McMaster University relies on runZero to remain vigilant against emerging vulnerabilities
runZero seamlessly integrated to give McMaster University invaluable insights into their assets, enabling a faster response, and overall more informed cybersecurity program.
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Tracy Dallaire, Director of Information Security at McMaster University, leads a team of cybersecurity professionals dedicated to safeguarding the availability, integrity, and security of their university community's data. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, cybersecurity challenges such as student scams and phishing attacks have become increasingly prevalent in the postsecondary education sector. In response, Dallaire and her team were searching for new tools to help them achieve McMaster University's comprehensive information security strategy.
Solution
Dallaire and her team adopted the Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) solution by runZero to run automated scans of their network, leveraging runZero’s active, unauthenticated scanner.
Outcomes
Implementing runZero provided McMaster University with invaluable insights into their assets, enabling quicker and more informed cybersecurity monitoring and decision-making. runZero's quick scans and automation streamlined their team's processes, allowing them to focus on mission-critical work.
Why runZero?
"Our team relies on runZero to remain vigilant in monitoring emerging vulnerabilities across our extensive network of information sources. The tool not only guides us in pinpointing precisely where and how to direct our security efforts but has seamlessly integrated itself into the very core of our security program, operational activities, and our suite of essential tools." - Tracy Dallaire, Director of Information Security, McMaster University
Problem
Tracy Dallaire, Director of Information Security at McMaster University, leads a team of cybersecurity professionals dedicated to safeguarding the availability, integrity, and security of the university's data.
"The postsecondary education sector is a complex environment from a cybersecurity perspective," Dallaire explained. "Community members often use personal devices to connect to our networks, and there is a constant influx of new students, faculty, and staff, coupled with the introduction of research equipment and the retirement of old equipment."
In addition, there is an increasing trend of cybersecurity challenges, such as student scams and phishing attacks, in the postsecondary education sector. These challenges escalated during the transition from remote to in-person activities on campus as the university emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. “When people returned to campus post COVID-19, they were turning on devices that may have been sitting for a while or bringing devices back that had been operating off campus for a while. We needed a solution that could tell us what our environment looked like. We wanted to understand where an asset was in its lifecycle, if it was close to end-of-life, if it was up to date, if it had open ports, and the current version it was on, all to better understand the risk profile so to put safeguards in and around those endpoints,” said Dallaire.
In response to these challenges, Dallaire and her team were searching for new tools to help them deliver the university's comprehensive information security strategy.
Solution
Dallaire and her team implemented runZero's active, unauthenticated scanner to scan their environment for vulnerabilities.
The solution allows them to conduct detailed automatic scans of their environment while collecting valuable insights such as account asset lifecycles, end-of-life proximity, updates, open ports, software versions, and more."runZero's active, unauthenticated scanner was easy to deploy, and it has quickly become a key part of our security program," said Dallaire.
"runZero helps us understand what is operating in our environment down to detailed attributes, such as the version of Windows, patch level, if there are open ports, and more."
“runZero gives us a comprehensive view of our complex environment from a cybersecurity perspective, enabling us to ensure the appropriate safeguards are in place. The insights we gain from using runZero are helping us advance endpoint protection and cybersecurity resilience at McMaster University.”
Outcomes
The implementation of runZero gave Dallaire's team a comprehensive view of the assets operating in their environment and their associated risks, thus reducing overall risk. This newfound visibility enabled the team to make critical decisions to enhance the university's information security. “At McMaster, we are using runZero to constantly stay on top of new vulnerabilities. It’s another piece of intelligence that’s helping us understand where and how to target efforts. It’s becoming an ingrained part of our security program, our security operational activity, and our suite of tools that we use", described Dallaire.
Not only has runZero provided Dallaire's team with a new level of insight, but it has also been a significant time-saver for her team. "runZero cuts out a lot of manual work, allowing our team to act more quickly and focus on higher-value analytics and strategy," said Dallaire.
When asked to share her overall experience with runZero, Dallaire said, "Between the level of sophisticated intelligence it provides, speed of data acquisition and deployment, and ease of effective integration into our operating environment, I see a substantial return on value."
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