Data Security Breach Solutions for an Industrial Automation Company

The Customer

Our customer is one of the top Industrial Automation companies in India with branches spread across the country in different cities. They have commendable experience in factory automation, integration of special machines and production lines, apart from other automation solutions. The company partners with many international companies in Europe and USA for sourcing automation components. Over the years, they have made successful installations in myriad sectors like automotive, engineering, aerospace and heavy engineering to name a few.

The customer wanted us to address some of their major information security needs:

• Alignment of the company's present IT practices with standard industry practices across the globe
• Improving the security posture
• Prohibiting remote access of information
• Monitoring the usage of IT infrastructure to check for abnormalities

The Challenge

Data is a priceless resource for any corporate; more so for companies that rely on data for their major operations. Our customer wanted us to seek a solution to the grave problem of data theft and security breaches. The client had reasonable suspicion on their data being illegitimately used. The same is possible through many ways like external hacking or internal data leaks through an employee who may have authorized/unauthorized access to the company's confidential data. In the case we discuss here, the company was losing business and the risk was big enough to internationally damage their reputation. Some of their ex-employees seemed to be the main suspects.

Through the security solutions, the company wanted to detect where the theft was occurring, find out a way to mitigate the risk of hackers and get hold of those involved in the breaches so far. The procedure for seeking solutions to the above concerns was to essentially involve a thorough IT review of each and every system and network that the company used. After a preliminary detection of systems that could have been possible weapons of the data culprits, digital forensics was to give dependable answers and evidence, based on which the company could take appropriate action.

The Solution

At Outsource2india, we performed an extensive Information Security Review on all the relevant digital devices, media and networks of the customer. The review, besides being an attempt to find out suspicious systems, was also intended to implement better IT practices. We worked closely towards the customer's email server and configuration policy, proxy servers, active directories, firewalling policies, VPN setups, remote access policy, Internet access policy, and the policy for the employees to have access to portable devices inside the premises of the company.

This review became the sturdy foundation based on which, we could carry on with the remaining chores like digital forensics. We captured RAM and hard disk images of suspicious systems and used all the information we could get out of them, in order to get to the root cause of the leakage. We made use of keyword-based searches to trace any signs of suspicious activity. Web browsing history and the movement of data through portable devices, emails, and chat conversations helped us move forward with our investigations. Post completion of our research, we had solid evidences to support our claim and we submitted a detailed report with all the relevant material to the company so as to enable them to take subsequent action.

The Results

We collated all the relevant information into a detailed report and submitted it to the customer. Based on our thorough Information Security Review, our client was able to take appropriate action on the lawbreakers and successfully meet their information security needs.

Is your company facing a similar situation? At Outsource2india, we can assist you with any type of information security requirement, be it enterprise security solutions implementation ordigital forensic services to help our clients deal with any kind of cyber crimes. Partner with us today.