CASE STUDY. RHEINLAND VERSICHERUNGSGRUPPE Who Ensures Security for The Insurers? RHEINLAND VERSICHERUNGSGRUPPE Who Ensures Security for The Insurers?

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1 CASE STUDY RHEINLAND VERSICHERUNGSGRUPPE PAGE 1

2 RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe (RheinLand Insurance Group) is the holding company for several insurance companies. Established in 1880, it operates RheinLand Insurance, which serves residential and commercial customers; Credit Life International, which offers payment protection, term life insurance, and warranty insurance; and Rhion insurance, an independent property insurer. In 2013, RheinLand Insurance Group recorded sales of million and employed 832 people. The company is headquartered in Neuss, Germany. INDUSTRY // Financial Services CHALLENGE // Gain network visibility to control application access by user, heighten security, and simplify IT management. SOLUTION // Palo Alto Networks enterprise security platform, URL Filtering, and Threat Prevention including IPS. SUBSCRIPTIONS // Palo Alto Networks enterprise security platform, Threat Prevention, URL Filtering APPLIANCES // PA-4020 PA-4020 (2) RESULTS Increased visibility into applications and threats traversing the network Increased security by safely enabling application access and control by user Reduced administrative effort associated with security infrastructure by 40% Saving 10,000 annually from device consolidation Streamlined compliance process Reduced administrative effort associated with report generation STORY SUMMARY // RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe knows all about preventing risks and protecting key assets. That s because, as one of Europe s leading insurance providers, its mission is to protect people, businesses, and financial assets from threats. Not surprisingly, RheinLand takes protecting others as seriously as it takes protecting the sensitive data of thousands of customers on its network. When RheinLand recognized it needed to increase security by better controlling applications and user access to key databases, it turned to Palo Alto Networks. What did Palo Alto Networks do to better secure the network for this major insurance player? PAGE 2

3 Palo Alto Networks Enterprise Security Platform Gives Major Insurance Firm Control Over Applications and Users and Bottom-Line Savings. Ensuring Protection for the Insured Insurance companies transmit and store some of the most sensitive information about customers possible. Highly sensitive data detailing the financial and personal information of individuals and businesses resides on its network. The ability to protect this critical data is paramount in the insurance industry. We have about 800 users using internal and external applications, one main office, and four external locations, says Ursula Dickmann, Head of IT Operations, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe. Our challenge is weighing security risks against not restricting employees to the point where it hinders their ability to do their work. RheinLand s security team sought to safely enable the secure usage of applications, control access, meet compliance regulations, protect its data, and reduce IT management costs and burdens. We have very sensitive databases containing customer data that no one from outside can access, says Detlef Koelbel, IT Operations. We want to control traffic and only allow certain employees access. We needed the ability to give users the right amount of access while restricting them from using specific applications. The company s application access and control policies are applied according to user group. We have two major groups of people, says Koelbel. The first is a broad group of general employee users that are very heavily restricted in terms of Internet and internal access. The second needs to do research on things like other insurance products; they have less restrictions and more access, including to a broader list of approved applications and URLs. Ramping up Security In addition to being able to create and enforce stronger application access and control policies, RheinLand wanted to elevate its overall security. Protecting our data from people, external access, and unauthorized access and to more easily meet compliance rules for securing data were other drivers of our search for better security solutions, says Dickmann. The company needed to achieve its goals while reducing network management burdens, which cost it time and money. We had numerous security devices on our network, each with a different interface we had to visit to try to gather information or to make policy changes, says Koelbel. This was very inefficient. The aim of the insurance industry is to protect people and businesses from risks and unwanted surprises. In a sense, this is what Palo Alto Networks does as well. Palo Alto Networks safeguards our network from threats and enables us to control who has access to our network and key data. Ursula Dickmann, Head of IT Operations, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe RheinLand s existing firewalls were unable to deliver the visibility necessary to control applications and user access. We had Check Point and WatchGuard firewalls, but they only provided port and IP control and not much information or insights into users, traffic, or applications, says Koelbel. Solution Search: Disbelief to Belief RheinLand outlined the criteria for a new security solution. We were looking for a firewall that could provide visibility, traffic routing, virus control, and limit our vulnerability to unauthorized access, says Koelbel. The company s longtime IT advisory partners, Helmich, told it about Palo Alto Networks. The enterprise security platform from Palo Alto Networks consists of a Next- Generation Firewall, Threat Intelligence Cloud, and Advanced Endpoint Security. The firewall delivers application, user, and content visibility and control, as well as protection against network-based cyberthreats integrated within the firewall through a purpose-built hardware and software PAGE 3

