ICT NML Leverages Exabeam for Advanced Behavioral Analytics and Improved TDIR

ICT NML delivers information and communication technology (ICT) services to approximately 3,600 civil servants spread across six municipalities in the Netherlands. While primarily providing automation services, ICT NML also supplies workstation equipment, servers, web infrastructure, and applications.

Due to their close work with local government entities, ICT NML highly prioritizes cybersecurity. Protecting the data of both citizens and the business is paramount to the success of their organization.

Infrastructure Requirements

While ICT NML had already implemented a number of tools and products to protect their network externally, they still lacked behavioral analysis capabilities within their internal network. They needed a managed services provider (MSSP) and corresponding SIEM solution that could match their requirements — specifically, one that could handle their large infrastructure.

“The challenge of starting a SIEM-SOC project was mainly that we have a large infrastructure where a lot happens”, shares Joop Beris, Chief Information Security Officer at ICT NML, “Consequently, we generate a huge amount of logging, which is simply not possible for humans to monitor anymore. You really need support for that.”

Expert MSSP with an AI-Driven Security Solution

For ICT NML, their hunt for a stand-out MSSP and SIEM vendor was short lived — the leadership landed on ilionx and Exabeam within five minutes of considering options. Between top-notch SOC services and an industry-leading solution for threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR), the combination was an immediate fit.

“The reason we chose ilionx with Exabeam is that the solution was more intelligent compared to other providers. It incorporates machine learning, AI-like technology, which provides better insights across the entire infrastructure”, shared Joost Poulissen, Team Leader Service Desk, Infrastructure Functional Management at ICT NML.

“The features that stood out to me the most and that I personally benefit from the most are alert history and the timeline of an incident. It really struck me how easy it is to have a complete picture of an incident from start to finish and how simple it is, for me as a user of the system, to investigate an incident.”

Why Exabeam and ilionx?

ilionx, an innovative MSSP also based in the Netherlands, provides 24/7 SOC services to ICT NML using Exabeam as their chosen SIEM solution. With the power of Exabeam machine learning capabilities and Smart Timelines, ilionx can offer in-depth behavioral analysis that finds threats before they become real incidents.

“Because we can determine normal behavior, we no longer need to know what an attack looks like beforehand. If you don’t need to know in advance what an attack looks like, you can detect attacks that are not yet known in the market”, explains Joep Kremer, Managing Security Consultant at ilionx.

Exabeam features like alert history and incident timelines stood out as key benefits for the ICT NML team as well. In particular, Beris mentions: “It really struck me how easy it is to have a complete picture of an incident from start to finish, and how simple it is for me as a user of the system to investigate an incident.”

After a smooth implementation lasting only a month, ICT NML continues to enjoy the support of quality managed services provided by ilionx, and a modern SIEM solution courtesy of Exabeam. Now, when it comes to advising fellow local government entities, ICT NML urges others to find the same perfect fit.

“Your SIEM should especially fit the technological products you use, and your SOC should fit your organization and the people you have. In our case, that’s ilionx with Exabeam”, concludes Poulissen.

ICT NML website: www.ictnml.nl/
ilionx website: www.ilionx.com/en/