"As people embrace the Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0, everything is pulling to the edge, and the gap between IT and OT (operational technology) is closing. It's among the biggest challenges in our current environment — one BlackBerry helps us address.”
— Anthony Pua, Chief Information Officer (Global IT), Sunningdale Tech
The manufacturing industry and its supply chains are more vulnerable than ever.
And threat actors are taking full advantage of that vulnerability. Systems manufacturing has officially eclipsed financial services and healthcare as the world’s most attacked sector. As a leading global manufacturer of precision plastic components, Sunningdale Tech is aware of this fact – and it has no intention of being the next target.
“Air-gapping, signature-based antivirus software, and in-house monitoring and management are no longer sufficient protection against the escalating threats facing manufacturing,” explains Anthony Pua, chief information officer (global IT) at Sunningdale Tech. “We knew we needed to pivot to a prevention-first approach to cybersecurity. With that in mind, we deployed BlackBerry CylanceGUARD®* for its full managed detection and response capabilities.”
*CylanceGUARD® is now known as CylanceMDR™
99 Percent Reduction in Alert Volume
Expert 24x7 Monitoring
Considerable Reduction in M&A Security Risks
In addition to minimizing alert fatigue, BlackBerry lets us focus on what we do best, while they are focused on stopping attacks. BlackBerry’s expert analysts act as an extension of my team, correlating telemetry across devices and providing actionable intelligence to prevent threats across our mixed environments. This is future-proofing our organization, as I believe IT and OT will eventually merge into a single ecosystem as manufacturers embrace Industry 4.0 and tear down the wall between the two.
Anthony Pua, Chief Information Officer (Global IT), Sunningdale Tech
Based in Singapore, Sunningdale manages manufacturing operations all over the world
Pua and his team are responsible for more than 4,000,000 square feet of manufacturing floor space and over 8,000 staff worldwide. Because much of Sunningdale’s growth involves acquisitions, it has ingested multiple operating environments over the years, each with its own technology and processes. As a result, its infrastructure not only spans the globe, but is far from uniform.
“Initially, we were able to operate effectively with a smaller internal team — but we always knew our numbers would eventually prove insufficient as our organization grew,” says Pua. “Unfortunately, the cybersecurity labor market in Singapore is extremely competitive. Hiring enough people to staff a large team isn’t always feasible.”
Information Overload
As is often the case with smaller security teams, notification fatigue was a constant thorn in Pua's side. He and his colleagues were constantly flooded with security alerts, to the tune of roughly 20,000 a day. They could not afford to overlook even one of these alerts — because if they ignored the wrong notification at the wrong time, the results could be catastrophic.
"For Sunningdale, the cost of even a brief work stoppage could be enormous," says Pua, "Because we work with companies from sectors like healthcare and aerospace, we're privy to valuable intellectual property, such as designs and blueprints. Our R&D divison is also an attractive target for cyber espionage, with valuable design documents and prototypes."
Addressing Myriad Security Challenges
With BlackBerry’s Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution, the manufacturer can now ensure continuous protection even in offline or air-gapped environments. Through a subscription-based model, CylanceMDR™ also provides Sunningdale with 24/7 access to trained threat prevention experts. It also includes CylanceENDPOINT® the prevention-first AI-driven solution that provides enhanced visibility and security without requiring human intervention, all via a lightweight client that doesn’t impede system performance.
The results of deploying CylanceMDR across Sunningdale’s ecosystem were near-immediate, reducing the organization’s daily security alerts from 20,000 to fewer than 10.
“In addition to minimizing alert fatigue, BlackBerry lets us focus on what we do best, while they focus on stopping attacks,” says Pua. “Their analysts are an extension of my team, correlating telemetry across devices and providing actionable intelligence for threat prevention.”
"CylanceGUARD* has been a game-changer for our company."
With BlackBerry, Sunningdale has not only protected its extended factory floor against existing threats, but future-proofed itself against potential threats. This includes considerably reducing the security risk of future mergers and acquisitions through proactive mitigation.
“For in-house security staff defending a single organization, it’s often rare to deal with highly sophisticated intrusion attempts,” Pua concludes. “BlackBerry stops those kinds of threats regularly. Having them as an extension of our own team has been invaluable — they keep our people safe, because that’s what they do best.”
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*CylanceGUARD is now known as CylanceMDR