had become the first person in New Zealand to “receive the Palo Alto Networks Jacket for completing all five exams of the partner certification security exams.”

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