Safeguarding non-profit fundraising and beneficiaries in Poland

This highly respected Polish charity organises two major events every year: a one-day winter fundraiser with thousands of events taking place nationwide and a free festival to thank its donors in the summer. With events watched and attended by millions of people, there’s no margin for error. The organisation needs to proactively identify and stop advanced cyberattacks targeting the network and connected devices. With an IT team of just two people, that can be a real challenge.

This customer is a large Polish non-governmental charity organisation, raising money for paediatric and elderly care by means of an annual fundraising concert.

The event comprises multiple fundraising activities, involving both physical and electronic collection of donations. This demands rigorous information protocol (IP) security. However, with just two staff responsible for data security, that’s a real challenge.

“As a recognisable Polish brand, we are exposed to threats,” explains a spokesperson. “The challenge is to ensure that our employees are safe and able to work, without the fear of being hacked or data being breached. In the case of the fund-raising event, we can’t change the date if something happens – everything has to take place on a given day.”

The organisation’s IT infrastructure comprises several servers, 70 users, and storage for video content. Complexity arises in the connectivity: providing virtual private network (VPN) access for staff working remotely, together with connections to event locations like TV studios and third-party organisations supporting the events. With so few resources, the organisation needs a reliable, robust, and automated infrastructure to ensure continual operation.

The network security requirements were to:

• Enable the two-person team to manage IT security for the live music events.
• Ensure complete visibility and control over data, people, and devices – wherever they reside.
• Block threats in real time. Provide secure, straightforward connectivity for people working at event sites and other locations.

The non-profit has standardised on a state-of-the-art network security platform from Palo Alto Networks. The PA-1410 Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) provides secure connectivity for the core infrastructure, predictable performance, and unified management.

It natively classifies all traffic, inclusive of applications, threats, and content, tying that traffic to the user regardless of location or device type. The application, content, and user then serve as the basis of security policies, resulting in improved security posture and reduced incident response time.

“The firewall is located at our headquarters and is the primary interface between the network and the IT infrastructure. It provides VPN access for all our employees,” says the spokesperson.

For the annual live event, the staff mostly migrate from the office to the event site. “This is where the CloudDelivered Security Services are really useful. GlobalProtect, for example, protects our mobile people by extending the firewall platform to everyone, regardless of location.”

Advanced Threat Prevention, Advanced URL Filtering, and DNS Security are also important. A large proportion of staff need internet access, so services to keep them secure on an ongoing basis are invaluable.

Complete security visibility and control help safeguard data and ensure the live music events take place without fear of data disruption. The benefits include:

• Proactive defence against the most complex threats: Features such as Layer 7 inspection, machine learning, and behavioural analysis help maintain rigorous security and prevent cyberattacks. “With Palo Alto Networks, we can target and filter traffic very precisely, which is very useful when sharing specific data with partner organisations, like event sites or medical facilities,” says the spokesperson.
• Streamlined security management: Centralised management, configuration, and visibility through Panorama network security management, in one unified user interface, enables just two people to manage cybersecurity.
• Secure mobility: Staff can connect quickly, easily, and securely to the network, allowing seamless remote working at music locations.
• Advanced threats are detected and prevented: Integrated Cloud-Delivered Security Services (CDSS) coordinate intelligence and protect against threats while eliminating coverage gaps across locations.

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