Zscaler > Case Studies > NTSB Accelerates Cloud Transformation with Zero Trust TIC-in-the-Cloud Solution

NTSB Accelerates Cloud Transformation with Zero Trust TIC-in-the-Cloud Solution

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Cloud Security
Networks & Connectivity - Cellular

Applicable Industries

Telecommunications
Transportation

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Use Cases

Tamper Detection
Traffic Monitoring

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

About The Customer

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is a federal agency that is responsible for making transportation safer by conducting independent accident investigations, advocating safety improvements, and deciding pilots’ and mariners’ certification appeals. The agency is modernizing and expanding the use of cloud-based applications in line with OMB’s Cloud Smart strategy. The workforce is highly mobile, with field teams conducting investigations throughout the U.S. in varied environments, from urban to highly remote. The IT team at NTSB, under the leadership of Angel Santa, CIO and Victor Pham, CTO, recognized the need for a more efficient and secure network infrastructure to support their mission.

The Challenge

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was facing significant challenges with its legacy network infrastructure. The agency, which is responsible for conducting independent accident investigations, advocating safety improvements, and deciding pilots’ and mariners’ certification appeals, has a highly mobile workforce that conducts investigations throughout the U.S. in varied environments. However, the requirement to route all traffic through a legacy Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) was not designed to handle an increasingly mobile workforce. This resulted in latency and connection issues, creating a poor user experience and negatively impacting NTSB’s mission. Additionally, the traditional model of routing remote connections through a VPN client, to the agency data center, through a stack of on-premise security devices, and back out through the TIC, where it traversed another stack of security appliances to its destination, was frustrating for remote users and complicated security.

The Solution

To overcome these challenges, NTSB implemented a comprehensive SD-WAN architecture and designed an innovative, secure “TIC in the Cloud” solution that routes traffic locally and securely over broadband and cellular connections, using Zscaler, a multitenant cloud security platform. NTSB leveraged Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) to make Zero Trust possible. The FedRAMP authorized remote access service creates dual inside out connections between an authorized user and specific applications using TLS encrypted micro-tunnels. These tunnels are on a per app, per session basis and provide seamless connectivity to any application regardless of where it’s running, without ever placing users on the network. The dual tunnels are stitched together by a broker that runs in the Zscaler cloud or AWS GovCloud. If a user is unauthorized to access an app, then it remains completely dark to the user and to the Internet. This solution allowed NTSB to fully embrace the zero trust model, without sacrificing user productivity.

Operational Impact

The implementation of the secure “TIC in the Cloud” solution has significantly improved collaboration and efficiency within NTSB. Investigators can now access mission-critical applications and share pertinent information faster, leading to improved job satisfaction and reduced frustration. The updated cloud capabilities also support NTSB’s collaboration with other Federal agencies and private industry partners, which is critical to an accident investigation. The NTSB team can now share state-of-the-art research laboratory capabilities, such as the ability to retrieve vital information from all “black box” make and models, to all stakeholders/partners, remotely and in real time. As NTSB moves into an increasingly hybrid IT environment, the agency is planning to use the ZPA solution to accelerate AWS adoption, enable dynamic best path routing for workloads across AWS regions, and to deliver a better customer experience during the transition.

Quantitative Benefit

Access to agency applications and services has increased several hundred-fold
NTSB employees can now access mission-critical applications and share pertinent information faster
Improved job satisfaction and reduced frustration among investigators