INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security

Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team has adopted the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange , a cloud-native security platform , to safeguard its users , applications and data across its global operations and rally stages worldwide .

Based in Jyväskylä , Finland , the highperformance , competition-oriented company constantly evolves technologies beyond world-level rallying for innovations for the automotive industry .

TGR-WRT runs major programmes for the World Rally Championship , Customer Motorsport and Young Driver Development . As the organisation operates in extreme and often remote locations across the globe , enabling secure , high-performance access to the Internet and private applications was a major challenge for the IT team .

TGR-WRT connects to a combined 100 services , encompassing file storage , SaaS applications , private custom applications for their sensitive engineering and testing data . The fast-growing organisation realised that its traditional security infrastructure , consisting of VPNs and firewalls , was neither agile nor secure enough to serve its needs . When TGR-WRT adopted a cloud-first strategy as part of its push for modernisation , the organisation was also looking for more efficient connectivity for its users on the rally stages and in branch offices , with an improved security posture through a Zero Trust approach .

The security team began its Zero Trust journey by collaborating with Mintly , a Finnish technology integrator , who recommended Zscaler to meet TGR-WRT ’ s unique requirements . After a successful proof of concept , TGR-WRT worked closely with Mintly to deploy the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform on a tight schedule .

The comprehensive cloud-native Zero Trust security platform now enables fast , secure connections between users , branches , applications , and workloads , anywhere and on any device . It acts as a switchboard , connecting users directly to applications and other resources – not to the network – thereby reducing the attack surface and eliminating the risk of lateral movement .

“ Zscaler is one of the best decisions we have made ,” said Riku Nykänen , Information Security Officer at TGR-WRT . “ The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange simplifies our security architecture . It ’ s at the core of our protection for all network traffic from our on-premises and cloud servers and the laptops and mobile devices that our teams use at rallies , test events , airports and homes around the world . This comprehensive security platform makes our users happy because it is easy to use and gives them seamless , uninterrupted connectivity . It makes a difference in our races where every tenth of a second counts .”

During a rally , it is critical to get data packages as quickly as possible from cars to all relevant persons so it can be analysed for optimising the performance and reliability of the vehicles . With the help of Zscaler , TGR-

WRT built an environment where this highly sensitive data can be sent seamlessly and securely across these different locations .

TGR-WRT deployed Zscaler for Users with Zscaler Internet Access ( ZIA ) to grant users Zero Trust access to the Internet and SaaS applications from anywhere and on any device .

ZIA brokers secure connections between users and applications based on identity , context and business policies . With TLS / SSL traffic inspection and AI-powered defences , it protects all users across various stages of the attack chain to prevent compromise , eliminate lateral movement of threats and prevent data loss .

Additionally , TGR-WRT replaced its unreliable VPN with Zscaler Private Access ( ZPA ) for seamless and secure access to private applications from any device and location . Zscaler Digital Experience ( ZDX ) enables the TGR-WRT help-desk team to detect usability issues , pinpoint root causes and act swiftly to remediate problems to ensure a superior user experience .

The organisation also relies on Zscaler Zero Trust SD-WAN ’ s direct-to-cloud architecture to forward traffic from service parks and headquarters via a branch connector directly to the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform for secure access to applications and the Internet .

This further reduces complexity of the architecture and adds another layer of data protection by eliminating site-to-site VPNs . In the near future , TGR-WRT plans to implement the Zscaler Client Connector app to provide consistent security and faster connectivity for users at rally locations who depend on mobile phones and tablets . p

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