CheckPoint Software > Case Studies > BCA’s European Network Secured and Streamlined with Check Point Solution

BCA’s European Network Secured and Streamlined with Check Point Solution

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security
Networks & Connectivity - Gateways

Applicable Industries

Automotive
National Security & Defense

Applicable Functions

Maintenance
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Tamper Detection
Vehicle-to-Infrastructure

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

British Car Auctions (BCA) is Europe’s number one vehicle remarketing company, moving more than one million vehicles each year and generating a turnover in excess of £2 billion. BCA operates through 23 auction centers in the United Kingdom, as well as auction sites in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Portugal, and Spain. About 90 percent of BCA’s business comes from corporate customers, which include manufacturers, leasing groups, automotive groups, and creditors, with the remainder from sales to the general public. BCA offers a wide range of vehicles for auction, including cars, vans, trucks, forklifts, farm equipment, buses, and leisure vehicles. In addition to auction sales, BCA services include online sales, finance, advertising, and transport.

The Challenge

British Car Auctions (BCA), Europe’s leading vehicle remarketing company, faced a significant challenge as it expanded its operations across Europe. With 14 centers in 9 different countries, BCA required a highly secure solution to provide its European sites with access to the financial systems and database hosted in the London data center. Additionally, BCA was in the process of developing a centralized auction system to replace the multiple independent applications being used across Europe. The challenge was to find a solution that could provide secure, reliable, and cost-effective network connections for multiple auction sites, ensuring high security, availability, and performance for transactions.

The Solution

BCA's network and security management service company, Centric Networks, recommended a managed Check Point VPN solution. Centric Networks, which provides network and security management services primarily to medium and large enterprises in the UK and Europe, connected the European auction sites to the London data center using Check Point VPN-1 Pro NG AI (Next Generation with Application Intelligence). This is a tightly integrated firewall and VPN gateway that combines the market-leading Firewall-1® security suite with sophisticated VPN technologies. VPN-1 deployment and security policies are centrally managed for all BCA locations by Centric Networks through the VPN-1 gateway in its data center, providing BCA with trouble-free connectivity and security. Centric Networks also implemented, configured, and remotely manages all BCA site-to-site VPNs, providing 24x7 support and extensive audit reports.

Operational Impact

The Check Point solution managed by Centric Networks has provided BCA with the most trouble-free connectivity and security available. It has allowed BCA’s IT organization to focus on business-related IT initiatives and issues rather than system maintenance, resulting in significant time and cost benefits. All financial transactions at the local auction sites are securely processed over the VPN to London, ensuring robust security and high availability. The solution has also provided BCA with a consistent, high-availability infrastructure featuring robust hardware and software with proven value. The Check Point solution is easy to manage, reducing resource requirements and enabling Centric Networks to provide more reliable service to BCA and its other customers.

Quantitative Benefit

Substantial cost savings compared to a private WAN
24x7 support and extensive audit reports provided by Centric Networks
High availability and high performance of the VPN ensured by a clustered pair of VPN-1 gateways in the London data center