4 architecture. The Threat Intelligence Cloud provides central intelligence capabilities, as well as automation of the delivery of preventative measures against cyberattacks. We were surprised that Palo Alto Networks could offer all kinds of different features and functionality in one package, says Koelbel. In fact, Koelbel reviewed the information with disbelief, then decided to attend a presentation by Palo Alto Networks in Germany. He emerged with his skepticism intact. We basically didn t believe it all because that s your first instinct when you hear such great things, says Koelbel. But our IT partner, Helmich suggested a three week trial in tap mode. A Palo Alto Networks PA-4020 firewall was received and tested. The level of application control and visibility it offers is really surprising, says Koelbel. That was a huge distinguishing and decisive factor. Palo Alto Networks offers a lot more detailed control of network traffic. It also offers a lot more options to strengthen security, control access, and has more reporting capabilities than other security solutions. The trial of the PA-4020 firewall sealed the deal. We were so impressed during the three-week trial that our head of security made the call right then to buy Palo Alto Networks, says Koelbel. Fits Right In RheinLand bought two PA-4020s next-generation firewalls from Palo Alto Networks, and deployed them in Active/ Passive mode. It uses the PA-4020 s comprehensive features for application control, virus vulnerability checks, threat prevention, URL filtering, antivirus, and more. Palo Alto Networks is now our primary firewall we don t just use it as an Internet gateway, but also for very detailed control of internal traffic, says Koelbel. The deployment went smoothly. We installed Palo Alto Networks and successively transferred all rules and settings to the PA-4020s without experiencing any problems at all, says Koelbel. The learning process was relatively fast and it s easy to make rule or settings changes. Overall, it was painless. More Euros and Time for Coffee The Palo Alto Networks enterprise security platform is meeting all of RheinLand s needs, providing access control by user group, increasing security, simplifying and consolidating network management, and saving time and money. The results were expected because Koelbel and his team did their homework prior to choosing Palo Alto Networks. We put together a decision matrix looking at various costs related to different options, he says. We figured that we would go from spending 77,000 down to 47,000 per year including purchase costs, licensing fees, and support costs with Palo Alto Networks, and get significantly better features, visibility, and performance. Palo Alto Networks allowed us to create and enforce effective policies to control applications and secure our critical assets. It has also simplified network security management, saving us time and money while providing a wealth of information that allows us to better optimize staff and resources. Detlef Koelbel, IT Operations, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe Koelbel and his colleagues are pleased that Palo Alto Networks is delivering as anticipated, and in unexpected ways as well. One of the big advantages of Palo Alto Networks is that one administrator can control so many functions from just one user interface, says Koelbel. In the past, we had to have Wi-Fi control on a separate computer, make rule changes on multiple systems, and on and on. Now we can do everything in one place with one person, which is saving us about 40% on time we used to spend managing our security infrastructure. RheinLand also benefits from the superior reporting and wealth of information provided by Palo Alto Networks. When I come to the office in the morning and start up my computer, after 10 minutes I can go and get a cup of coffee and return and I already have a pretty good overview of all the things that have happened with users and applications accessing the Internet and traffic patterns and threats, says Koelbel. This gives us a better overview of everything so we can decide how to plan our work day. The information saves us many hours, and makes compliance easier. It definitely was not like this before we got Palo Alto Networks. PAGE 4

5 Achieving Control Another bottom-line result RheinLand reports from installing Palo Alto Networks is device consolidation. We ve been able to take offline the two previous firewalls and six additional servers, says Koelbel. We estimate the annual savings from hardware, licensing fees, and managing these devices to be at least 10,000 annually. Perhaps more importantly, RheinLand gained the control of users and applications it wanted to better protect the sensitive data it stores and handles. Setting and enforcing access and application policies for our two groups of users is now easy and effective, says Koelbel. This better protects our key data. We have not had any issues with viruses either. RheinLand has had little interaction with Palo Alto Networks technical support. There have only been small problems and they were quickly handled by our partner, Helmich, says Koelbel. However, the Palo Alto Networks user forum has been extremely helpful and easy to use to find solutions to minor issues and quick questions. Innovation and Enthusiasm The IT team at RheinLand is pleased it entrusted Palo Alto Networks with its network security. Palo Alto Networks is a very innovative company, says Koelbel. I have met their CEO and some of their staff. They have great enthusiasm and are really passionate about network security. It shows in how they design solutions that are effective and that security professionals like me really like working with. In a risk-averse world like insurance, Palo Alto Networks is a wonderful ally in securing our network Great America Parkway Santa Clara, CA Main: Sales: Support: Copyright 2015, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Palo Alto Networks, the Palo Alto Networks Logo, PAN-OS, App-ID and Panorama are trademarks of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. All specifications are subject to change without notice. Palo Alto Networks assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies in this document or for any obligation to update information in this document. Palo Alto Networks reserves the right to change, modify, transfer, or otherwise revise this publication without notice. PAN_CS_RV_042415