RWE Supply & Trading Secures Against User and Asset-Based Risks
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- Europe
Country
- Germany
Product
- PowerBroker for Windows
- Retina CS Enterprise Vulnerability Management
- PowerBroker Password Safe
- BeyondInsight IT Risk Management Platform
Tech Stack
- Windows Servers
- Unix systems
- Citrix VDI
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Cloud Security
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Database Security
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Identity & Authentication Management
Applicable Industries
- Utilities
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
- Procurement
Use Cases
- Cybersecurity
- Infrastructure Inspection
- Regulatory Compliance Monitoring
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
RWE Supply & Trading is a leading energy trading house and a key player in the European energy sector. The organisation serves as the interface between the RWE Group and the global wholesale markets for energy and energy-related raw materials. The European energy sector is undergoing fundamental changes, with subsidised expansion of renewables causing margins and utilisation of conventional power stations to decline, thereby requiring energy providers to reduce costs. But against this cost reduction, energy providers such as RWE Supply & Trading cannot sacrifice security. As the IT Security Architect for RWE Supply & Trading, Loucas Parikos needed to protect the infrastructure while meeting these cost and regulatory constraints.
The Challenge
RWE Supply & Trading, a leading energy trading house and a key player in the European energy sector, was facing a challenge of reducing the attack surface while meeting budgetary and regulatory constraints. The European energy sector is undergoing fundamental changes, with subsidised expansion of renewables causing margins and utilisation of conventional power stations to decline, thereby requiring energy providers to reduce costs. But against this cost reduction, energy providers such as RWE Supply & Trading cannot sacrifice security. As the IT Security Architect for RWE Supply & Trading, Loucas Parikos needed to protect the infrastructure while meeting these cost and regulatory constraints. “We wanted to reduce the attack surface and minimise our chances of being exploited.” In taking a phased approach, RWE addressed individual problems separately and then brought the solutions together under a common reporting and management platform.
The Solution
RWE’s initial focus was to reduce the high number of calls to the IT Help Desk resulting from out-of-policy employee downloads. There is a downside to allowing users to have administrative rights, and it is important to ensure that users would not be manipulated by malware that could have avoided detection. Parikos, however, was concerned about simply removing admin rights from employees. Employees needed a way to download and install the software needed to perform their responsibilities, without impacting their productivity or support staff. It was also important that both their standard desktops and their extensive use of Citrix VDI were accommodated. RWE Supply & Trading considered many solutions, and conducted a Proof of Concept of several products, including PowerBroker for Windows from BeyondTrust. During the Proof of Concept (POC), RWE extensively evaluated and tested how each product would work in their environment. It was essential that all applications used on employees’ systems could be installed by users without admin privileges. It was also important to Parikos how applications could be upgraded, and the amount of management effort needed to initially implement and then administer the solution on an ongoing basis.
Operational Impact
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