Accelerating value from acquisition
Telit Cinterion is a global leader in internet of things (IoT) technology. Headquartered in California, the organisation simplifies the onboarding of connected ‘things’ with a portfolio of wireless communication modules, cellular connectivity services, cloud software, and data orchestration.
Two years ago, Telit Cinterion acquired the cellular IoT division of Thales, a global leader in aerospace and defence. The transaction expanded Telit Cinterion’s ability to rapidly respond to growing demand for cyber-secure IoT solutions in modules and cellular connectivity.
The challenge for Telit Cinterion was to quickly connect more than 650 Thales people in 30 countries to the organisation – across a multiplicity of languages and cultures. “We wanted people to work securely and productively from day one. This was a $300 million acquisition, and every day people couldn’t connect to the Telit Cinterion network was potentially a day of lost revenue,” says Itzik Menashe, CISO, Telit Cinterion.
The acquisition took place in the wake of COVID-19, and there were concerns that connecting the Thales team to the Telit Cinterion network might take months. The cost was estimated to be $3,000 per user, equivalent to $1.9 million for all 650 users. “Owing to the post-pandemic slowdown in the global supply chain, we estimated it could take months to source and ship new devices to staff and then individually configure each one,” says Itzik.
Faced with an influx of unmanaged personal devices into the organisation, Itzik and his team needed complete visibility and control over how Thales’s people integrated with Telit Cinterion’s applications and data.
Telit Cinterion was already a satisfied Palo Alto Networks customer, using Prisma Access to connect people continuously from anywhere and stay protected from threats.
Consistent, frictionless Zero Trust applications access
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access Browser extends the comprehensive security and seamless user experience of Telit Cinterion’s existing Prisma Access deployment to every endpoint – managed or unmanaged – in minutes.
The SASE solution’s natively integrated secure browser creates a secure workspace for devices, ensuring every user has consistent, frictionless Zero Trust access to applications on any device. “We used predefined policies and centralised management to maintain comprehensive and consolidated security without compromising people’s productivity or user experience,” says Gadi Amster, Network Security Manager, Telit Cinterion.
Prisma Access Browser also enables Telit Cinterion to deliver identity-based access control directly within the browser, enhancing security and minimising exposure to threats. Continuous trust verification provides fine-grained, least-privileged access. Bring-your-own-device security with integrated browser-based granular last-mile data loss prevention also blocks the unauthorised exposure of critical information.
The deployment was seamless too. “The entire implementation was incredibly quick and straightforward. Everything worked the way it should,” says Gadi.
Extends Zero Trust to everyone - in minutes
By standardising on Prisma Access Browser, Telit Cinterion can quickly secure any user or device – in any location. The benefits include:
- Accelerated acquisition time to value: Telit Cinterion was able to connect 650 users to their preferred devices almost immediately; it might have taken up to a year to achieve the same result with traditional provisioning techniques.
- Reduced risk: The AI-powered SASE platform stops millions of new and unique attacks every day. This enhanced, browser-based security and visibility enables Telit Cinterion to confidently empower people without compromising on security.
- An intuitive user experience: People can safely access SaaS and private apps from any device, with zero learning curve. The natively integrated browser is designed for instant familiarity in people’s daily workflows.
- Streamlined management: Comprehensive and consistent security across all devices is managed centrally from one pane of glass.
- Increased agility: Telit Cinterion was able to change configurations in the cloud and update the endpoints in near-real time – without the challenge of communicating in multiple languages with new employees across the globe. “We were surprised how fast we could onboard people.” says Itzik.
- Simplified compliance: Prisma Access Browser enabled Telit Cinterion to satisfy German privacy laws that require privacy protection for employees and the ability to block sites defined by category – typically a challenging task for CISOs.
- Improved enforcement: Telit Cinterion was able to integrate with its identity provider to enforce conditional access to corporate applications, including blocking access from other browsers.
- Helping Telit Cinterion adapt to the modern work era: The shift toward extensive use of personal devices for work, alongside cloud growth, enables Telit Cinterion to move beyond traditional, perimeter-based security architectures, increasing flexibility and reducing complexity.
- Reduced costs: Telit Cinterion eliminated the opportunity cost of manually provisioning and maintaining 650 users, equivalent to approximately $1.9 million.
Itzik concludes, “We do not limit the use of other browsers on managed computers, but employees still choose Prisma Access Browser. That is testimony to its success. In time, we may standardise on Prisma Access Browser as the default secure browser for all staff.”
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