This is a preview of your story

Powered by

Storydoc
analytics_default
analytics_default

How Identity-Based Access & Connectivity is Enabling

PIB Insurance’s Remarkable Growth


⏱ Avg. Reading Time: 7 min

expand_more

How a UK-based insurance brokerage achieved sizable annual savings while securing access for over 2500 users


PIB Group (‘PIB’), a UK-based global insurance intermediary with a presence in the UK, Europe and India, set out to improve their overall security posture and provide a seamless user experience for internal and third-party user access of the company’s business applications.

Established in 2015, the Group was expanding quickly, going from 12 to more than 2500 desks in a remarkably short window of time. With around 60 business acquisitions since 2016, and 2021 marking their move into new countries like Spain and Netherlands, PIB is on track to continue its rapid scaling. In 2022 further acquisitions have been made with many more on the horizon as PIB continues its rapid international expansion.

PIB was looking for a security model that would support their growth and acquisitive business strategy objectives.

The company Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) who led the shift to a new security strategy was aware that PIB’s existing IT infrastructure limited flexibility and lacked identity-based authentication. He knew the company’s growing attack surface was leading to even greater risk but also had to prioritize business agility and security with pursuit of further acquisitions and expansion.

PIB’s customer-centric and specialized approach to providing insurance brokerage services made operational agility and efficiency top priorities, with zero trade-off on organizational and data security. Reducing their security risks by minimizing their attack surface and meeting the ever-changing compliance requirements of the finance sector, particularly in the insurance vertical, were critical in continuing to scale up.

The company was looking for a solution to centralize identity-based secure user access to mission-critical applications and resources, with a range of challenges they set out to overcome.

“Cyolo is laying the foundation for PIB to implement a new architecture with non-domain joined devices using Microsoft’s InTune MDM. Cyolo also provides modern ongoing identity-based authentication and verification with MFA and SSO from Okta, centralized in one identity-based access and connectivity solution. The tool’s unique zero-trust architecture created a platform for us to review our WAN architecture, with the possibility to bypass the need to move to SD WAN when suitable.”

Jason Ozin, Group Information Security Officer, PIB Group

analytics_default

Goals

  • check_circle_outline

    Easily, quickly and cost-effectively deploy and implement a single secure access and connectivity solution at minimal overhead and to lay a zero-trust foundation and meet industry compliance requirements.

  • check_circle_outline

    Fill in MFA and SSO gaps, further increasing the value and extending use of Okta for MFA, SSO, and MDM.

  • check_circle_outline

    Improve security posture while maintaining optimal performance and user experience for internal and remote users.

  • check_circle_outline

    Replace VPN used for remote access to key business applications in order to reduce the attack surface and improve user experience.

  • check_circle_outline

    Simplify the network while laying foundation to review WAN.

  • check_circle_outline

    Move away from reliance on domain-joined device to support BYOD and improve business agility.

The Existing Tech Stack & The Challenges To Overcome


With PIB’s offices, internal users and clientele located across the UK and diverse corners of Europe and India, it was essential to blend speed and agility with improved secure connectivity to support the business and maintain productivity.

Users, working both internally and remotely, were connecting to private circuits through firewalls in internet breakout locations. Key business applications were accessed via VPN and virtual desktops, increasing the attack surface and adding further complexity, latency and overhead to the infrastructure.

Read more 🔽

Close 🔼

PIB was eager to adopt and implement a security model that would support peak performance and efficiency, while meeting the insurance industry’s demanding compliance requirements with full control and ownership of sensitive content and data.

Outcome & Requirements


Reduced organizational attack surface and improved security posture

Maximized and optimized operational agility and efficiency while staying compliant

Improved user experience

Enabled acquisitive business strategy with acquisitions easily added to IT systems and business apps

Over £1 million in annual cost-savings

Next Steps: Replacing the VPN to Improve Security, Performance & Productivity While Scaling Up


The team at PIB was ready to remove their virtual desktops and simplify their infrastructure, while simultaneously implementing a zero-trust access framework that would allow them to review WAN (Wide Area Networking) strategy in the future while replacing VPNs today.

Under the leadership of PIB’s CISO, the organization was ready to make the shift and adopt Cyolo’s identity-based access solution, proactively taking cost-effective measures to further secure the organization and underpin performance.

The Cyolo Solution

Why PIB Chose Cyolo: Secure Access and Unmatched User Experience While Staying Compliant


In evaluating the solutions on the market and ultimately choosing Cyolo, PIB felt they gained the fastest and most secure access solution available. Key to their decision were the facts that Cyolo has no access to their data, stores nothing in the cloud, and provides an unmatched speed, low-latency cloud delivered service.

The finance and insurance industry’s compliance requirements are increasingly rigid and demanding, particularly adherence to privacy policies related to security and storage of sensitive data, like GDPR standards. Cyolo’s ZTNA2.0 architecture empowers PIB to fully own and control all critical content and data.

All of the company’s most sensitive information (such as passwords, encryption keys, and tokens), remains within the PIB security perimeter – not in the Cyolo cloud, automatically improving their ability to adhere to compliance requirements. It was also important for PIB that Cyolo’s trust-less architecture could not be weaponized against them in a supply chain attack.

Read more 🔽

Close 🔼

“Working with the Cyolo team continues to prove that identity-based access based on a trust-less architecture will bring our security posture and user experience to the next level. Deployment took just an hour, and our users immediately experienced better speed, operational efficiency and saw business agility supported with a simplified IT infrastructure at the heart of the shift. With our attack surface shrinking, and a projected £1 million in annual cost-savings, we’re moving full speed ahead with acquisitions and growth with secure identity-based access and connectivity.”

Jason Ozin, Group Information Security Officer, PIB Group

analytics_default

New Security Measures Implemented Cost-Effectively and with Ease


Cyolo was initially deployed for PIB within just one hour, providing a near instantaneous improvement to business agility and operational efficiency for an organization with over 2500 remote, internal and third-party users - and growing at a rapid pace. With the new cost-effective identity-based access strategy as a foundation, PIB’s acquired companies could be easily added to their IT systems and applications within minutes. Key stakeholders and users gained just-in-time secure access and connectivity with minimal management overhead.

Read more 🔽

Close 🔼

Results

  • check_circle_outline

    Unmatched speed and ease of deployment and implementation – taking just one hour to get up and running with immediate results

  • check_circle_outline

    Minimal management overhead

  • check_circle_outline

    Improved business agility & operational efficiency: ability to add acquired companies in minutes and support Just in Time access

  • check_circle_outline

    Built foundation for a zero-trust framework and secure user access and connectivity

  • check_circle_outline

    Reduced attack surface, improved security posture

  • check_circle_outline

    Realized significant cost savings and infrastructure simplification

Savings will reach over £1 million annually.

Discover how Cyolo can bring similar results to your organization.