Cato Networks - Experts & Thought Leaders
Latest Cato Networks news & announcements
Richard Thorp has been fascinated with aviation since childhood. A self-described “aviation geek,” Thorp is now the Chief Technology Officer at Swissport International AG, where he leads IT infrastructure strategy for the world’s largest ground-handling company, ensuring seamless operations across 276 airports in 45 countries, handling approximately 247 million airline passengers per year, as of the end of 2024. “If we were an airline, we’d actually be the biggest airline in the world in terms of a number of passengers we support and handle,” he says. Security challenges Swissport’s goal is to make a tangible impact on people’s lives by enabling smooth air travel Swissport’s goal is to make a tangible impact on people’s lives by enabling smooth air travel. “If the things we do get people to their destinations safely and on time, then magically, we become more successful and profitable as an organisation,” he says. But casting that spell had been challenging for Swissport. Three years ago, legacy IT leadership at Swissport had overcome network challenges with Cato, but more work was needed to address their security challenges, particularly in securing endpoints. Thorp and Swissport CISO, Giles Ashton-Roberts, joined Swissport in the middle of the Cato deployment. Having deep experience with a legacy zero trust provider, they were skeptical that Cato could meet Swissport’s requirements. Cato platform Over the next 10 months of meetings, investigation, and testing Thorp and Ashton-Roberts challenged Cato, ultimately changing their perspective. “IT is no longer seen as a blocker; it just works,” says Thorp. “I relax a bit more with the Cato platform around. It’s given us holistic way of protecting ourselves today, and a secure foundation for everything we want to do in the future.” The challenges of a global, always-on operation Swissport’s network helps millions of passengers, cargo shipments, and lounges worldwide Swissport’s network supports millions of passengers, cargo shipments, and lounges worldwide. Three years ago, scale was an enormous challenge—ensuring reliable connectivity for operations spanning locations and time zones. The company relied on a mix of MPLS and regional SD-WAN solutions across its now 320+ sites and airport locations. But bandwidth limitations and performance variability impacted many applications, including cloud-based, mission-critical applications. As a result of that complicated network, expanding to new locations was resource-intensive, requiring manual setup and multiple vendor dependencies. Differences between networking tools made troubleshooting inconsistent and time-consuming. The IT team in turn had to maintain expertise in multiple networking technologies, increasing operational overhead. What security inspection existed for unencrypted traffic Visibility was an enormous challenge. With multiple network platforms in place, Swissport’s IT team lacked a centralised view of network performance and security threats. “In the past, working with multiple systems meant inconsistency,” says Thorp. “Different platforms required different configurations, which complicated troubleshooting and made security enforcement a challenge.” Swissport relied on a patchwork of security appliances, including firewalls and web gateways. Remote users are connected through different VPN servers deployed across different regions. The complex appliance stack required manual maintenance and lacked centralised visibility and control. Security patching was manual and error-prone and implementing consistent security policies was practically impossible, weakening Swissport’s security posture. What security inspection existed was relegated to unencrypted traffic due to the well-founded concern that inspecting encrypted traffic could break the application experience that in this case were airline partners’ systems. Finally, the lack of consistent, advanced threat detection worldwide limited Swissport’s ability to detect and stop threats. Visibility differentiates the Cato SASE cloud platform Thorp and the IT team had initially leaned away towards deploying that architecture Recognising these inefficiencies, Swissport’s legacy IT team initiated the Cato relationship, connecting many of the now 320+ sites and instances in AWS and Azure to the Cato SASE Cloud Platform. When Thorp and the new IT leadership joined Swissport, about two-thirds of the connections had been deployed. Having been familiar with a legacy cybersecurity provider, Thorp and the IT team had initially leaned away towards deploying that architecture. Hearing about the value of Cato they decided to have a closer look. “What really drew me to Cato is the visibility the platform provides. It’s incredibly easy to pinpoint connectivity issues, analyse traffic patterns, and secure our network from a single interface,” says Thorp. Cato uniquely stores the metadata of all enterprise traffic crossing the Cato SASE Cloud Platform — whether to the Internet or another location — from all endpoints — in the office and outside of it — in a single data store. This incredible resource provides Cato customers with deep, end-to-end insight into their complete