Client Overview:
Aruma is Australia’s largest disability services provider, they provide support for individuals with disabilities across Australia’s east-coast, Aruma relies heavily on secure access to patient data and healthcare systems. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they needed a reliable solution to support remote work for their employees while ensuring continuous patient care.
The Challenge:
As the pandemic forced Aruma to rapidly transition to remote work, they faced several significant challenges:
- Unsecure Remote Access: Their existing VPN solution could not scale to accommodate the sudden increase in remote employees, leaving the network vulnerable.
- Rising Security Risks: With sensitive patient data being accessed from various locations, ensuring robust security was critical, especially with a rise in cyberattacks during the pandemic.
- Compliance Needs: The company needed to maintain HIPAA compliance to protect patient confidentiality and avoid legal issues.
- Limited Scalability and Performance: The existing VPN struggled with performance issues, and the infrastructure was not designed to support a large, distributed workforce.
- Management Difficulties: Monitoring and securing remote connections became complex, requiring centralized visibility and control.
The Solution:
Sydco Networks recommended and deployed Palo Alto GlobalProtect VPN to address these challenges. Key components included:
- Scalable Remote Access: GlobalProtect enabled over 1,000 employees to securely access Aruma’s healthcare systems and patient data from any location, ensuring continuity of care.
- Zero Trust Security: This model enforced strict user authentication and continuous monitoring, ensuring only authorized individuals could access sensitive data.
- End-to-End Encryption: All traffic was encrypted, securing the transmission of patient data and ensuring HIPAA compliance.
- Integrated Threat Prevention: Advanced features like firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and URL filtering protected the network from cyber threats, and was now extended to employee’s working remotely.
Results:
The deployment of Palo Alto GlobalProtect VPN provided the following benefits:
- Enhanced Security: The Zero Trust model, multi-factor authentication, and end-to-end encryption ensured sensitive patient data was secure and HIPAA-compliant.
- Seamless Remote Access: Healthcare professionals and administrative staff could access critical applications and patient data from any location, ensuring uninterrupted care during the pandemic.
- Scalability: The solution was easily scalable to support over 3,000 remote workers and could quickly adapt to future increases in remote work needs.
- Regulatory Compliance: Aruma met their regulatory requirements, safeguarding patient confidentiality while supporting remote work.
- Improved User Experience: Remote workers enjoyed a consistent, high-quality experience, which helped improve productivity and satisfaction.
Conclusion:
By deploying GlobalProtect VPN, Aruma was able to rapidly transition to a secure and scalable remote work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The solution enhanced security, ensured regulatory compliance, and provided seamless access to critical systems, allowing Aruma to continue delivering essential care to patients while protecting sensitive data.
