Bertucci's Counteracts Potential POS, Network Security Breaches
Bertucci's Italian Restaurants has become a beloved destination for Italian food since its formation in 1981. With more than 2,000 employees in over 90 restaurants, managing unauthorized software downloads on their growing computer systems became a daunting task for the restaurant.
Bertucci's has more than 250 point of sale machines and corporate PCs and laptops that needed to
be protected from unauthorized software, whether it was known or unknown Malware, or software like iTunes that could create licensing issues with employees sharing music. The restaurant chain also needed to be sure that sensitive data was not leaked via USB removable drives and that malware or keyloggers were not introduced through a removable USB storage device.
POS, corporate needs
On the point of sale side, Bertucci's needed to protect its customers' credit card information. The company had to be sure that any malicious software, viruses, Trojans, targeted attacks or zero-day threats would not threaten or leak sensitive customer data.
On the corporate side, the company was having a difficult time controlling what was downloaded onto computers, despite removing administration rights. The IT department was spending time and money removing unauthorized software. Besides the IT helpdesk costs involved, Bertucci's also was concerned that certain downloaded software or removable media devices could put them out of compliance with PCI DSS regulations. At the same time, any solution the company considered needed to provide an automated way to approve new software, to ensure that corporate users would be able to do their jobs without interruption.
The solution
Bertucci's decided to use the Bit9 Parity application whitelisting and device control after a two-week trial at the company's headquarters. "We really put it through its paces and it came out great," says Kevin Quinlan, senior director of IT at Bertucci's.
Bit9 Parity ensures that only trusted applications and devices are allowed to run on Bertucci's point of sale systems and corporate computers, eliminating the risk and cost associated with malicious, illegal and unauthorized software. Quinlan and his staff receive reports if someone is attempting to install unauthorized software or use removable media devices, helping them remain in compliance with PCI DSS regulations. If the application is not trusted and authorized, it will not execute. Anyone trying to download data to an unauthorized removable media device will be blocked. "If people try to do anything new to the computer, we get a report, so it's great visibility for us," says Quinlan.
Rather than using a reactive security solution that employs scanning with increasingly large signature files, Bertucci's now relies on application whitelisting to lock down its systems. With only the approved, trusted applications and devices running, the company is protected from any new and unknown malware and targeted attacks. The company also is realizing cost savings. Bertucci's IT department no longer needs to test new signature files, which saves the group a tremendous amount of time. In addition, Bertucci's expects the project will extend the life of its existing point of sale systems, deferring upgrade costs and resulting in immediate savings.
"The visibility and control exceeded our expectations. My staff can go in and look at reports on a daily basis to find out what restaurants or what computers are trying to do certain things. We take care of things ahead of time and don't find out after the fact that something has happened." says Quinlan.
Bertucci's has more than 250 point of sale machines and corporate PCs and laptops that needed to
be protected from unauthorized software, whether it was known or unknown Malware, or software like iTunes that could create licensing issues with employees sharing music. The restaurant chain also needed to be sure that sensitive data was not leaked via USB removable drives and that malware or keyloggers were not introduced through a removable USB storage device.POS, corporate needs
On the point of sale side, Bertucci's needed to protect its customers' credit card information. The company had to be sure that any malicious software, viruses, Trojans, targeted attacks or zero-day threats would not threaten or leak sensitive customer data.
On the corporate side, the company was having a difficult time controlling what was downloaded onto computers, despite removing administration rights. The IT department was spending time and money removing unauthorized software. Besides the IT helpdesk costs involved, Bertucci's also was concerned that certain downloaded software or removable media devices could put them out of compliance with PCI DSS regulations. At the same time, any solution the company considered needed to provide an automated way to approve new software, to ensure that corporate users would be able to do their jobs without interruption.
The solution
Bertucci's decided to use the Bit9 Parity application whitelisting and device control after a two-week trial at the company's headquarters. "We really put it through its paces and it came out great," says Kevin Quinlan, senior director of IT at Bertucci's.
Bit9 Parity ensures that only trusted applications and devices are allowed to run on Bertucci's point of sale systems and corporate computers, eliminating the risk and cost associated with malicious, illegal and unauthorized software. Quinlan and his staff receive reports if someone is attempting to install unauthorized software or use removable media devices, helping them remain in compliance with PCI DSS regulations. If the application is not trusted and authorized, it will not execute. Anyone trying to download data to an unauthorized removable media device will be blocked. "If people try to do anything new to the computer, we get a report, so it's great visibility for us," says Quinlan.
Rather than using a reactive security solution that employs scanning with increasingly large signature files, Bertucci's now relies on application whitelisting to lock down its systems. With only the approved, trusted applications and devices running, the company is protected from any new and unknown malware and targeted attacks. The company also is realizing cost savings. Bertucci's IT department no longer needs to test new signature files, which saves the group a tremendous amount of time. In addition, Bertucci's expects the project will extend the life of its existing point of sale systems, deferring upgrade costs and resulting in immediate savings.
"The visibility and control exceeded our expectations. My staff can go in and look at reports on a daily basis to find out what restaurants or what computers are trying to do certain things. We take care of things ahead of time and don't find out after the fact that something has happened." says Quinlan.