network. Much improved security and a better network With a platform that is resilient, secure, and easy to manage, Swissport has been able to take a more proactive approach to security, streamline IT processes, and ensure a seamless digital experience for employees across the globe. Advanced threat prevention now operates globally and protects against malware and ransomware even in encrypted traffic. “Cato’s TLS Inspection gives us the ability to inspect encrypted traffic while avoiding unintended service disruptions,” says Ashton-Roberts. “It’s been a major improvement to our security posture.” Fine-grained access control through the always-on Cato Client connects remote users to Cato, granting access only to permitted resources. The Cato Client fully implements zero trust principles and operates outside and inside the office under one common policy set. “With Cato, every device—whether in a Swissport office or in an airport lounge—operates under the same set of security policies. That level of consistency wasn’t possible before,” says Ashton-Roberts. Deploying new network sites Cato not only delivers optimised network version worldwide but also makes deploying new networks Access is across the Cato Global Private Backbone built into the Cato SASE Cloud Platform, delivering an exceptional, secure user experience anywhere in the world. Cato not only delivers optimised network performance worldwide but also makes deploying new network sites effortless. “Connecting new airlines or contracts now takes just a few clicks,” says Thorp. Thorp’s team has also dramatically reduced network resolution times. “We recently identified and solved a performance issue in a South African location that would have taken us days before Cato,” says Thorp. “Within 15 minutes, our team identified excessive database traffic, blocked the device, and restored normal operations.” Transforming IT by transforming the infrastructure The transformative impact of the Cato SASE Cloud Platform on the IT team has been profound. Previously, managing multiple networking platforms required maintaining expertise in diverse technologies, creating an operational burden. The IT staff was constantly troubleshooting connectivity issues, manually configuring security appliances, and dealing with inconsistent policies across different locations. The shift to Cato not only simplified management but also allowed the IT team to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives. “Before Cato, we had to maintain different skill sets for different platforms, which spread the team thin. Now, we have one standardised system that allows us to be much more efficient,” Thorp says. Newfound network visibility Swissport has been able to optimise resource allocation and improve overall productivity By consolidating security and networking into a single platform, Swissport has been able to optimise resource allocation and improve overall productivity. The newfound network visibility has also brought a shift from reactive to a proactive IT strategy that has helped the company ensure consistent service delivery across its global operations. “For me, Cato future proofs Swissport’s IT infrastructure,” says Thorp. “The platform constantly evolves, adapts to new technologies, and provides the visibility and security we need to support our business today and tomorrow.” Partnership with Cato proved unique The success of Swissport’s IT transformation was built on more than just technology—it was about forming a strong, collaborative relationship with Cato Networks. From the start, Cato worked closely with Swissport to understand its unique challenges and deliver tailored solutions that addressed its global security and networking needs. “We worked directly with Cato’s product team to enhance capabilities—not just for us, but for all customers,” says Thorp. The success of Swissport’s IT transformation was built on more than just technology Features requested by Swissport were implemented on schedule, unlike other vendors who provided only lip service. Thorp says, “Many vendors say they listen, but Cato actually delivers on what they promise.” This close partnership has given Swissport confidence that its evolving needs will continue to be met as Cato refines its platform. “With Cato, we’re not just another customer; we’re part of a continuous innovation cycle that ensures our IT infrastructure remains future-ready,” says Thorp. “It’s rare to find a vendor so responsive and committed to delivering what they promise.” Looking ahead to the future Swissport IT requirements continue to evolve with Cato remaining a key pillar. “With Cato in place, we know that our network is not the limiting factor in our growth,” Thorp explains. The ongoing partnership between Swissport and Cato ensures that as technology continues to evolve, Swissport’s IT infrastructure remains secure, scalable, and adaptable to the demands of a fast-paced aviation industry. On a personal level, Cato has given Thorp peace of mind. “I relax a bit more with the Cato platform around. It’s given us a holistic way of protecting ourselves today and a secure foundation for everything we want to do in the future. Swissport’s IT leadership now can focus on innovation rather than crisis management.”
