Aerospace Leader Retains Full Data Custody and Control with Symmetry Systems
ABOUT
Industry:
Aviation and Aerospace, Government
Size:
10K+ employees
Cloud Services:
AWS CloudTrail, AWS RDS, AWS S3, Google Cloud
ABOUT CUSTOMER
As one of only 77 aeronautical and space agencies around the world, this Aerospace Leader handles both critical mission and research data and invaluable intellectual property that is crucial to national interests and global competitiveness.
The Challenge
This Aerospace Leader faced critical data security challenges as they sought to modernize their IT infrastructure and application deployment model while maintaining the utmost confidentiality of their sensitive information. As one of only 77 aeronautical and space agencies around the world, they handle both critical mission and research data and invaluable intellectual property that is crucial to national interests and global competitiveness.
Their stringent security protocols dictate that third-party vendors cannot access sensitive data without proper clearance and rigorous assurance processes, creating a complex environment for implementing new technologies. The Aerospace Leader ‘s concerns are well-founded, given the high stakes involved in protecting their research and development efforts. Their cutting-edge work represents not only billions of local currency in investment but also a strategic advantage over hostile nation states.. The threat of economic espionage looms large.
The Goal
The Aerospace Leader’s foremost requirement was to ensure that no data ever left the trusted confines of their organization’s infrastructure. This was simply a non-negotiable condition extending equally to all meta-data. Equally important was the goal of restricting external parties from accessing their data, thereby addressing stringent compliance requirements and mitigating the risk of data exposure.
The Aerospace Leader sought a solution that could provide comprehensive data protection, discovery, and monitoring capabilities while operating entirely within their air-gapped environment.
Specifically, they aimed to achieve:
- Comprehensive discovery and classification of sensitive data across their entire infrastructure
- In-depth analysis of identity and access entitlements to ensure proper data governance
- Real-time monitoring of data activity to detect potential insider threats or unauthorized access
- Automated assessment of their security posture with actionable insights for improvement
All of these goals needed to be accomplished without any external connections or third-party access, maintaining the integrity of their air-gapped environment while significantly bolstering their data security capabilities.
The Choice
Symmetry was selected for its unique deployment model, which distinguishes it from all other DSPM vendors. Symmetry’s standard approach ensures that no data leaves the Aerospace Leader’s controlled environment and restricts access via easily configurable Zero Trust Network Authentication. In addition, Symmetry’s ease of deployment using container registry services allows modern dev-ops teams to deploy Symmetry in any environment without hand holding by Symmetry.
This combination of factors were indicative that Symmetry could operate entirely within an air-gapped setting – a capability no other DSPM vendor claimed to offer. Additionally, Symmetry’s proven track record in deploying within US FedRAMP environments demonstrated their ability to operate within highly regulated and security-sensitive government settings.
The Outcomes
To validate these claims, the Aerospace Leader conducted a rigorous proof of value over several weeks in advance of a full production deployment. Within this period, Symmetry successfully demonstrated its ability to deploy and operate within an air-gapped environment without any Symmetry engineers touching the environment.
Engineers from the Aerospace Leader independently deployed the solution using container images from a Symmetry-provided registry, establishing all required services within their isolated infrastructure.
Notably, no ingress or egress flows to or from Symmetry occurred within the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). Notably, no ingress or egress flows to or from Symmetry occurred within the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).
Example AWS air-gapped architecture for AWS GovCloud:
This successful trial validated Symmetry’s capacity to deliver comprehensive Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) capabilities in a completely isolated setting.
Key functionalities included:
- Agentless Data Discovery and Classification
- Comprehensive Identity and Entitlements Analysis
- Continuous Data Activity Monitoring with Anomaly Detection
- Automated Security Posture Assessment and Alerting
All these features operated without requiring external access or data transfer, aligning perfectly with the Aerospace Leader’s stringent security protocols and regulatory requirements.
Zero Supply Chain Risk
The air-gapped deployment did not require any Symmetry access to the environment – removing any concerns about unauthorized access through vendor channels.
Verifiable Code
The Aerospace Leader gained the ability to thoroughly inspect and verify all code before deployment – ensuring that only approved and secure code runs in their environment.
Data Compliance & Governance
Symmetry’s solution met and exceeded the Aerospace Leader’s compliance requirements, particularly those related to data isolation and access control. This outcome ensured that they could leverage cutting-edge DSPM capabilities while adhering to the highest standards of regulatory compliance in the aerospace and defense sectors.
And more…
“Vendor is extraordinarily responsive and works closely with the customer to overcome any impediments to implementation.“
ENTERPRISE CYBERSECURITY ARCHITECT
About Symmetry Systems
Symmetry Systems is the industry’s first hybrid cloud data security platform that safeguards data in AWS, GCP, Azure services, and on-premise databases while supporting a data-centric zero trust model. With Symmetry, security and compliance teams can address threats quickly through AI-driven data security posture management (DSPM). Symmetry provides visibility into data risks from excessive permissions and anomalous data flows while giving organizations the evidence required to demonstrate compliance best practices.