BeyondTrust > Case Studies > Network Security Doesn’t Have to Come at the Expense of Usability

Network Security Doesn’t Have to Come at the Expense of Usability

Customer Company Size

SME

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access
BeyondTrust Remote Support
BeyondTrust Password Safe

Tech Stack

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security

Applicable Industries

Cities & Municipalities

Use Cases

Cybersecurity

Services

System Integration
Training

About The Customer

The City of Midlothian, Texas, is a growing and increasingly connected city located just 25 miles south of Dallas. The city has grown from 18,037 residents in 2010 to 35,125 residents in 2020. The city's IT department manages many IT systems across public safety and government, including water treatment, public works, fire, police, EMS, 911 dispatch, administration, building inspections, and city planning, among others. The systems are interconnected on a large municipal network, with each department needing to communicate with others. The network hosts around 375 regular users and about 350 desktops and laptops, along with many other devices, including video cameras, door security devices, physical gates, phones, SCADA systems for water monitoring, and even irrigation control systems.

The Challenge

The City of Midlothian, Texas, was facing a challenge with its IT environment. The more secure it became, the less usable it was. Open access left sensitive networks vulnerable to attacks and increased the risk of a data breach. The city had to choose between more security or better availability, often sacrificing one for the other. Before 2018, granting access to third-party vendors and remote workers was a hands-on chore that required multiple touchpoints and tons of cleanup. The city used a VPN client from their firewall provider to set up accounts for vendors and third-party users. They would download and run the software client, input their credentials, and gain full access to the network. However, there were no actual security controls in that tunnel. The only way to keep people from logging in whenever they wanted was to disable the account, which also meant the IT team had to reactivate the account as needed.

The Solution

The City of Midlothian found a solution to its security and usability concerns in BeyondTrust's products. BeyondTrust Privileged Remote Access had the potential to solve many of the city's accessibility problems immediately. The city also opted for BeyondTrust Remote Support for internal use, which allows technicians to jump into employees' computers to help troubleshoot. BeyondTrust Password Safe offers a solution to the city's issues with tracking multiple passwords and ensuring everyone was up to date on password changes. Password Safe can auto-inject credentials when remoting into a server, rather than having those credentials written down somewhere or saved in a password file or shared location. The city can now automate that with Password Safe, integrate it with Remote Support and Privileged Access, and make it easier for staff to get in under common logins.

Operational Impact

Improved visibility and control over all vendor access to the municipal network.
Technicians enjoy easier access with more granular control over their rights.
More control over internal server passwords with the automated cycling of passwords.
Vendors no longer remote in unannounced, nor do they update their software without telling the IT team.
The city can set parameters for how long vendor access can be granted and have plenty of forensic evidence that proves vendors did what they said they did.

Quantitative Benefit

The city has eliminated attack vectors, which helps everyone sleep better at night.
The city has become less vulnerable to things that affect other cities in the area.