t cht lk in a measurement period , to under five hours ,” said Rogers . “ This is almost a 94 % drop .”
CrowdStrike protects the university ’ s hybrid environment , securing Microsoft Azure and additional AWS services , as well as the numerous physical servers and connected devices . CrowdStrike consultants customised existing protocols and interfaces to enable the Falcon modules to seamlessly integrate with physical and virtual firewalls and network segmentation security methods that were already in place .
“ Very soon after going live we were hit by a string of zero-day attacks ,” said Rogers . “ CrowdStrike identified the threats and isolated the impacted machines in a matter of minutes . Prior to Falcon , this would have knocked us offline for multiple days .”
Moving the needle
As befitting Coventry University ’ s reputation as a global and transformational educator , Rogers and his team operate within a comprehensive metrics framework that tracks key parameters relating to the performance and effectiveness of the security infrastructure .
“ The visibility we have now is a powerful asset in keeping the university secure ,” said Rogers . “ We ’ re able to use the detailed reports to show our senior
management team threat and risk levels across the entire environment . In addition , we utilise these accurate metrics to create a compelling business case to ensure that we can secure the appropriate levels of investment to continue protecting the university .”
People make the difference
One of Rogers ’ team ’ s biggest challenges was having an unmanageable workload . “ With CrowdStrike now handling key aspects of our security responsibilities , we ’ re able to focus on being proactive across both the security and infrastructure domains ,” he said . “ And rather than having to ask team members to work unsociable hours , CrowdStrike ’ s 24 / 7 support desk provides us with the reassurance that everything will get appropriately handled . Everyone is happier .”
“ Many vendors in the security space are just anonymous , faceless organisations , but with CrowdStrike , we ’ ve come to know the people we work with ,” Rogers continued . “ They ’ ve become an extension of our workforce and the way we do business .”
For Rogers , the impact of CrowdStrike has been significant . “ CrowdStrike is a crucial long-term partner for Coventry University ,” he said . “ It may sound clichéd , but knowing that the university ’ s infrastructure is protected gives us peace of mind and lets us sleep well at night .” p
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