The business
Our client is a West Coast-based maker of security screening equipment, part of a publicly listed group with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Its equipment protects airports and other secure sites around the world. Its mission is to keep people safe without slowing them down, in every market it serves.
The challenge
Meeting every market's security standards, without slowing screening
Standards in every market
Each country and airport sets its own security requirements, and the products must meet them before a site goes live.
Fast scans, no delays
A primary scan must finish in 6 seconds and secondary screening in 20, with large images kept for at least 48 hours.
Sites set up by hand
Servers were built, patched and configured one site at a time, which slowed each new rollout.
Different rules for IT and equipment
Office systems and the equipment network followed different security rules, and the engineering lab runs with no internet access.
The solution
What we delivered
- One security baselineSince 2023
- Automated server buildsDone
- Embedded operationsOngoing
- One security baseline for IT and equipment
- Every server scanned, fixed and checked against an industry security benchmark, with multi-factor sign-in, managed passwords, encryption and the client's own certificate authority.
- Automated server builds
- Standard server images and infrastructure written as code, so each new site is set up the same secure way. The client's team now extends it, using the guide we wrote with them.
- Monitoring in the engineering lab
- Monitoring that runs inside the lab with no internet connection, so problems are seen early.
- An embedded operations partner
- Weekly reviews with the client's team, fast fixes for critical security flaws between regular updates, and frontline support during production incidents.
Results
The outcomes
Secured to one standard
Every in-scope server meets the same verified baseline, with an audit trail for each control.
To fix a critical flaw
Critical security flaws are fixed within 48 hours, between regular updates.
Faster server builds
New sites are set up from standard images and code, with far less hands-on work.
Second windows kept
Screening stays as fast as before, so security never slows passengers.
What’s next
Certificates that renew automatically, servers set up from code and managed patching, so the same secure model can roll out to more sites and business units.