Accrete Inc. is an artificial intelligence company that specializes in a variety of sectors. Its wide range of products supports government, entertainment, financial services, and consumer packaged goods. The company has established a reputation for its innovative supply chain analysis and social media aggregation solutions.
Peter Bierfeldt, the Chief Information Security Officer, oversees the security of the company’s intellectual property, customer data, and overall reputation. He shared how working with governmental and other high-risk clients requires a focus on layered security and how Accrete Inc. achieved it using NordLayer.
The challenge
Securing cloud environments for high-risk data clients
Accrete’s unique position in the market, dealing with sensitive government contracts and a global workforce, posed significant cybersecurity challenges.
The company works with a diverse range of clients, including the US Department of Defense. This requires them to follow stringent security standards like FedRAMP and NIST 800-171.
Click to tweet“We knew it’s a good practice to have a VPN solution in place to have everybody enter our client cloud network through an allowlisted IP, whether you're talking AWS GovCloud or AWS commercial production.”
The primary concern was securing a virtual, cloud-based network environment against potential threat actors, particularly in high-risk countries.
Click to tweet“We are a virtual company with no on-premise network. We don't have anything like that. We are 100% in the cloud, and protecting that cloud is really, really important.”
Additionally, Accrete faced challenges in managing a globally dispersed team with offices in the U.S. states and India, requiring secure and reliable access to the network from various locations worldwide.
The solution
Combining multiple security functionalities for the best result
Accrete Inc. chose NordLayer as their cybersecurity partner, transitioning from their previous VPN provider.
Click to tweet“Accrete Inc. needed one more piece of the puzzle for getting into our network, an additional layer of security that you can put in place to protect your production and entire network.”
The company’s network security combines layers of different capabilities and functionalities. It includes virtual private gateways, IP allowlisting, SSO and MFA implementation, strong passwords, and antivirus protection. Thus, it must have been not only just a VPN but a solution that does more.
Click to tweet“Our old VPN didn’t do anything beyond being a VPN. We looked for a solution that secures the network when connected to untrusted Wi-Fi and is reliable regarding performance.”
As Peter notes, different from free tools, the company is paying for the service to protect their information. Having government customers dealing with financial services and insurance, Accrete Inc. must ensure that nobody’s snooping on their traffic, and with a company like NordLayer, they don’t have to worry about it.
Why choose NordLayer
NordLayer was selected for its robust VPN solutions, global points of presence, and seamless integration with existing systems like Okta SSO providers.
Click to tweet“Our clients must know that we don’t relax our security. An outage and going down temporarily is an issue with high-sensitivity data, but with failover, we don’t need to worry about it.”
One of the main objectives for Accrete Inc. was to establish a failover in case of an outage. Deploying at least two private servers ensured high service availability. This approach means security isn't compromised, even if one of the virtual gateways flatlines for a few minutes.
A solid mesh of security and business continuity measures established with the NordLayer tool
The key reasons for this choice were:
NordLayer's global network infrastructure provided low-latency, secure connections for their international team, which was particularly beneficial for the office in Mumbai.
The ability to establish failover systems ensured uninterrupted access and network resilience.
NordLayer’s reputation for reliability and security compliance aligned with Accrete’s needs for protecting sensitive government-related data.
The ease of onboarding and user-friendly nature of NordLayer’s services minimized IT overhead and facilitated smooth integration into Accrete's operations.
The outcome
Complete team protection to enable full network security
Implementing NordLayer resulted in a strengthened cybersecurity posture for Accrete Inc. The new system enhanced network security without compromising on performance, even for remote and international team members.
Accrete Inc. added VPN gateways to cover both the United States and India, supporting all staff. VPN usage mitigates the risk of leakage of even relatively benign information like email addresses and user names.
Click to tweet“Investing in 100% user coverage in the organization makes sense. When people get used to using the VPN, it limits network exposure and mitigates the impact of compromise to our network even if an endpoint is compromised.”
Accrete Inc. successfully met the compliance requirements for their government contracts and ensured the integrity of their intellectual property and customer data. FedRAMP requires that only trusted devices access the network. By combining allowlisting via the VPN to access the network via Okta, Accrete Inc. was able to address several FedRAMP controls.
Click to tweet“NordLayer plays very nicely with Okta. It integrated well with the onboarding process, making it easy and simple as we’ve got other systems with much more overhead and hand-holding.”
The shift also demonstrated a commitment to utilizing leading-edge technology solutions to address complex security challenges.
Pro cybersecurity tips
We talk with our clients not only to learn their experience using NordLayer but also to understand how cybersecurity experts perceive online security. Thus, we asked the Chief Information Security Officer at Accrete Inc. to share his personal favorite tips for building digital hygiene habits.
Accrete Inc. is a perfect example of how a layered approach to security can ease and improve your network protection journey. NordLayer is a solution that takes granular control of establishing different security measures, so they create a robust mesh against digital threats.
