Defending Against Cyberattacks
The public sector continues to be hit hard by cybercriminals, and local governments are falling victim to attacks on a regular basis. With a population of about 42,000, State College, Pennsylvania, home of Penn State University, knew they had to shore up their network defenses. But with no cybersecurity experts on staff or time to review their daily activity, they had to look for a third-party solution.
They evaluated various monitoring solutions, and even considered investing in a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) software. But most would require personnel, which they did not have on staff, to manage and evaluate the data.
Managed Detection & Response solved all our cybersecurity problems. Their analysts have the expertise to translate our network activity and make it meaningful and actionable for us.
Craig Bowser
Information Technology Division, State College
Then they learned about Managed Detection & Response, Tyler Technologies’ managed threat detection service. They knew right away it was the right fit for them. As Craig Bowser from the Information Technology Division at State College notes, “Managed Detection & Response solved all our cybersecurity problems. Their analysts have the expertise to translate our network activity and make it meaningful and actionable for us.”
According to Bowser, Managed Detection & Response saves his team time and effort. “It adds another layer of defense so if our systems miss something that could put us at risk, we know the Tyler analysts will track it down and alert us accordingly.”
The activity that Managed Detection & Response brings to light helps our IT Department be proactive in educating our users, so that we don’t see the same issues over and over. That saves us all a lot of time.
Craig Bowser
Information Technology Division, State College
Since deploying the service in May 2019, State College has not been impacted by malicious activity on their network. That doesn’t mean the Managed Detection & Response analysts aren’t hard at work monitoring their network traffic every day 24/7.
Bowser explains, “We got an alert from Tyler one day that an entity was using a VPN to access our network from Aruba.” Upon further investigation, they realized it was actually an employee doing work while on vacation. “I’m glad Tyler gave us the heads up. It could have been a much different situation if it had been an unknown entity. Knowing about it as soon as it happened helped us avoid a potentially dangerous outcome.”
Managed Detection & Response is also providing the city with much needed insight into their network traffic and user behavior. “The activity that Managed Detection & Response brings to light helps our IT Department be proactive in educating our users, so that we don’t see the same issues over and over. That saves us all a lot of time.”
Additionally, the online Managed Detection & Response portal is now a useful tool to improve efficiency. “The user portal is great for communicating non-critical issues, said Bower. “I can review my findings when it’s convenient for me and even look back at historical information.”