Signal Sciences > Case Studies > Prezi: Enhancing Cloud-Based Platform Security with Power Rules

Prezi: Enhancing Cloud-Based Platform Security with Power Rules

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Databases
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Electrical Grids
National Security & Defense

Use Cases

Tamper Detection
Traffic Monitoring

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation platform that serves over 100 million users. The company has experienced tremendous growth, which led to the need for a more efficient and effective web application firewall. Prezi's primary goal was to have a WAF with enterprise-grade detection and reaction capabilities. They needed a solution that could automatically and reliably detect attack patterns on web traffic without causing unnecessary distractions and provide integrations to gain advanced insights. Prezi's team required a solution that was easy to integrate into their existing infrastructure and could meet their privacy, security, and availability requirements.

The Challenge

Prezi, a cloud-based presentation platform with over 100 million users, was facing a significant challenge due to its rapid growth. The company was seeking to replace an existing, labor-intensive tool with a new web application firewall (WAF) to provide automated, accurate protection for their web applications. Prior to this, Prezi used an open source IDS/IPS solution. As a cloud-based platform, Prezi’s primary goal was to have a WAF with enterprise-grade detection and reaction capabilities. They needed a solution that could automatically and reliably detect attack patterns on web traffic without the noise (hundreds of notifications to matches on RegEX signatures) and provide integrations to gain advanced insights.

The Solution

Signal Sciences provided an immediate solution to Prezi's challenge by offering application-specific protection via Power Rules. This solution was easy to integrate and met Prezi's privacy, security, and availability requirements at an architectural level. Signal Sciences’ flexible architecture easily fit into Prezi’s infrastructure, enabling Prezi’s team to integrate into their SIEM via APIs and build in more effective monitoring. Signal Sciences' automated alerting system and filters helped Prezi’s security and operations teams save time by reducing manual work, thereby increasing productivity. Furthermore, Signal Sciences improved the overall reaction to DoS and DDoS scenarios across security and developers. With Signal Sciences, Prezi’s security team was able to empower their developers to react faster under any scenario. Power Rules allowed Prezi to trigger actions based on any part of the HTTP request, which, along with the integration to the SIEM, enabled them to set up custom rules as additional detective controls to identify and react to application-specific suspicious actions.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Signal Sciences' solution led to several operational benefits for Prezi. The solution's easy integration into Prezi's existing infrastructure meant that the team could continue to work without significant disruptions. The automated alerting system and filters reduced manual work, leading to increased productivity among Prezi’s security and operations teams. The solution also improved the overall reaction to DoS and DDoS scenarios across security and developers, enabling Prezi’s security team to empower their developers to react faster under any scenario. The ability to set up custom rules as additional detective controls to identify and react to application-specific suspicious actions provided an additional layer of security for Prezi's platform.

Quantitative Benefit