GP Strategies Corporation Employs the Secunia Corporate Software Inspector (CSI) to Eliminate 3rd Party Software Vulnerabilities

GP Strategies Corporation is a leading B2B provider of sales and technical training, e-learning and management consultancy, and engineering services. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, GP Strategies’ expertise spans nearly 50 years delivering innovative solutions for global performance improvement across multiple sectors, including government, finance, aerospace, energy, food & beverage, and others.

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To securely drive superior performance measures for its global customers, and maintain its diverse product and service offering, GP Strategies chose to upgrade IT security systems companywide. The IT department wanted greater visibility of 3rd party software vulnerabilities for their 2,400 workstations, and lacked an efficient method for patching vulnerable applications such as Java and Acrobat once identified.

GP Strategies’ patch management was implemented through Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), which supplied IT with a basic inventory of 3rd party applications. Administrators needed more information to better understand the security context of threats and access criticality levels for patching vulnerabilities.

“Using only the SCCM inventory, we had maybe a couple of cases in the past where we could deploy an application update, but that was about the best we could do. Without the security context, we couldn’t do anything on a patch level,” said Josh Gardner, Network Administrator at GP Strategies.

Operating worldwide, GP Strategies sought a vulnerability and patch management solution that could ultimately save time — through smooth integration with their Microsoft Security suite — and simplify their patching process with easy access to a comprehensive database of 3rd party applications.

Business Challenge

CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORYENERGY AND UTILITIES

PSI for AndroidZero-DayVulnerability Support

Patch Configuration Smart Groups 2.0SC2012 Plugin 2.0

GP Strategies required a cost-effective software solution that could provide both visibility and security context for vulnerabilities in its 3rd party applications. After evaluating other market solutions, they selected Secunia’s Corporate Software Inspector (CSI) as their vulnerability and patch management solution.

The CSI solution was an easy choice for GP Strategies’ IT. Administrator Josh Gardner and others in his team had years of experience using Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector (PSI) at home. Positive discussions about the PSI’s 3rd party vulnerability protection led them to discover Secunia’s corporate solution, and its strong reputation in the IT community.

The CSI’s smooth integration with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager ensured IT a balanced work load without introducing additional complexity. “Integration with the CSI is really seamless. I know a lot of companies out there that

have to use SCUP for integration. There are other tools too, but man it’s painful. With Secunia, you can eliminate that middleware,” said Josh Gardner.

With the Secunia CSI, IT could swiftly locate and patch all Windows and 3rd party applications and provide accurate reporting within the 30-day policy required by GP Strategies’ high security clientele, which include many Fortune 500 companies. IT saved significant time, gaining the ability to patch one application in 5 minutes on average, and reducing their patching operations to a nominal 30 minutes per month.

GP Strategies’ patching processes were reinforced by Secunia’s comprehensive vulnerability database packed with 3rd party application data, and Secunia’s responsive support center and active community forum for questions. As an unexpected benefit, IT was also able to detect and patch lesser known programs inherited from company acquisitions of previous years.

GP Strategies Corporation has considerably improved its IT security, saved critical work time, and attained greater visibility and control of threats in their 3rd party applications using Secunia CSI for vulnerability and patch management.

With Secunia’s CSI, GP Strategies operates with a notably simplified and rapid software patching process, at the same time, remaining compliant for all patching activities required by its high security clients. The CSI’s intuitive use, and seamless integration with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager spare significant service hours for IT.

IT specialists are backed by Secunia’s vulnerability database, with in-depth vulnerability data for 3rd party applications, and Secunia’s active support team and community forum.

GP Strategies now has a comprehensive view of their software environment, custom reporting, and the security context needed to categorize criticality levels and effectively eliminate vulnerabilities in its 3rd party applications. IT can also focus more attention on other security measures, knowing the CSI solution is working hard to keep their systems secure.

Results

Solution

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• Industry-proven IT security protection • Comprehensive vulnerability database & scanning• Smooth integration with Microsoft System Center

Configuration Manager (SCCM)• Greater visibility of the software environment, and

deep knowledge of security context for vulnerabilities• Swift discovery, criticality assessment, and patching of

vulnerabilities in 3rd party applications • Increased effectiveness for patch management

processes • • Significant time savings for IT• On-call Secunia IT support and community forum

The Secunia CSI provides: