Shipping Logistics Leader IMC Deploys Check Point SandBlast Agent to Safeguard Supply Chain Data

“The biggest advantage to using Check Point SandBlast Agent is that we don’t need to worry about ransomware attacks on our environment. It provides total peace of mind, and you can’t put a price tag on that. We know it will be there, and that our data will remain safe”
– David Ulloa, Chief Information Security Officer, IMC Companies

Overview

IMC Companies

For more than 36 years, IMC Companies has been providing logistics services like container drayage, expedited services, truck brokerage, warehousing, chassis provisioning, and secured container storage.

Business Challenge

Securing Critical Data Across the Supply Chain

IMC Companies’ expansive network of trucking transport and support centers gives its customers the advantage of local market knowledge combined with coast-to-coast coverage. Its modern truck fleet, secure container terminals, and proprietary real-time tracking system, deliver unmatched levels of flexibility and efficiency. IMC moves more than one million shipping containers each year, and protecting the integrity of its data and its network infrastructure is critical.

“Security is very important for IMC because our customers rely on our information to support just-in-time supply chain operations,” said Ulloa. “A customer shipping shoes from Vietnam can track their container all the way to a port in the U.S., as our driver picks up the container and transports it to a warehouse. Our in-house transportation management system provides a competitive advantage, and contains customer bank account information and other sensitive data. Any downtime can cost us millions of dollars.”

To ensure that its network remained available and secure, IMC needed to protect its endpoints, including laptops, desktop computers, phones, and mobile devices from ransomware, viruses, and other threats. The solution would have to be comprehensive to defend against multiple threats, yet fully integrated for easy management.

Solution

A Comprehensive Solution for Proactive Endpoint Security

IMC evaluated a dozen vendors and concluded that Check Point offered the most complete solution to address all its needs.

“Instead of using multiple solutions for antivirus, anti-ransomware, forensics, encryption, VPN and compliance, Check Point provides all that in a single suite,” said Ulloa. “That’s why we went with Check Point.”

IMC deployed SandBlast Agent, a comprehensive security solution offers a wide range of advanced endpoint threat prevention capabilities. SandBlast agent lets IMC proactively prevent, detect, and fix known and unknown zero-day attacks. Its built-in anti-ransomware protection defends the company against sophisticated evasive attacks that can sneak past conventional network and endpoint products.

“Our IT group that handles endpoints had been overwhelmed with the issues and constraints involved in managing multiple solutions,” said Ulloa. “Once we moved to Check Point, it was very easy. We implemented the solution ourselves in less than a week, across our entire environment.”

Designed to simplify management, Check Point SandBlast Agent lets IT take advantage of a single console to centrally administer its security.

“The Check Point endpoint solution comes with a very nice single pane of glass dashboard,” said Ulloa. “We can just go to it and see where our problems are. It shows us how many devices are up and running, how many have had an alert from a bot or malware incident, and our overall compliance grade.”

Benefit

Trouble-Free Protection Against Evolving Threats

SandBlast Agent has enabled IMC to discover and mitigate potential endpoint threats across its entire environment, to keep confidential customer data safe and maximize system uptime.

“We receive about two million emails a month, and statistics tell us at least 55 percent of those are malignant,” said Ulloa. “SandBlast Agent enabled us to stop 100 percent of the emails that made it past the firewall. That’s at least five incidents per day for each of our 550 desktop users in the office.”

By maintaining the integrity of its network and customer information, IMC also sustains the continued confidence of its customers.

“We have many customers that rely on our supply chain expertise, and we have to protect that information,” said Ulloa. “There are a lot of trade secrets that we have to protect as well. The Check Point endpoint security solution helps us detect, remediate, and even prevent ransomware attacks, so we can maintain our reputation.”

Automatic Forensics Speed Investigations

SandBlast Agent also provides automated forensics data analysis to give IMC detailed insights into threats, without requiring cumbersome manual processes.

“Before Check Point, we didn’t have any idea what took place with security threats, unless we invested hours of research,” said Ulloa. “We use SandBlast Agent Forensics, which provides a report of what happened and where the threat came from, in a format that’s easy to understand. Check Point is very simple to use—we just configure it and step back.”