Highlights
Industry: Professional & Business Services
Solution:
After looking at several solutions, the CLSF group chose ForeScout CounterACT to improve network security and protect against the risks created by non-compliant endpoints.
Results:
- Ease of deployment
- Complete network visibility
- Agentless access control
- Improved policy enforcement
- Peace of mind over network security
Customer overview
The Chio Lim Stone Forest (CLSF) group is the largest accounting and business advisory group outside the Big Four in Singapore. It has a staff strength of over 800 in Singapore, with another 320 employees located throughout Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Hangzhou in China. The group is also the Singapore member of RSM International, the world’s seventh largest accounting and consulting network, with nearly 700 offices in more than 100 countries.
The CLSF group currently provides employees with fully encrypted notebooks for work purposes. To enforce its IT policies, the group’s IT team sought a network access control (NAC) solution that would identify non-compliant devices connecting to the corporate network to facilitate necessary follow-up action.
A key requirement was the need for the NAC solution to be easily deployed without disrupting the end user’s experience or normal business operations when brought online. Also required was an automated, agentless approach that would allow for ease of management and provide the assurance of network security.
Why ForeScout?
During the evaluation phase, the CLSF group received two proofs of concept — one from a leading global solutions provider and the other from ForeScout. The ForeScout CounterACT™ solution greatly exceeded the group’s expectations due to its ease of deployment and agentless option, which the competing solution lacked. The group was also impressed by ForeScout CounterACT’s fail-safe feature and its ability to run in a virtual environment.
“We really needed a solution that would allow us to monitor our network, minimize the risk of rogue devices connecting to it, and keep all users compliant with our policies,” said Eileen Tan, IT Director, Chio Lim Stone Forest. “ForeScout CounterACT is the ideal solution to help us successfully enforce these policies.”
How ForeScout Helped
The CLSF group took less than a day to deploy ForeScout CounterACT to cover some 1,000 corporate-issued devices. Since its implementation, the NAC solution has delivered the following benefits:
Real-time Visibility
ForeScout CounterACT allows the CLSF group to see the different types of devices accessing its network and whether they comply with its IT policies.
Full Network Control
By improving visibility, ForeScout CounterACT revealed that some users had been connecting frequently to the corporate network with their personal devices. The solution automatically notified the IT team whenever this occurred to enable prompt enforcement of the group’s IT policies.
“When we identify non-compliant users through ForeScout CounterACT, we inform them which IT policy they failed to comply with and what they must do to ensure full compliance,” Tan said. “Since implementation of the solution, no further cases of non compliance have been detected among employees.”
Policy Configuration and Enforcement
The CLSF group is able to configure ForeScout CounterACT to ensure compliance in various areas. This involves categorizing the types of devices that access the group’s network and determining whether they meet compliance requirements.
Once configured, ForeScout CounterACT is also able to identify corporate-issued devices where compliance has lapsed. For example, it can detect whether they have the latest anti-virus and Windows updates. If non-compliance is detected, the solution would automatically notify the affected users and IT team for follow-up action.
Peace of Mind over Network Security
The resulting automation provided by ForeScout CounterACT has given the CLSF group peace of mind over its network security as any non-compliant device is immediately identified.
“Deploying ForeScout CounterACT demonstrates our commitment to network security,” said Tan. “With this solution installed, we have the assurance that the risk of vulnerability to cyberthreats has been minimized and our IT policies are effectively enforced.”