Bowman & Company LLP chose Airlock Digital application control and allowlisting to protect its people, business and clients from cybersecurity threats.
About Bowman & Company LLP
Bowman & Company LLP is one of the largest accounting firms in the Delaware Valley and the largest CPA firm in Southern New Jersey, with more than 100 dedicated professionals.
Learn more about Bowman & Company LLP by visiting www.bowman.cpa.
Challenge
The organization wanted to upgrade from an on-premises allowlisting product to a cloud-based application control and allowlisting solution with superior functionality at a competitive price point.
Approach
Bowman & Company LLP asked CrowdStrike to recommend application control and allowlisting solutions that integrated with its EDR product. CrowdStrike put forward Airlock Digital and the accounting firm conducted a comprehensive evaluation of its features and functionality.
Result
After integrating Airlock Digital into its cybersecurity stack, Bowman & Company LLP was able to minimize cyber risk, including blocking malware and ransomware.
“The solution’s price met our needs, it was cloud-based and its agents had lean resource requirements.”
Kevin Kraft, IT Director and Chief Information Security Officer, Bowman & Company LLP
Benefits to Bowman & Company LLP
With Airlock Digital application control and allowlisting, Bowman & Company LLP has:
Protected its business, its people, and its clients from cybersecurity threats such as ransomware
Reduced the lean IT team’s allowlisting workload to just 15 minutes per day to review block data and add new applications to policy
Accelerated troubleshooting and issues management with client-side logging
The Customer
Established in 1939 and headquartered in New Jersey, United States, Bowman & Company LLP provides public accounting and audit services to commercial and public sector organizations.
The firm relies on an effective cybersecurity stack, policies and processes to protect sensitive client data including bank account and credit card statements, payroll listings and tax returns.
The Challenge
In 2015, Bowman & Company LLP ramped up efforts to explore application control and allowlisting. In response to an increase in ransomware and other threats, the firm deployed an on-premises allowlisting and network EDR suite.
When Bowman & Company LLP opted to move these capabilities to the cloud, the firm found its incumbent vendor lacked mature and cost-effective cloud offerings. It decided to transition to a CrowdStrike cloud EDR and anti-malware product.
The firm’s team asked CrowdStrike to recommend an application control and allowlisting solution that integrated smoothly with its product, and Airlock Digital was recommended.
The Approach
An evaluation and POC on a select number of endpoints found Airlock Digital to best fit the needs for Bowman & Company LLP. It blocked unapproved applications, files and processes, and log data enabled the IT team to easily identify malware and determine what applications or files should be allowlisted.
“In addition, the solution’s price met our needs, it was cloud-based and its agents had lean resource requirements,” explained Kevin Kraft, IT Director and Chief Information Security Officer, Bowman & Company LLP.
With Airlock Digital, the Bowman & Company LLP IT team was able to identify the files and dependencies that comprised a single application package, approve them, and ‘bulk add’ them to its allowlist.
Furthermore, Kraft was able to set up a secured group of technicians to provide exceptions through one-time passwords (OTPs) on a self-service basis, further reducing the administrative burden on the IT team.
The firm decided to purchase the Airlock Digital solution in mid-2021 and migrated the profiles created during the POC directly into its production tenant. The solution now runs on Windows utility and end-user endpoints, including servers, desktops including shared-use workstations, conference room equipment, and employee and contractor laptops. The Airlock Digital agent is also running efficiently in virtual desktop environments.
The Result
Airlock Digital application control and allowlisting is integrated into an effective security stack that includes CrowdStrike and other leading vendors, positioning the firm to minimize cyber risk and stave off ransomware and malware.
The solution enables Bowman & Company LLP’s lean IT team to minimize the time and resources dedicated to application control and allowlisting.
After completing initial onboarding activities including creating policies to match run-of-business applications and files, the team spends only about 15 minutes a day checking the solution console for blocking data.
The Bowman & Company LLP IT team is now able to combine proactive allowlisting in cases such as application updates with workflows that require users to request an application be added to the firm’s allowlist.
Kraft lists his favorite feature of the Airlock Digital solution as client-side logging, “Rather than working through an administration console, we can simply open an agent to view block events,” he said. “This helps us troubleshoot issues faster and more effectively.”
Enhancing cybersecurity training
With the solution delivering granular visibility of user activity, Bowman & Company LLP is adapting its cybersecurity training to better protect people, data, and the firm.
Bowman & Company LLP now expects its cyber risk profile to remain unchanged as it executes its expansion strategy.
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