Customer Name:Telefónica México

Line of Business:Telecommunications

Headquarters:Mexico City, Mexico

Number of Employees: 2800

Firewall Solutions:Cisco, Check Point

AlgoSec Solutions:AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer, AlgoSec FireFlow

Telefonica.com

Case Study

Leading Mexican Telecom Provider Improves Network Services

Telefónica México deploys AlgoSec to increase efficiency and risk mitigation of firewall operations and improve delivery of customer services.

AlgoSec Business Impact:

Improved risk mitigation, ensuring high-quality services for customers

Increased operational efficiency and accuracy of firewall changes

Cut time spent on firewall change management by half

Managed network growth without adding new staff

Background Telefónica launched in the Mexican market after the acquisition of four northern Mexican telecommunications operators in 2001, followed by the acquisition of the Mexican operator, Pegaso, in 2002. Telefonica México was formed in 2003, with the integration of these companies,. The company provides fixed-line, mobile, public and data communications services to over 20 million customers. Telefónica México’s commercial brand, Movistar, encompasses all of the company’s mobile operations. Its GSM network spans 73,500 kilometers, reaching 83,000 population centers in Mexico.

Challenge In 2008, Telefónica was experiencing significant growth. While the company met the needs of a growing client base with its expanded service offering, Telefónica’s corporate and client service networks were becoming increasingly complex. As the networks grew to support new demands, the number of firewalls protecting client services and internal corporate functions increased. “Our team of three was manually managing approximately 30 changes per day across various firewalls ,” says Saúl Padrón, manager of information security at Telefónica México. “With this manual administration process, it was impossible to understand the rules in each firewall and the relationship between them in an effective way. Risk mitigation became extraordinarily challenging.” Telefónica needed a solution that could provide complete visibility into the firewalls on each network, automate the management process and decrease the potential for human error.

Solution Telefónica evaluated several firewall management solutions before selecting AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer for its ease of use and high levels of functionality. “We chose AlgoSec because of its robust automated capabilities, including automatic risk analysis and reporting,” says Padrón. Unlike other solution providers, AlgoSec provides technical support in Mexico. “It’s nice to know we have local support if we need it, but the AlgoSec solution is so easy to deploy and use, and its performance so reliable, that we haven’t used any support services yet,” he says.

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Firewall Analyzer was up and running in one week. “Because the deployment was so smooth, we were able to fully leverage the solution immediately to begin improving our firewall management processes,” says Padrón. Today, AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer continues to streamline Telefónica’s firewall and risk mitigation operations. “Firewall Analyzer visually displays the level of risk associated with each rule change, enabling us to greatly facilitate and improve rule management and configuration,” says Padrón. Using the “what-if analysis” capability, the security team can now easily assess risks and test planned changes before implementing them into the production network. Firewall Analyzer quickly identifies if a new rule duplicates an existing one and saves us from executing unnecessary changes. AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer’s real-time change monitoring and alerting ensures network security. While Telefónica’s security team is responsible for firewall analysis and testing, a separate operations group configures the rules in each firewall. “Firewall Analyzer enables us to see if the operations group has applied the changes we requested or if they make an unauthorized modification that may cause a risk,” says Padrón. AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer’s turnkey compliance reports help facilitate regulatory compliance while saving time. “Firewall Analyzer generates automatically populated reports, which make it easy for us to provide proof of compliance to our internal and external auditors,” says Padrón. “For instance, we can quickly show that our network access configurations are in adherence with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations without having to spend time creating customized reports.” In 2011, the company intends to begin using AlgoSec’s Payment Credit Industry (PCI) reports.

Results As a result of using AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer, Telefónica has improved its risk mitigation capabilities. This improvement translates into higher-quality services for customers and a competitive edge in the market. “Any security risk to our networks can affect the services we deliver to our customers,” says Padrón. “By strengthening the security of our infrastructure, we are able to provide the highest network qualityand ensure our customers have access to voice, data and multimedia services at all times. Providing a consistently high level of service not only results in increased revenue but in greater customer loyalty.” With AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer, Telefónica has also increased operational efficiency and improved the quality of network security while maximizing its IT resources. This comprehensive management enables the security team to detect and mitigate risks associated with changes immediately. “With AlgoSec, it now takes us half the time to employ firewall changes. Plus the solution provides us with intelligence that reduces human error and risk,” says Padrón. “AlgoSec helped us transform specific internal processes, enabling us to meet the increasing demands on our network while minimizing risk and maximizing our resources,” he says.

““With AlgoSec, it now takes us half the time to employ firewall changes. Plus the solution provides us with intelligence that reduces human error and risk.”

Saúl Padrón, Manager of Information SecurityTelefónica México