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Cyber Risk Series | Cloud Security Edition | February 28 | Register Now

Advania Cuts Time to Identify Vulnerabilities by 40%

To improve its offerings to enterprise clients, Advania provides sophisticated vulnerability scanning and web application scanning solutions to help them meet stringent security and auditing requirements cost-effectively.

advania.com

INDUSTRY: Computer Services

BUSINESS: Advania is an Icelandic IT services company employing 750 people, serving more than 1,000 clients and operating in Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

SCOPE: International

SIZE: 750 employees

BUSINESS CHALLENGE: To help create new business opportunities, Advania wanted to meet demanding enterprise client requirements for rapid, accurate and cost-effective network security management.

SOLUTION:

  • Enterprise TruRisk Platform
  • Qualys VM
  • Qualys WAS

Founded in 1939 and headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, Advania offers managed IT services and solutions to 10,000 clients in the public and private sectors in Europe. Employing more than 1,000 people and with 17 offices in Iceland, Norway and Sweden, Advania’s operations are certified by the international quality and security standards ISO 9001 and 27001.

As the hosting provider for many leading regional enterprises, Advania continually audits its systems to detect and eliminate potential security threats.

Ævar Svan Sigurðsson, Service Manager at Advania, takes up the story, “As a managed service provider, we work constantly to reduce what can often be large and complex attack surfaces. As well as reacting rapidly to mitigate the impact of known vulnerabilities, we take proactive measures to identify and mitigate potential threats before they emerge. We see both capabilities as essential to maintain the trust of our clients.”

High-Performance Security Solution for Demanding Clients

Ævar Svan Sigurðsson continues: “When we got a major new client – one of Iceland’s leading news websites – we needed to meet its stringent security and auditing requirements. To obtain the new capabilities quickly and cost-effectively, we looked for an experienced partner with proven expertise in enterprise network security and vulnerability management.”

After assessing offerings from several vendors, Advania selected Qualys to deliver its new security solution. Ævar Svan Sigurðsson recalls, “Qualys has many Forbes-listed companies among its clients, and it was the strength of that reputation which convinced us that the Enterprise TruRisk Platform could meet our own demanding security requirements.

“We performed a proof-of-concept exercise for the Enterprise TruRisk Platform, and the solutions ticked all of the boxes. Qualys offers accurate and reliable monitoring of vulnerabilities, with very low rates of false positives; allows for prompt management and resolution of potential threats; and helps us achieve full compliance with our internal and external security standards.”

To enable comprehensive visibility and monitoring of its entire internal and client infrastructure, Advania uses the Qualys Vulnerability Management and Qualys Web Application Scanning solutions which are part of the Enterprise TruRisk Platform.

Why Advania chose Qualys:

  • Shortens time needed to identify potential vulnerabilities by 40%
  • Helps reduce attack surfaces with full visibility of all patched and unpatched systems
  • Delivers rapid reporting for stakeholders and regulators, facilitating compliance
  • Creates opportunities for growth by enabling Advania to meet clients’ enterprise security requirements

Comprehensive Security Platform

Advania uses the Enterprise TruRisk Platform to perform monthly scans of its server and network infrastructure, helping it to identify, document and eliminate vulnerabilities rapidly and cost-efficiently. The company can run deep scans at scheduled times, and ad hoc scans whenever needed.

Ævar Svan Sigurðsson comments, “The Qualys solutions allow us to distribute detailed vulnerability reports to each of our system owners, highlighting the actions they need to take to comply with our security standards. From a central dashboard, our security managers can track all outstanding vulnerabilities, and remind the system owners to take action in a timely manner. This fine-grained reporting enables us to verify how effective we are in addressing vulnerabilities, and helps us to refine our processes to further tighten security.”

The Qualys solutions are helping Advania to analyse extensive and complex attack surfaces more effectively, and produce reports with clear, actionable recommendations for security improvements. Ævar Svan Sigurðsson explains, “We are now able to prioritise the vulnerabilities that we consider pose the highest risk, and respond accordingly. The Qualys solutions are especially valuable when serving large enterprise clients with extensive systems.”

“Qualys offers accurate and reliable monitoring of vulnerabilities, with very low rates of false positives; allows for prompt management and resolution of potential threats; and helps us achieve full compliance with our internal and external security standards.”
Ævar Svan Sigurðsson
Ævar Svan Sigurðsson

Service Manager, Advania

Opening the Door to New Business

Ævar Svan Sigurðsson says: “Thanks to the Qualys portfolio of security and compliance solutions, Advania can now react up to 40% faster to potential threats. Better still, the solutions make it easier for us to demonstrate our compliance with internal security policies and stringent external regulations. Without a doubt, our strong security posture makes our value proposition more compelling, which is a major asset when discussing our services with prospective clients.”

Based on the success of its Qualys solutions, Advania is investigating the possibility of deploying a Qualys Private Cloud environment. The private cloud model will enable the company to onboard new clients more easily, and to store keep all client data within Iceland—an important consideration for clients in highly regulated industries.

Ævar Svan Sigurðsson concludes: “With Enterprise TruRisk Platform at the heart of our network security strategy, we are in a stronger position to protect our clients against current and emerging threats. Our journey is just beginning, and we anticipate Qualys will add even greater business value in the future.”