CrowdStrike > Case Studies > CrowdStrike Helps the State of Arizona Stay Ahead of Today's Threats and Stop Breaches Using AWS

CrowdStrike Helps the State of Arizona Stay Ahead of Today's Threats and Stop Breaches Using AWS

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

Falcon Endpoint Protection Platform
Falcon OverWatch
Falcon Spotlight
Falcon Discover

Tech Stack

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)
Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS)
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)
Amazon EMR
Amazon GuardDuty

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Customer Satisfaction
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Endpoint Security
Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security
Cybersecurity & Privacy - Security Compliance

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Intrusion Detection Systems
Remote Asset Management

Services

System Integration
Training

About The Customer

The Arizona Department of Homeland Security is a state government agency responsible for administering and managing resources related to terrorism prevention and other critical hazards. The department, in collaboration with the Arizona Department of Administration, created the Cyber Command team to protect the devices used by state employees. This team consists of 12 cybersecurity personnel tasked with safeguarding laptops, desktops, mobile phones, and tablets. The Cyber Command team plays a crucial role in ensuring the security of the state's digital infrastructure, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when many employees began working remotely. The team is responsible for implementing and managing cybersecurity solutions to protect against cyber threats and unauthorized behavior.

The Challenge

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of Arizona faced a significant challenge in securing remote work capabilities for thousands of state employees. The Cyber Command team, responsible for protecting state devices, needed to quickly implement a robust cybersecurity solution to manage threats against remote endpoints. The existing protection was set to expire, and there was a pressing need to transition to a new system without cost overruns. Additionally, the team required a solution that could provide near-real-time responses to cyber threats and support a small security operations team managing security for thousands of employees. The team also needed to address vulnerabilities related to recent supply chain security events and ensure the security of devices connected to public internet providers.

The Solution

To address the cybersecurity challenges, the Cyber Command team engaged AWS Advanced Partner CrowdStrike to implement a multitenant endpoint detection and response solution. The team selected CrowdStrike's Falcon Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) and Falcon OverWatch managed threat hunting solution. These solutions provided 24/7 support for the security operations center, a single dashboard for monitoring and controlling the system, and near-real-time response to security threats. The deployment included the use of Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure, such as Amazon EC2 for compute capacity and Amazon EBS for storage. CrowdStrike's Falcon engine, powered by a lightweight agent, was rapidly deployed to endpoints without requiring a reboot. The solution also included access to CrowdStrike University for training and monthly technology acceptance model talks. By the October 2020 deadline, CrowdStrike had successfully migrated 80% of Arizona's state agencies to the new system.

Operational Impact

The implementation of CrowdStrike's Falcon Endpoint Protection Platform allowed the Cyber Command team to detect anomalies on devices and remediate them quickly.
The solution proved successful against third-party penetration tests and alerted the team to malicious activity.
Consolidating vendors under CrowdStrike and procuring the solution through AWS Marketplace provided considerable cost savings and freed up funds for other security projects.
CrowdStrike's managed detection-and-response system caught instances of malware and unauthorized behavior, preventing potential threats from spreading throughout the organization.
The collaboration with CrowdStrike enabled the Cyber Command team to share best practices with other state government agencies and extend coverage to smaller communities.

Quantitative Benefit

CrowdStrike's solution facilitated near-real-time response to cyber threats.
The solution provided 24/7 one-on-one support for the security operations center.
CrowdStrike successfully migrated 80% of Arizona's state agencies by the October 2020 deadline.