Maclay Murray & Spens LLP chooses LogRhythm for comprehensive data security

UK News

08
Jan
2013

Editor

Legal firm raises the bar on compliance and data protection

LogRhythm, the leader in cyber threat defence, detection and response, today announced that Maclay Murray & Spens LLP (MMS), one of Scotland's largest commercial law firms, has chosen to deploy its integrated log management and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) technology to boost cyber security and compliance throughout the organisation.  

This advanced Protective Monitoring covers MMS’ Active Directory Servers and generates actionable intelligence that both ensures compliance with auditor requirements and influences future investment and business decisions.

Founded in Glasgow, MMS was the first law firm in Scotland with a specifically commercial practice, and has since expanded its operations to London, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.  Following advice from its auditor, MMS recognised a need to improve the way that audit log data was harvested. Though the requirement was simply to collect this data across its live IT estate, MMS sought a more comprehensive solution that would improve overall network visibility and help the company add context to the vast amount of data that was generated daily. 

MMS worked with Bridgeway Security Solutions, a consultative information security reseller, to identify the vendors with the most appropriate technology solutions.  Together, the companies coordinated trial installations of LogRhythm and two competing products – however, the competitors proved unable to meet the specific needs of MMS as it specifically sought an easy-to-use product on a Windows platform, with SIEM capabilities that would seamlessly integrate into the existing IT environment.

“During the trial phase, we found that LogRhythm was the only vendor to tick all of our boxes – with a user-friendly interface and strong data analytics built into the product,” said Crawford Hawley-Groat, Director of IT at MMS.  “The sensitivity of the data that we handle means we must be able to verify and validate data protection best practise.  The platform gives us all of the capabilities required to meet the requirements set out by our auditors, and more.  We are particularly pleased with the additional SIEM functionality that LogRhythm delivers – as our ultimate aim was to go beyond check-box compliance and find a solution that would offer continuous protection for the data within our network.” 

Since its installation, the LogRhythm platform has enabled MMS to satisfy its auditing criteria, as well as to improve change management across its key servers.  The company is currently looking at options to expand the reach of the platform across the business.

“With LogRhythm, log data is not only harvested across the live estate – it is converted into actual business intelligence that gives us unparalleled insight into all activity across our network,” continued Hawley-Groat.  “We can now understand all log-on and log-off data, and any anomalous events, configuration changes or account modifications can be instantly identified and remediated if they point to a broader attack on the system.  In this respect, LogRhythm’s solution is much more powerful and comprehensive than we ever expected.”

“MMS is a great example of a business that strives to go the extra mile in order to ensure the utmost protection of confidential data,” said Ross Brewer, vice president and managing director International Markets, LogRhythm.  “While many enterprises may be inclined to install the most basic security tools just to achieve compliance in certain areas of the business, MMS has demonstrated a great sense of responsibility in selecting a feature-rich platform that will go much deeper into its network, and offer constant insight into security threats affecting the entire IT environment.  With security threats evolving at such a rapid pace, this is becoming the only way to keep data protected now – and well into the future.”