Abnormal Security announced the company has been named one of 10 finalists for the RSA Conference 2021 Innovation Sandbox Contest for its breakthrough cloud-native email security platform that stops modern email attacks through behavioural data science. On May 19, Abnormal Security will present its email security platform to a panel of renowned industry judges and a live virtual audience in a three-minute pitch, competing for the coveted title of “Most Innovative Start-Up” at RSA Conference 2021. Behavioural data science Abnormal Security delivers a fundamentally different approach to stopping email attacks that are undetectable Abnormal Security delivers a fundamentally different approach to stopping novel, sophisticated email attacks that are undetectable by legacy secure email gateways. Through one-click API integration with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, the Abnormal platform uniquely leverages behavioural data science to profile and baseline good behavior to detect anomalies and compromised accounts. The Abnormal AI threat detection engine models the identity of both employees and external senders creates relationship graphs and analyses email content to effectively stop targeted socially-engineered attacks. AI-powered detection “Secure email gateways miss advanced email attacks because they lack the typical threat intelligence signals, such as bad reputation, suspicious links, or malicious attachments,” said Evan Reiser, CEO, and co-founder of Abnormal Security. “Our AI-powered detection requires no configuration and delivers results immediately after integration, to block the most sophisticated, targeted, never-before-seen email attacks. Abnormal is serving some of the largest global enterprises and we look forward to the opportunity to show the Innovation Sandbox audience how we uniquely protect them from Business Email Compromise and other targeted email attacks.” RSAC Innovation Sandbox We look forward to hearing about innovative ideas that are sure to combat tomorrow’s cybersecurity threats" Since 2005, the RSAC Innovation Sandbox has served as a platform for the boldest young cybersecurity companies to showcase their groundbreaking technologies and compete for the title of “Most Innovative Startup.” The competition is widely recognised as a catapult for success, as the top 10 finalists have collectively seen over 50 acquisitions and $8.2 billion in funding since the start of the contest. “We are happy to welcome the RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest finalists to our virtual stage and we look forward to hearing about their innovative ideas that are sure to combat tomorrow’s cybersecurity threats,” said Linda Gray Martin, Vice President, RSA Conference. Impact in cybersecurity “For the last 16 years, RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest finalists have gone on to make significant impacts on the world of cybersecurity. We are confident that this year’s finalists will continue the trend with their thought-provoking approaches and will make a lasting impact on the industry.” The RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest kicks off on May 19 at 9:20 AM PT and winners will be announced at 10:45 AM PT that same day. Hugh Thompson, Program Committee Chair of the RSA Conference, will return to host the contest. The renowned panel of expert judges includes Dorit Dor, VP Products, Check Point Software Technologies; Niloo Howe, Principal and Founder, Razi Ventures; Paul Kocher, Security Researcher, and Entrepreneur; Shlomo Kramer, Co-founder, and CEO, Cato Networks; and Christopher Young, Executive Vice President, Microsoft.
Argon, a new security startup securing the modern software delivery process, emerges from stealth mode as the first unified security solution that protects all stages of the continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline and ensures the integrity of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). “The massive effect of the SolarWinds’ IT management software breach that began when hackers compromised one of its software updates, signalled the birth of a new cyberattack surface that organisations are not equipped to defend,” said Eilon Elhadad, CEO, Argon. Strong security posture “Our solution provides full visibility into the development environment and protects our customers from bad actors who seek to plant malicious code or tamper with the native behaviour and uptime of the applications.” Automated software delivery through a CI/CD pipeline process offers application developers a fast and efficient way to develop, build, test, and deploy new software. The CI/CD pipelines use a series of cloud and hosted services and open-source tools which open the organisation’s network to new environments where the source code is copied, moved, and shared. Maintaining a strong security posture in a cloud-native environment requires security and DevOps personnel to have full visibility over the entire environment to mitigate risk. Code-tampering detection technology Argon seamlessly connects to the existing CI/CD pipelines via an agentless implementation and instantly maps the development environment, assets, and user activities. The solution prioritises and automates remediation of alerts according to security best practices and compliance rules, ensuring zero trust deployment. Argon’s code-tampering detection technology performs validity checks on every step of the CI/CD process to confirm no tampering has occurred. “The way companies release software has evolved from a manual, controlled, and timed process to one that is fully automated, distributed, and complex,” said Eylam Milner, CTO, Argon. “Vendors deploy new code on a daily basis, and it’s irrational for them to expect their DevOps and security teams to protect their release pipelines without a dedicated solution.” Accelerating development processes Elhadad and Milner are both former leaders of security and engineering teams in the Israeli military. Eran Orzel, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) has over 20 years of experience in sales leadership roles in cybersecurity and enterprise software. Prior to joining Argon, Eran held several roles at Check Point Software Technologies, most recently as the Global Head of Strategic Sales and Partnerships where he led and played a significant role in the rapid growth of Check Point’s major business growth engines. “Companies are accelerating the development processes using DevOps pipeline infrastructures and the trend is at its peak,” said Orzel. “Consequently, the threats are growing stronger than ever, with dozens of incidents from code theft to code manipulation in the last six months alone.” Argon is launching with 15 employees after raising more than $4 million (USD) in initial funding led by Hyperwise Ventures. Software-driven companies “Bad actors are exploiting new weaknesses in the modern software delivery pipeline to gain access, leak data, and tamper with the product’s source code,” said Nathan Shuchami, Managing partner at Hyperwise Ventures. “Argon has developed an innovative solution that software-driven companies need in order to block those attacks and secure their customers and products.” Several high-profile cybersecurity angel investors have joined Hyperwise Ventures, including Shlomo Kramer, the founder of Check Point, Imperva, and Cato Networks; Zohar Alon, Founder of Dome9; Giora Yaron, chairman of Amdocs Technology Committee; Avery More, managing partner of ORR Partners; and Harel Kodesh, a former partner at Silver Lake.
Using artificial intelligence (AI) to automate physical security systems
DownloadA modern guide to data loss prevention
Download7 proven solutions for law enforcement key control and asset management
DownloadThe truth behind 9 mobile access myths
DownloadAccess control system planning phase 2
Download